Best Buys $10 And Under

93pts Wine Advocate:
"The much sweeter, honeyed, syrupy 2008 Pedro Ximenez de Anada exhibits a dark amber color along with notes of roasted nuts, molassas, Chinese black tea and honeysuckle. Rich, unctuous and full, it is best served slightly chilled after dinner."

Alvear was founded in 1729 and remains under the control of the same family. They own 307 acres of vineyards in the Montilla-Moriles appellation. Anyone who visits the area recognizes the incredible white soils "albariza or albero", which are dominated by chalk/limestone and the key to the great acids these products possess.

90pts- Wine Enthusiast:
Dry fino sherry imported from Spain. From the eighth largest sherry producer in the world, the Barbadillo family has been producing sherry since 1821. Pale straw color. Fresh, yeasty aroma. Light-bodied, clean and crisp with a zippy acidity. Dry, nutty, yeasty flavors. Serve well chilled as an aperitif or during the meal.

"The dark amber-hued non-vintage East India Solera is essentially an old Oloroso blended with an old Pedro Ximenez, which gives it a sweet character. It offers more mature notes of maple syrup, brown sugar, spice box, raisin and chocolate beer nuts, and its terrific balancing acidity cuts through the sweetness. This delicious effort is best drunk after the meal." 96pts WA

A blend of 12-year-old Don Nuno Oloroso (80%) and San Emilio PX which is also about 12 years old. One of the great icons of Lustau. Its aging process mimics that of some 17th century wines developed during transatlantic journeys to distant Spanish colonies. To achieve this, after aging separately in their own soleras, the Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez that comprise it, are combined and undergo a second aging process in a solera of 33 barrels at the Sacristia de Bodegas Lustau, with its elevated humidity and temperatures that replicate the climatic conditions that the wines would have experienced on their journeys.

Emilio Lustau SA was founded in 1896 by Don Jose Ruiz-Berdejo. In the beginning, Lustau was essentially an Almacenista, a modest estate with small holdings that sold most of its wine to large exporting Bodegas. It was not until the 1950s that Lustau became Emilio Lustau SA, and it joined the prestigious ranks of a select group of exporters of Sherry. In the early 1980s, Emilio Lustau SA, then under the management of the late Rafael Balao, became one of the most innovative companies in Jerez, launching the "Almacenista" line and creating the distinctive bottle that we know today. Lustau is now widely considered one of the finest producers of Sherry, with their Almacenista line breaking new ground in hand-crafted, boutique wines. These Sherries, drawing on rare and marvelous wines held by small producers, are some of the finest Sherries made today.

Lustau offers a wide array of Sherries; bone-dry Finos are wonderful matches with garlic-y shrimp and langostinos. Racy Amontillados balance power with finesse and are wonderful with nuts, olives, cheeses, and jamon Serrano. Powerful Olorosos can be served during a meal and match well with traditional soups and stews. Of course, the wide range of dessert wines from Lustau are unparalleled; the elegant East India Cream Sherry is as soft as silk, the Moscatels offers a delightful citrus edge that keeps the wines lively on the palate while the dark Pedro Ximenez is best served as a "syrup" over vanilla ice cream, pancakes or waffles.

Wine Spectator:
"Plump and on the sweet side, with golden raisin, date, pear eau-de-vie and peach melba notes, backed by a light twinge of bitter almond that keeps this honest. Drink now. 87,000 cases made."

A distinctive blend of Palomino and Pedro Ximenez grapes. Aged in oak casks for 6 years in the traditional Solera method.

