Bodegas San Francisco Javier - NV - 'Vina Corrales' Pago Balbaina Fino Sherry - 750 ml.

After the many years of the enormous success of his Pingus and other Ribera del Duero projects, Peter Sisseck had received many requests over the years to create a white wine of equal caliber. In 2017, he decided to do just that. But unlike his reds of Ribera del Duero which take inspiration from France, he decided to search Spain’s wine history and regions for the greatest expression of white wine, and that ultimately led him to Jerez. Of all the classifications of Sherry, Peter felt that Fino was the wine that could be so much more than a young light wine made for tapas bars. And, inspired by the grower movement in Champagne, Peter also wanted to bring focus on terroir specificity and viticulture in Jerez amid a sea of big production “brands” based on blended wines largely from industrially-farmed vineyards. So, ultimately, he decided to make a “super Fino” which he felt had the potential to show both complexity and place far more than the other styles. To get this project going, Peter enlisted his very good friend Carlos del Rio who is a native Jerezano and very knowledgeable about the region. They first needed to acquire vineyards of great quality. They settled on purchasing 8 hectares of Palomino Fino in the historic Pago of Balbaina which is the Jerez pago closest to the ocean. These 8 ha are in Vina Corrales and trained to the traditional vara y pulgar pruning method.