Emilio Lustau - Peninsula - Palo Cortado
Bodegas Lustau is a famous producer of sherry in Andalusia , Spain. La Bodega is arguably the most recognized fortified wine producer in the world. The estate was founded in 1896 by José Ruiz-Berdejo as an Almacenista, and also cultivated its own vines. Almacenistas usually bought young wine (Ruiz made his own) and aged them in their own soleras, before selling them to larger houses, which either blended it with older wine or aged it longer in their larger soleras. . It was not until the 1950s that Ruiz's son-in-law, Emilio Lustau Ortega , began bottling and exporting his own wine. Now based in Jerez, Lustau is the only winery to have locations in all three towns of the Sherry Triangle: Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda . Lustau buys grapes, while retaining two of his own vineyards. The first is the Montegilillo vineyard, which is on white limestone albariza soil, local to the region. The second is the Las Cruces vineyard, which sits on sandy coastal soils.
Palo Cortado is a rare variety of sherry that is initially aged under flor to become a Fino or Amontillado, but inexplicably loses its veil of flor and begins to age by oxidation in Oloroso. The result is a wine with some of the richness of Oloroso and some of the crisp, saline profile of Amontillado. Only about 1-2% of the grapes pressed for Sherry naturally turn into Palo Cortado.
Varietal: 100% Palomino