Equipo Navazos 'Ovni' Palomino Blanco

Palomino Fino

Andalucia, Spain

In 2005, a small group of friends and fellow Sherry lovers encountered a surprise during a cellar visit in Sanlúcar de Barrameda: a few dozen casks of a gorgeous amontillado that had been aging for over 20 years, unsold, and which still offered a steely precision that echoed its origins as a manzanilla. Galvanized by this discovery, they privately bottled 600 bottles solely for personal consumption and for sharing with fellow enthusiasts, repeating the exercise twice more the following year with different selections, and gradually commercializing their endeavors on an intimate scale. Calling themselves “Equipo Navazos”—navazos is a farming technique used in Sanlúcar whereby topsoil is excavated to allow moisture from the underlying aquifer to reach the surface—the group quickly garnered buzz among Sherry connoisseurs who were floored by the intensity and complexity of these micro-bottlings. Over the years, the group’s reach and production have grown, but quantities of each release top out at just a few thousand bottles—and often just a few hundred.