El domingo en la Taberna Der Guerrita en Sanlucar asistimos a una de las catas que Armando Guerra organiza y a las que denomina “La prueba del algodón”.  

Sunday at the Taberna Der Guerrita, in Sanlúcar, we attended one of those tastings that Armando Guerra organizes and which he calls “The cotton test.” (equivalent to “The litmus test,” or “the taste test.”) 

En este caso 13 vinos de crianza biológica, de marcas comerciales.  Teníamos que averiguar cuál era fino, cuál manzanilla, si eran jovenes o viejos.  Si eran finos, teníamos que intentar averiguar si eran de Jerez o de El Puerto o incluso de Chiclana.

In this case, there were 13 wines that had all undergone biological aging and were common market brands.  We had to determine which was fino, which was manzanilla, and if they were young wines or aged wines.  If they were finos, we had to try to identify whether they were from Jerez, El Puerto, or even Chiclana.

 

 

Armando Guerra y Antonio Barbadillo, dos expertos donde los haya, dirigieron esta actividad.

Amando Guerra and Antonio Barbadillo, the two experts who were directing this tasting.

La verdad es que es toda una experiencia y una prueba difícil no solo para los que siempre estamos aprendiendo sino incluso para los más expertos.

The truth is that it was a very interesting experience, and a difficult challenge, not only for those of us who are always learning something new, but also for those with more expertise in this field.

También elegimos los tres que más nos gustaron y curiosamente en general la mayoría estuvimos de acuerdo.  Tengo que decir que en esta ocasión ganaron los finos.

We were also asked to choose the three wines which we liked the best.  Curiously, in general, the majority of us picked many of the same wines.  I can only say that, on this occasion, the finos were the most favored.

 

 

 

 

 

Estos son los vinos que probamos: Manzanilla Solear, manzanilla San León, Manzanilla La Goya, Manzanilla La Gitana, Fino La Ina, Fino Pando, Manzanilla Barón, Fino Arroyuelo, Manzanilla La Guita, y Fino Tío Pepe.  Estos eran los de la prueba.  Aparte catamos dos más, Manzanilla La Guita dos años en botella y Tío Pepe en Rama que aunque no eran parte de la prueba del algodón gustaron mucho sobre todo el Tío Pepe en Rama que está espectacular.

These are the wines that we tasted: Manzanilla Solear, Manzanilla San León, Manzanilla La Goya, Manzanilla La Gitana, Fino La Ina, Fino Pando, Manzanilla Barón, Fino Arroyuelo, Manzanilla La Guita, and Fino Tío Pepe.  These were the ten that were part of the “taste test.” In addition, though, we tried two others: Manzanilla La Guita (aged in bottle for two years) and Tío Pepe en Rama which, even though it was not part of the taste test, was the one which was enjoyed the most since it is a spectacular wine.