Via Callejuela ‘Las Mercedes’ Andalucia Palomino Fino 2019

Thick skinned with a touch of tannin and lanolin, this waxy Palomino is the most intense and deep of the three single vineyard wines. Pineapple fruit. It has a more golden, more concentrated hue than the others with textures and aromatics that begin to liken aged Chenin.

Via Callejuela is an 100% estate-bottled, grower Sherry complemented by single vineyard, non-fortified Palomino wines.

Callejuela’s 28 hectares of vineyards, planted on the classic albariza soils, include 4 ha in Marcha neudo, 16 ha in Callajuz and 8 ha in the Anina. The family have been operating since the 1970s when Francisco Blanco established himself as a prominent viticulturist who was slowly expanding his parcels throughout the Marco de Jerez.

In 1980, Blancos sons Jos Pepe Blanco and his brother Francisco Paco Blanco began to barter portions of their coveted mosto with their clients in exchange for used botas instead of cash. This way, the family began to build up their own soleras over time in a humble bodega that only until recently expanded so as to increase the number of fermentation tanks and develop a line of non-fortified wines. In 2005, Via Callejuela was established as the independent bottler and vigneron we know today.

The Blanco family typically harvests at the start of September, while many of their neighbors start in the middle of August. The result is a must with higher brix than their competitors, meaning that less fortifying grape spirits are added when making Manzanillas and Sherries. This philosophy results in the purest Palomino grape expression possible, and the longer the hang time on vine, the more influence of the albariza soil is transmitted.