Tuesday 29 July 2014

PX 15%, Emilio Hidalgo

Appearance
Almost black, deep burnt umber to brown-stained amber and a green-tinged rim, long slow legs.
Nose
Intense aromas of pasas and dried figs, very fruity and quite concentrated with the slightest savoury note and traces of American oak. You can smell the very pulp of the sunned grapes along with traces of toast, coffee, caramel and a bodega full of ageing Sherries.
Palate
Soft fruity and deliciously smooth at first, then the more serious notes appear: traces of tannin, coffee, toffee, creme caramel and a gentle grippy tanginess. It grows in complexity and texture on the palate into a wine with some body, and leaves a long-lasting memory of a good PX.
Comments
Containing around 430 g/l natural grape sugar, this wine sounds intensely sweet, and it is, but that level of sweetness is not unusual in PX. What is unusual is that this wine is aged in its solera outside, against the bodega wall under an extended roof. This way it matures more quickly and rapidly develops concentration. Obviously this process works, as the wine is excellent, but this is just the young PX; they also offer the PX Santa Ana from a solera dated 1861 with an average age of around 100 years! Needless to say that is very expensive and hard to obtain, but this "baby" is delicious and will keep us going nicely while we save up.
Price
About £ 16.00 in the UK. Agents are Caves de Pyrene



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