Thoughts on Sherry?

[stevebody]

One of the most interesting things in the entire wine world, I think, is the Lustau Almencista program. This is a ssytem Lustau set up to find tiny, independent producers of sherry - sometimes just one guy working in his basement - and to bottle these under their label. They will occasionally blend several lots of these to get a certain flavor/sugar profile but they also bottle some from a single producer. The result is some highly individual, different wines that show more rusticity than the larger houses, or even Lustau's own cellars, like to distribute. I presume that this is sherry the way people in Seville know it: exciting, unprissy, and explosive. Their Don PX bottling is syrupy, light and a veritable sweet shop of flavors. The others are just as good. I love the Hidalgos for their polish and charm but those Lustaus...something really loving abouyt the whole idea. And, they're either dirt cheap or very reasonable!