La Barajuela Cortado 2017 (Luis Pérez)
A young, full-bodied and oxidatively aged wine would have been called Cortado in the old days
Cortado is a name that seems a bit odd in today’s sherry typology. It resembles the name Palo Cortado and while not entirely identical, it can be seen as a historical precursor to this style. Modern Palo Cortado relies simply on the addition of more alcohol to prevent a wine from developing flor and force it into oxidative ageing. In the old days this would happen for other reasons, and often unplanned: chemical elements (more or less malic acid), the addition of other grape varieties, or – in this case – a late harvest of very ripe grapes played a role.
Late harvest, no fortification
The late harvesting results in the flor having difficulty to develop. Therefore the wine had a lot of body and a firm tendency towards oxidative ageing. Often they would have used other grape varieties as well, some of which were simply less suited for biological ageing. However in this case the wine is made with 100% Palomino Fino grapes from Viña El Corregidor, the legendary part of Carrascal. The vines were planted in the late 1970s.
The wine is unfortified, by the way, so it reaches 16% in a natural way. The style comes from a time before fortification became standard practice in Jerez. In terms of production and naming, it is a return to the ancient traditional typology of the wines from Jerez and Sanlucar. For more information on these ancient styles of sherry, see my article Ancient sherry typology: Palma, Palma Cortada, Raya…
Expression of terroir and harvest conditions
La Barajuela from Bodegas Luis Pérez is a wine that changes with the climatological conditions of the harvest. The year 2017 saw very high temperatures, leading to deep ripening and concentrated grapes. The grapes were foot-pressed in a stone lagar and exposed to asoleo for about 48 hours, for further concentration. After that the wine was aged for 48 months in used sherry casks.
In cooler years La Barajuela would be classified as a finer Palma (2017) or as a rougher Raya (2015). The profile and especially the residual sugars can be significantly different. It has always been one of the key aims of Willy Pérez to bring back the effects of terroir and climatological conditions on sherry wines.
Willy Pérez, the head winemaker at Bodegas Luis Pérez
La Barajuela Cortado 2017 (16%, Bodegas Luis Pérez 2021)
Nose: a lot more oxidative than Agostado for instance, which I tried from the same vintage. There’s the dried fruit from an Oloroso, as well as butterscotch, some herbal honey and caramelized apples. Light hints of toast, as well as very subtle vegetal notes. Almonds and hazelnut aromas as well. If you’ve ever tried a modern Oloroso at a young age of around four years, this will be familiar.
Mouth: quite sweet, but also showing a nice acidity, making it nicely mouthwatering. You get overripe fruits, still some baked apple, a hint of toast and ripe tropical fruits. Then some dried fruits and a lot of roasted nuts too. Last but not least, a wave of subtle curry and spice appears, which you’ll recognize from modern Oloroso. A lovely salinity is running throughout this wine. The finish is really long and has a lot of ripe fruits.
Availability: I’m late to review this one, so I guess most bottles will be gone. Just like the Cortado 2018 for that matter. Here in Belgium we can still get it from Xpertvinum.
Excellent
Summary: This old-style Cortado roughly corresponds to a young Palo Cortado or light Oloroso, although this style doesn't have a modern counterpart in today's market. Overall a really fresh and highly drinkable wine, with a relatively mild strength and plenty of fruity notes.
4.5
About the Author
Ruben is a Certified Sherry Educator who fell in love with sherry some 25 years ago, but switched to a higher gear in 2013 and started writing about it. Lived in Madrid for a couple of years, now back in Belgium. I also run a whisky blog over at www.whiskynotes.be
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