Primitivo Collantes 'Arroyuelo' Fino en Rama Chiclana de la Frontera, Jerez

375ml bottle

15% abv

Bright and saline, with aromas of bread dough, raw almond, and sea air. Crisp palate of lemon zest, olive brine, and chalky minerality. Long, dry, briny finish.

VARIETIES: Palomino Fino
VINEYARDS: All fruit is from estate owned and farmed vineyards. This is from the Matalián Vineyard.
FARMING: Organic
WINEMAKING: Native yeast fermentation in stainless steel. Fortified to 15% ABV. Aged 5 years in the traditional system of criaderas and soleras. Cask selection, bottled on request with no fining, filtering or treatments of any kind.

The Arroyuelo is full throttle and wild - for a Fino. It spends 5 years in solera, is drawn to order from the best barrels, and bottled with no treatments at all. It is dense, complex, very salty and very long on the finish. There is almost an oloroso-like echo on the finish - that walnut skin tannin thing. It is basically a reserve level fino and it drinks every bit like one. 

Primitivo, known around town as Primi, is the 4th Generation of his family to be making wine in Chiclana de la Frontera. The bodega was founded in the 19th century when brothers Primitivo and Tómas Collantes moved to Chiclana de la Frontera from the Iguña Valley in Santander. A few years after arriving, they acquired a small cellar in town which still houses the company headquarters today. They grew the company over the years and acquired prime holdings in vineyards in the Chiclana area. Today they have 39HA of vines, all farmed organicially.

Production of typical sherry wines has long been the driving force here and the Finos and Amontillado are some of the most exciting we have tasted. The Ceballos Fino is aged 3 years under flor and is perfectly simple and refreshing; it’s the kind of Fino that could occupy an entire afternoon. The Arroyuelo Fino en Rama demands more attention. It is aged 5 years under flor and then the best casks are chosen and bottled with no filtration or clarification. It is beautifully complex and long. The Amontillado Fossi sees 5 years as a fino before an average of 8 years oxidative aging. They call this an Amontillado Fino - and the name is apt - this is an exceptionally fresh and lively version of Amontillado.

While we were very taken with the lineup of Sherry at this Bodega, it was the the fresh, un-fortified white wines that dominated our conversation after our tasting. The Matalían, from a vineyard of the same name, is fresh, complex and just textured enough. It evokes the white Albariza soil, the Palomino Fino grape, the sun and the sea - and it does so through fruit and terroir as opposed to through process, which is something in Jerez. The Socaire is another Palomino Fino wine but this one is aged for 2 years in old Fino barrels. The wine does not have flor and is not oxidized at all, but there is an echo of Fino sherry that is somewhat mind bending in a wine that is so fresh. It is a wine that is somewhat confounding but so satisfying.