For over 130 years, Bodegas Williams & Humbert have been producing the finest sherries and brandies; as well as a diverse portfolio of spirits, utilizing one of the most traditional methods of ageing, the solera method. Founded in 1877 by Sir Alexander Williams and Arthur Humbert, Bodega Williams & Humbert has been considered to be one of the world’s most prestigious wine producers in the world. They were involved in the creation of the Jerez-Xeres-Brandy Quality Demarcation, as well as the criteria for evaluating sherries. Now owned by the Medina family, two generations work side by side in the creation of the wines and spirits. Located in the heart of Jerez de la Frontera, Bodega Williams & Humbert has more than 1,200 acres of vineyards, and the largest wine cellar in Europe. The family owned and operated Bodega has produced a great variety of high quality sherries, while maintaining the traditional methods of solera aging. Solera is a method of producing wines, where small amounts of younger wines are systematically blended with the more mature wines over a period of time. Bodega Williams & Humbert has a variety of sherry lines, most notably the Dry Sack medium created in 1906, a staple sherry among many restaurants around the world. In the US, Bodegas Williams & Humbert has three lines of sherries - Dry Sack, Don Zoilo, and the rare aged. Each tier offers expressions that range from dry to sweet profiles. Bodegas Williams & Humbert has one of the largest and most diverse offerings of 20 and 30 year old Rare and Very Rare age expressions. The Bodegas Williams & Humbert portfolio also includes spirits such as Gran Duque D’Alba Brandies, Crema D’Alba, and Dos Maderas Rums.

"The NV Palo Cortado Obispo Gascon, produced from Palomino grapes averaging 20 years old, and shows the telltale nose of Palo Cortado with its lactic touch and an off-dry nose of apricots, blond tobacco and spices. The palate is dominated by the salty notes (common to all Barbadillo wines), sharp, medium-bodied, with great length. Drink 2013-2019." 92pts WA

The Palo Cortado sherries are particularly special within the Jerez-Xèrés-Sherry Designation of Origin. This is because despite the fact that production follows the similar physical-chemical process of oxidative ageing as with the olorosos, the result is quite different with their organoleptic characteristics falling somewhere between those of an amontillado and an oloroso.

Barbadillo is, without a doubt, both the largest and the leading bodega of Sanlucar de Barrameda. Created in 1821 by Benigno Barbadillo, the company it’s still owned today by the seventh generation of the Barbadillo family, dozens of stockholders spread throughout Spain, although not necessarily involved in the operations. The business has also expanded, not only within the Sherry district, where they sell an impressive 12 million bottles of wine annually (a lot of it is the young and fruity Castillo de San Diego, which at one point was the biggest selling white wine in Spain), 40% of which are exported, but also in Ribera del Duero and Somontano. They employ 300 people and their wines are available in 39 different countries. In Sherry they own 500 hectares of vineyards, stock around 60% of the total production of Manzanilla which ages in 12,500 botas in their great cellars in Sanlucar, mainly in La Arboledilla winery, the tallest bodega in the Marco de Jerez, an impressive 16 meters high, and in a network of 16 other large and small bodegas in the Barrio Alto, the High Quarter of Sanlucar de Barrameda. They are constantly innovating and experimenting, be it with red or sparkling wines or within the Manzanilla world, as they were the first to bottle Manzanilla en rama (unfiltered) back in 1999, doing four sacas (bottlings) per year, one during each season, which they sell in half bottles with labels that clearly identify the saca and year. Other than that, their range is pretty exhaustive, from entry level wines, through VORS and an exclusive Reliquia range from the oldest, family-owned botas, some of them containing wines averaging 80 to 100 years old. As a curiosity, they probably stock more Palo Cortado than any other winery (on earth),120 casks, as the famous Toto Barbadillo had an obsession with that category and purchased all he could get his hands on. I had a great visit there with winemaker Montse Molina who arrived in Sanlucar from her native Cataluna 15 years ago and she has not looked back since. Tasting wines from the bota, listening to a knowledgeable winemaker and realizing how different and how complex the wines are is one of the pleasures one should experience at least once in a lifetime.

