Equipo Navazos, La Bota de Florpower 114 MMXXI, Jerez, Spain, 2021

Producer Profile

Equipo Navazos was born out of a group of friend’s passion to share the authentic, traditional wines of Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Montilla … legitimately some of the greatest wines of the world!

These wines come from soleras and individual casks that remain, relatively neglected by the market in corners of many of Andalusia’s most prestigious bodegas. These unexpected yet fortunate findings have been made available to wine lovers around the world in limited quantities under the La Bota series (consecutively numbered editions, with the date of each saca or withdrawl date on the label) … in doing so respecting generations of expertise and care for these rare and beautiful wines. Today their efforts are increasingly focused on producing their own exceptional wines, such as Florpower, that truly express the character of Sanlúcar and its unique terroir. Outside of Andalusia, Equipo Navazos have collaborated with winemakers including Dirk Niepoort and Sergi Colet to develop authentic and individual wines that never fail to impress.

Viticulture

The white chalky soil of the Jerez area, 'albariza,' is ideal for the cultivation of Palomino grapes which produce the sherry for which Jerez is so well known. With a focus on the old vine vineyards of Mirafloes La Baja, Sanlúcar from which their Florpower wines come from. However, experience has shown them that, in the end, the vineyard always prevails regardless of the intensity and duration of ageing, which is why they increasingly tend to limit the latter more and more.

Oak Ageing

Time: 6 - 7 Months
Type: Sherry
% wine oaked: 100
% new oak: None

Tasting Note

At EQUIPO NAVAZOS we are determined to extract the full potential of biological ageing under flor at natural (unfortified) alcohol content. It was following that path that the white Navazos-Niepoort was produced for the first time in 2008 (there are quite a few vintages out in the market by now). Then we started a number of experiments ageing in butt and vats, using both palomino fino and pedro ximénez sourced from different terroirs in the Sherry district and Montilla – and even other non-commercial projects in Spain’s northeast and northwest. Experience has shown us that, in the end, the terroir of the vineyard always prevails regardless of the intensity and duration of aging, which is why we increasingly tend to limit the latter. Along this line, in 2022 we bottled the ninth vintage of Florpower that has got to the market (MMXXI, i.e., 2021), as release number 114 of the LA BOTA series. La Bota de Florpower 114 MMXXI, an unfortified white wine, basically follows vintages 2010 and 2012 (releases 44, 53 and 57) in origin and winemaking practices, and even more the 2014-2020 vintages (releases 67-107). With this 2021 we take another step towards what we believe is the point of balance and freshness for a perfect expression of the vineyard through the biological aging process, even shorter than in previous vintages. Only a few weeks of rest and tenuous aging under flor in steel tanks after the initial period of intense biological aging in the traditional 600-liter Jerez casks. Made exclusively of Palomino Fino sourced from vines aged 55 and 85 years old in the blessed plot known as Pago Miraflores La Baja, it fermented in inox and then it was moved to the casks where it later aged under flor for 6 months. In May 2022 it all went to a stainless steel vat where—always under the by now much milder influence of flor yeasts—it remained until bottling in June 2022.

Awards

Robert Parkers The Wine Advocate 92 Points
I found a very young and tender 2021 La Bota de Florpower 114 MMXXI that was bottled 15 days before I tasted it. It has notes of green apples that are browning, but apparently all the Florpower wines suffer from bottling and need time. The palate shows the chalky texture, and it's what you have to check with a wine like this. It's difficult to read right now, but I'm optimistic about its development, in the style of 2018; but it's still a bit of a question mark. 4,000 bottles were filled in June 2022. 92 Points, LG, September 2022.
Jancis Robinson 16.5 Points
Palomino Fino from Sanlucar. Bottled in July 2022. Old vines in Miraflores, always the same vineyard close to the ocean, vines over 50 and over 80 years old. They have ‘shifted from an idea connected to flor to an idea connected to vineyard; now we are convinced process is less important than terroir’. (The Navazos Niepoort similar wine is based on Jerez fruit.) 2010 was the first vintage, assembled in case the Navazos Niepoort Jerez wine didn’t work. This was bottled later than Navazos Niepoort originally but now usually one year after the harvest. 4,000 bottles made. Tangy and pungent but overall quite soft on the palate. Real grip on the end which makes up for the low acid. A distinctly floral quality. With time these wines go orange but still stay fresh. 16.5 Points, JR, November 2022.