New Tio Pepe En Rama most “intense” yet

Tio Pepe Fino En Rama is to return for a third year, and is set to be the most intense bottling yet, having been made from the best barrel from González Byass’ four ancient Tio Pepe soleras. As reported on thedrinksbusiness.com, production will be up slightly on last year’s 300 cases and will include a number of half bottles designed exclusively for the on-trade. The company decided to make the wine from its best four Tio Pepe barrels in homage to the 200th anniversary of founder Manuel María Gonzalez on 26 May.

The intensity of flavour is a result of a mild winter in Jerez, which has lead to the development of an extra thick protective veil of flor in the casks. “We’ll have an especially intense En Rama this year due to the mild winter and warm spring temperatures, and the special cask selection,” said winemaker Antonio Flores. “Despite racking off the wine a couple of weeks prior to bottling, the wine may have a stronger “haze” than the last edition,” he added.  

Described as “turbo-charged Tio Pepe” by González Byass’ marketing manager Jeremy Rockett, En Rama, loosely meaning “in its unrefined state”, is made from unfiltered Tio Pepe taken from the cask in spring when the flor is at its thickest. Without stabilisation, En Rama has a lifespan of just three months, and a mere three days after opening.

This year’s hand-drawn label, taken from the González Byass archives, is an old Sherry label from 1857 featuring a stylised grapevine surrounded by a red ribbon. Rockett believes the vintage labels have been a big contributing factor to the wine’s success: “The labels have almost become the message of the wine. “Our customers eagerly await the next release to see what we’ve dug up from the archive. Changing the label each year is part of its charm,” he said.

“At the niche end of the market you can get away with being less traditional and have some fun with your label designs, because consumers are buying on name,” he added. Tio Pepe En Rama will be available to taste at the London International Wine Fair at 11am on 22 May. UK deliveries will start on the same day. The wine is set to be bottled next week and will be priced at £13.99 a bottle.

Gonzalez Byass rare and old Sherry tasting

It’s mid afternoon and I’m being lead into a secret part of the Gonzalez Byass cellars in Jerez by winemaker Antonio Flores.

Joining us are Vicky Gonzalez Gordon, a 5th generation member of the Gonzalez family and UK marketing manager Jeremy Rockett. We’re here in search of an Amontillado with flor – a layer of yeast that forms naturally on the surface of young Sherry wines aged in barrels purposefully not filled to the top.

After the success of Tio Pepe En Rama – a Fino bottled in its raw state without fining or filtration, which launched at the London International Wine Fair this year and sold out in 30 minutes, the team is on the lookout for the next limited edition Sherry to bring to market.

Rockett suggests that a young Amontillado yet to lose all its flor could be next year’s En Rama, which would be bottled as Tio Pepe Pasado En Rama. Flores stops at a set of barrels. Brandishing a venencia, he dips it deep into the barrel and pours it swiftly at height into one of the tasting glasses with the grace of a bullfighter.

We all get a glass. It’s a wonderful golden colour but the flor has already fallen away so we swiftly move on. Two more attempts prove fruitless, but eventually we hit upon an exciting discovery: a seven-year-old Amontillado. Atop the golden liquid is a thick layer of flor. We may have found the next En Rama.

I’m tasked with filling the remaining glasses using the venencia. My hand-eye coordination is not all that it could be, and my first flourish ends up on the floor. I soon get the hang of it and rather enjoy more role as venenciadora. Jubilant from his discovery, Flores leads us to another secret cellar and fills our glasses with a 60-year-old Amontillado. In the muted light the copper wine glints like a new penny. It smells like a varnished desk. Full-bodied and with a long, nutty finish, it’s the most complex Amontillado I’ve ever tasted.

Flores paces up and down, looking for a particular barrel. Locating it, he plunges the venencia in. The Sherry is deep mahogany – a 100-year-old Palo Cortado. I let out an uncontrollable gasp. It’s incredibly intense and concentrated, but the oak is overpowering, and it’s like chewing on a log. Not all wines can stand the test of time.

Determined to show us an old wine still very much alive, our next barrel sample is one I will never forget; an Amontillado from 1850 made by the winery’s founder, Manuel María Gonazlez. Heady on the nose, it smells amazingly youthful for its 160 years, with notes of salted caramel and hazelnut. On the palate the acidity is astounding, paired with excellent body, weight and depth of flavour. The sandlewood finish remains hauntingly in the glass.

In our final clandestine barrel room deep in the bowels of the winery, we end with a trio of sweet Sherries. The first is a 25-year-old sweet Palomino, made and aged in the same way as a Pedro Ximenez. Tawny with a yellow rim, it has a Moscatel grape-like quality with a tropical fruit finish. The 75-year-old PX is as black as crude oil and equally thick, while the 85-year-old Moscatel has a lifted, floral quality and coffee finish. Our palates fatigued by the liquid history lesson, we follow Flores out of the barrel room and into the glaring sunlight, and I feel as if waking from a dream.

Gonzalez Byass: tales from the barrel room

I've just got back from an amazing couple of days in Jerez, where I learnt, amongst other things, how to pour Sherry into a tasting glass from a venencia. Check out the video of my first (and only) attempt as a venenciadora...