Bodegas Cota 45 ‘UBE’

Bodegas Cota 45 ‘UBE’ – Ramiro Ibánez Espinar’s wines are a love-letter to the stalwart traditions of Sanlúcar and his UBE is no exception. From nose to palette, this is a marvellously expressive tincture. Initially bearing wafts of ripe stone fruit, marzipan, baked apple and a touch of straw, succeeded by plush textural tones. Ultimately, a medium-bodied, gently oxidative, vibrant uplift of savoury aromas with a clean minerality on the finish. A wine that integrates the region with its history in such elegant fashion and takes the consumer on a journey of utter wanderlust. Explorative and delightfully meditative.

The grapes are harvested by hand and left to dry in the sun for a short while before being exposed to tradition and trod on by foot. uses old clones of Palomino and is a mix of three different albarizas (chalky soils with a high fossil content). The Cota 45 winery is a project that focuses on making still white wines under ‘flor’, a process that acts as an ode to 18th and 19th century Manzanillas. The grapes are sourced from five different vineyards of the Pago Miraflores area in Sanlúcar. Consequently, this blend of various clones and the homogeneity of albarizas creates the equivalent of a “village” Sanlúcar wine. It is fermented in 500 litre sherry butts with indigenous yeasts and allowed to age in old barrels before undergoing a delicate filtration.

Bodegas Cota 45 ‘UBE’ – an astonishing display of unadulterated uniqueness. A winter-warming digestif that never fails to put an ear-to-ear grin on one’s face.