New vintage of our own palomino wine: Cernícalo Saca II
Last year we made our first palomino wine, the second vintage has recently become available on our website and in our stores in Leest, Rijmenam and Brussels. We are happy to tell you in detail about this salty, mineral and complex white wine. Speaking, our winemaker, Wim Casteur.
The vineyard: Pago de Maina
" The wine is made from 100% palomino fino from 0.8 hectares of Pago de Maina, one of the best vineyards in the area, 5 km from the Atlantic Ocean. The vines are 80 years old and located at an altitude of 65 to 75 metres above sea level on a south facing slope."
Harvest
"The year 2020 started in full corona lockdown with a particularly bad spring, it was exceptionally cold and wet. As a result, mildew played an important role in the vineyard. The bad weather was followed by a number of very warm days at the end of June/beginning of July, with temperatures above 40°C. The heat caused the acids to plummet and put the plants in a stress mode, resulting in little sugar build-up," explains Casteur.
The months of July and August then gave calm and dry weather with a predominantly cool Poniente (westerly wind) that kept sugar levels low.
"The harvest then took place on September 3rd with a potential alcohol content of 12°. The acids were on the low side (Ph=3.4) but just enough to allow cultivation under flor. Due to the mildew and gray rot, the yield limited to 4000 kg (on 1 ha)", says Wim Casteur.
Vinification
The pressing was done by a pneumatic press from Bodegas La Callejuela with 3000 liters of must as a result.
"We decided to let a large part of the harvest settle overnight and thus do the fermentation and aging without the groin. This way we could avoid risks with the impurities in the must. In the end we kept one barrel with groin, so that we could see what the effect was, but without taking too much risk."
Furthermore, the aging of both wines was the same. Fermentation proceeded without problems based on the natural yeasts on the skin. All vessels were filled to about 80% to allow flor formation. The flor formation went perfectly from October to the end of February.
"When the temperatures rose in March, all the barrels were consolidated and filled to the top. Now the wine with the groin was also transferred so that only the pure wine could continue to mature until the end of June. At the end of June, the wine was bottled in the modern facilities from EMC³ (Julio Barba) in El Puerto de Santamaria," said the winemaker.
Result
Minerality and salinity are more prominent than fruit. Wild yeast and flor aromas with hints of ripe white fruit, cider and a dash of citrus with a mineral, gritty background. Its complexity will develop further over time.
Casteur: "The wine is full-bodied and dry in the mouth, the minerality comes back again in the taste. Low in acidity, its freshness places it in what the Spaniards so delightfully call 'sapidez', a delicious, expressive mineral salinity and a juicy, medium long finish."
At Xpertvinum
Cernícalo Saca II is the 2020 harvest split into 2 versions: 2300 bottles with fermentation and aging without groin. And 700 bottles with groin.
The wines are sold exclusively in Belgium by Xpertvinum: 500 bottles of wine without lees and 350 bottles of wine with lees (available soon).
They are (soon) for sale in our webshop as well as in our stores in Leest, Rijmenam and Brussels.
Are you curious about this wine? Then be sure to visit our tasting room in Leest on October 9 and 10 and in Rijmenam on Sunday October 17 (only in Dutch).
You can already pre-order by email at hanne@xpertvinum.be.