Cayetano del Pino Palo Cortado Solera

The climate of the Jerez region is warm due to its low latitude and southerly location. Summers are dry and hot, however, the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean moderates humidity and temperatures, providing an ideal climate for the production of palomino grapes.

The Sherry Region of Jerez is an area of open, gentle rolling hills or slightly sloping - with gradients of between 10 and 15 per cent - covered by a limestone soil known as albariza, characterised by the extreme dry months. This soft loam of chalk and clay comes to the surface on the tops of the hills, thus giving rise to the characteristic Sherry vineyard landscapes. It is rich in calcium carbonate (containing up to forty percent), clay and silica from the diatomite and radiolite shells present in the sea that once covered the region far back in the Oligocenic period.

Production pruning must be carried out once the vine reaches maturity (as from its fourth year) in order to control yield. Pruning, which is carried out each year while the vine is at rest during the winter, consists in making certain incisions in the vine shoots and woody parts of the plant, ensuring that a number of buds, shoots and branches remain with a view to giving it shape. One of the tasks carried out on the albariza hillside during the winter in order to retain water is known as "aserpia" or "alumbra" and is specific to the region. It takes place after the harvest and involves building up ridges of earth between the vine rows to create a series of rectangular pits that serve to catch and store rainwater during the autumn and winter months, preventing it from running off and being lost down the hillside slope.

Towards the end of August, beginning of September the green leaves of the vine begin to darken and the grape is said to "surrender"; that is, it becomes soft and sweet. There is no set date to signal the start of the grape harvest given that it all depends upon the ripeness of the grape, which should be at least 10.5º Baumé (potential alcohol).

This Palo Cortado is produced from very fine must (free run juice), initially fortified to 15% alcohol by volume. Once the sobretabla stage is complete, the wine is then again fortified to above 17% whereby the wine will begin the process of oxidative ageing.

The traditional, genuine system used for ageing sherry wines is known as the Criaderas and Solera System. This is a dynamic system by which wines from different stages of the ageing process are blended together in order to perpetuate specific characteristics in the wine which is finally sold on the market, which is a result of combining all the different vintages. For this Palo Cortado, 100% Palomino grapes are aged in old sherry butts of American oak for at least 15 years prior to bottling.