Valladolid, closer to Jerez than ever. Bodegas Williams & Humbert’s Vintage Amontillado 2001 is the wine chosen by Valladolid restaurant Ambivium for the International Final of Copa Jerez Forum & Competition, the international food-pairing competition with Sherry and Manzanilla.
With a proposal of starter, main course and dessert, featuring as its main dish a trout, ham and halophyte adobo perfectly paired with Williams & Humbert’s Amontillado 2001, Cristóbal Muñoz and Laura Rodríguez of Ambivium restaurant in Peñafiel (Valladolid) are the finalists representing Spain at the Copa Jerez 2023 international competition. This Williams & Humbert Amontillado, paired with the main course of Ambivium’s menu, belongs to the winery’s Vintage Collection. Unlike traditional sherries, aged through the dynamic Criaderas y Soleras system, these vintage wines are aged statically – as in the case of this Amontillado 2001, aged for 18 years in old American oak casks.
Very few bottles of this Amontillado 2001 have been released, as it is a highly exclusive, limited edition. It is made from excellent free-run must from Palomino grapes from the Añina and Carrascal pagos in the Jerez Superior area. The must is fortified to 15.5%, giving way to biological ageing under a veil of flor followed by oxidative ageing.
This vintage has distinctive features, such as extreme finesse and a pure expression of elegance and minerality, a faithful reflection of the weather that marked its harvest year. The nose is complex and pungent, dominated by toffee, caramel and leather, and on the palate it is dry, mineral and saline, with notes of nuts and nutmeg and a long, persistent finish.