TRADICIÓN – Oloroso PREV

Luis Gutiérrez, Robert Parker's wine critic, writes:

"The wines of the individual vintages are different, but not necessarily better than the Solera wines. In fact, I preferred the Oloroso VORS to the two individual vintages; I found it more complex and fluid, while the individual vintages were more concentrated and powerful, but not as nuanced. I'm talking about the NV Tradicion Oloroso VORS, which is on average 45-50 years old, which gives the wine a concentration of glycerin and dry extract that is amazing. Silky, very interesting to see the wine that has blended over the years is even more complex. The proverbial iron fist in a kid glove, it is full-bodied and yet follows the same clean, elegant and precise line as the other wines from Tradicion.

Despite its name, Bodegas Tradicion is one of the youngest wineries in Jerez. It was founded in 1998, which is not that common as most of the houses have been in operation for generations. It is also unusual for a winery to only sell old wines, especially if it is a young business. But that is exactly what Bodegas Tradicion is all about. You bought wines (Botas and Soleras) from everyone: Osborne, Bobadilla, Croft, Domecq, Sandeman? They started with maybe 200 botas, and now they own around 1,000. The market was extremely tough for sherry at the time they started and trying to sell a new name and only old wines was almost impossible. In 2003 they sold a total of 600 bottles, whereas today they sell 18,000-20,000 bottles per year. In the beginning they only sold VORS (and a VOS) and then worked their way up to younger wines to feed their soleras. They've even released a Fino now (a very old Fino, but a Fino nonetheless) and explained that although they started out buying very old Soleras, they now need younger wines and aren't ruling out even making their own in the future Need to buy vineyards. A winery like Benjamin Button! Responsible for the wines is Jose Maria Quiros, who was a winemaker at Agustin Blazquez and later at Domecq and has been working as a consultant for Alvear in Montilla-Moriles for 15 years. His goal is to preserve traditions and keep the wines as pure and authentic as possible. The wines are clean, elegant, precise, clearly defined, focused, true to type and truly traditional. All wines have a handwritten lot number and the vintage on the label."