Medium tawny-amber color; burnt orange, plum-stewed prunes, leather on the nose; caramel, brown sugar, prunes, raisins, candied walnuts, almonds, cocoa, orange peel, vanilla, oak, minerality on the palate.
Tempting sweetness (50 g/L—medium sweet in still wine terms). Superb balance and balancing acidity (3.5 pH). Impressive depth and length. Standard blend of 87% palomino, 13% pedro ximenez. Only free run and first press must is used. Following fermentation to 11-12% alcohol, the palomino wine is fortified to 18% alcohol and enters the Palo Cortado solera. And empty space of 26 gallons is left in the casks so the wine has a large surface area in contact with oxygen and undergoes complete oxidation.
The pedro ximenez grapes undergo a press similar to olive oil production. The must begins to ferment, then stops at 7% alcohol because of sugar stress. The wine is fortified to 15% alcohol and placed in the pedro ximenez solera. After aging for some dozen years, the two grape varieties are blended. The blended wine goes into the Apóstoles solera where it spend the next 18 years before bottling and release. 20% ABV
Manuel Maria González created González Byass in 1835. The operation remains in family hands today, now in the fifth and sixth generation. Gonzáles Byass is located in Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia—the heart of sherry country. The “Sherry Triangle” is made up of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and Sanlucar de Barrameda. The region has a unique microclimate influenced by the surrounding Atlantic Ocean and Guadalquivir and Guadalete rivers.
Jerez de la Frontera, Jerez is a city in Andalucía in southwest Spain and the center of the Jerez region and sherry production. Sherry is a mere English corruption of the term Jerez, while in French, Jerez is written, Xérès. True Sherry can only be made in Andalucía, where the soil and unique seasonal changes give a particular character to its wines. The process of production—not really the grape—determine the type, though certain types are reserved for certain grapes, as in this case.
González Byass Sherry Apóstoles Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum 30 years (Jerez) is lush, balanced, impressive sherry. Deep, complex, fascinatingly interesting. Caramel-led sweetness from the palomino grapes cleverly balanced with excellent acidity from the pedro ximenez. This is complex wine with multiple layers of complexity and evolving delights. $55-75 (375 ml)
