Valdespino "Inocente" Fino Sherry, Jerez, Spain NV

FROM RARE WINE CO.:

THE WINE: With its source the great Macharnudo vineyard, Valdespino’s Inocente is arguably Jerez’s most iconic Fino. The wine’s intensity defies description. While other Finos are fermented in tank, Inocente is—like the great Finos of the past—fermented in barrel with indigenous yeast. It then passes through its solera’s ten stages or criaderas (as opposed to the 2-3 criaderas employed for most other finos). The wine at bottling has an average age around 10 years— doubling or tripling the aging of most other Finos.

THE PRODUCER: In a region devoted to tradition, there is no more traditional bodega than Sherry’s most historic house, Valdespino.

Its earliest records date to the 14^th century, but its origins are thought to date back to 1264, when the conquering knight Alonso Valdespino was rewarded with thirty hectares of land, including almost half of Jerez’s greatest vineyard terroir, Macharnudo.

It is Macharnudo that makes Valdespino the envy of every other sherry producer, and it is the source of most of its best wines. But it is Valdespino’s unwavering commitment to the demands and expense of traditional Jerez winemaking that makes its Sherries arguably the region’s purest and most intense. So extraordinary is the quality of Valdespino’s Sherries, and so profound their connection to terroir and tradition, that the house has been called “the Romanée-Conti of Jerez” by today’s most influential voice for Spanish wine, Luis Gutiérrez.

Read more about the producer.