Fresquito de Pasto 2022

The 2022 Fresquito Vino de Pasto is a new table white that recovers an obscure and somehow confusing mention, Vino de Pasto, which to me is an ugly name with negative connotation in the Spanish language used differently in different places, but apparently it's a term used by the Montilla-Moriles appellation for wines with less than two years of biological aging under flor. This was produced refilling Fino casks with the Fresquito de Tinaja white, so it aged under flor for nine months in tinaja and a further 12 months in bota. It has a nose closer to a Fino, with esparto, yeasts, spice, herbs, smoke and wet chalk, but it's not a Fino, because the category requires more than two years under flor. It's like a fresher, younger, mini-Fino, lighter and easier to drink but still powerful with 14.5% natural alcohol and a tasty, yeasty and bitter finish. 3,018 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2024. (Luis Guitérrez)