Equipo Navazos La Bota de Amontillado 117

The NV La Bota de Amontillado Montilla 117 is a new Amontillado from Montilla-Moriles that was never bottled before. Selected from the cellars of Pérez-Barquero, the wine is between 25 to 30 years of average age, not fortified but bottled at 20% alcohol from pure concentration from evaporation, as the Fino that is the base for this wine was never fortified, which is the tradition in Montilla. It's a medium-age Amontillado with textbook characteristics and the evolution of the Fino Amontillado but with some 10 to 12 years more. It's nutty, pungent, intense and sapid, with a saline, iodine twist. This is a bottling from the summer 2022. 3,000 bottles produced.

Bota 117 is, like so many of its predecessors, a grandee – it speaks powerfully and nobly of its origins. Equipo Navazos specialises in Sherries, but there are occasions when it finds that only Montilla does it better. As here: boldly aromatic with vanilla, orange marmelade, walnuts. In the mouth it's piquant, powerful and peppery, laden with dried fruits and nuts, with just a hint of bitterness on the finish. Perfect equilibrium.