Gonzalez Byass is one of the greatest, historical names in Sherry (and Brandy), as well as the largest in Jerez, and the Tio Pepe brand and image one of the icons of Spain, and the best selling Fino in the world stored in an impressive solera of 30,000 botas. Gonzales-Byass was founded in Jerez in 1835 by 23-year-old entrepreneur Manuel Maria Gonzalez, who exported the first cask of Tio Pepe to London in 1844. Gonzalez was advised by an uncle of his, a man called Jose Angel de la Pena. Uncle Jose had a small bodega with his own solera of Fino, which had direct access to the street as he liked to come and go as he fancied. People called Jose are often nicknamed Pepe in Spain, so the solera of uncle Jose (tio means uncle), or uncle Pepe gave name to the famous Tio Pepe brand. The original bodega del Tio Pepe still exists, is in use today, and in fact holds some of the best botas of Tio Pepe Fino. Gonzalez took different partners, and the company changed names a number of times, like Manuel Maria Gonzalez & Cia or Gonzalez & Dubosc. In 1855, the year the people of Bordeaux were really busy making the classification of their chateaux, Gonzalez sold some company shares to his importers and distributors in the UK, Robert Blake Byass. The name of the company was definitely set to Gonzalez Byass & Co., which has been kept till the present day. Today the fifth generation of the Gonzalez family still own and manage the company. Through the years the company and its holdings have been greatly expanded, and the winery today is akin to a small town of 37 hectares, as it has incorporated some of the streets that connected the different bodegas, La Constancia, La Concha (a unique round bodega attributed to Gustav Eiffel), Los Apostoles, La Cuadrada, and the more recent Gran Bodega Tio Pepe, Las Copas or Marques de Bonanza. As a curiosity, if you visit their premises you?????ll be able to see the largest working weathervane on earth, in the shape of a bottle of Tio Pepe!

What: Pedro Ximenez

Where: Sherry, Spain

Why: Because for the money this is one of the most intense PX?????s we?????ve ever tasted. Why? Lets start with honeyed raisins, oranges and almonds. Then there?????s chocolate and coffee and figs. But that?????s just the sugar talking. After those candied notes hit you they give way to salt, herbs, coffee grounds, tar and licorice. The flavor show does not stop... ever.

"Vintage" sherries are static ageing wines and are rare within the DO of Jerez. For this reason, wines of outstanding quality can be considered one-of-a-kind and are highly sought after. The 2016 release is only the second vintage of this wine. For the 2016 vintage, Valdespino set aside 30 casks which were sealed to comply with the requirements of the DO regulatory council for vintage classification. In October of 2023, the winemaking team assessed the 30 casks and selected 12 which showed exceptional characteristics to make the final blend for bottling. That bottling took place in April of 2024 and was done "en rama" - meaning it was bottled without fining or filtering.

Pago de Miraflores is the 'grand cru' of Sanlucar de Barrameda. Pago Miraflores is the most important "hill" of the zone and is responsible for the top Manzanillas. The location is inland enough to have pure albariza (chalk-based soils) and high enough to still get the cool winds from the ocean along with a touch of salt in the air. Top producers of the zone make Manzanillas, Vinos de Pasto and still whites from this top Pago.

This layered sweet wine displays a deep, glossy brown color and is truly indulgent. The nose features raisin, pumpkin pie spice, tobacco leaf and pure sugar cane notes. The palate is rich, expansive and beautifully balanced with honeyed, almost milk chocolatey raisin and smoke flavors. It is a very long and elegant PX and finishes with expressive coffee, tea leaf and buttered popcorn tones. Fantastic with blue cheese, toasted nuts, dried fruit, poured over vanilla ice cream or for something truly decadent, pair it with chocolate glazed doughnuts, sticky buns or Paris-Brest pastry. - PJ

Oxidative aging. Criaderas and solera system for a period of 4-6 years in oak barrels .

94pts Wine Advocate:
The Lot 38 La Bota de Viejo Cream Bota No is the sequel to the sweet oloroso that was Lot 19. It originates from the blending of a Pedro Ximenez over a century ago when the Solera was started. It has a fairly light bouquet that opens with aeration: hazelnut, macadamias, subtle note of caramel and nougat. The palate is medium-bodied with a lovely viscous opening: a touch of spice, eau-de-vie, caramel and cafe latte underpinned by beautifully judged acidity and a sensual harmonious long finish. Superb.

900 bottles produced. La Bota de Viejo Cream 38 "Bota NO" is a new release of edition 19 in the series: a sweet oloroso that has aged as such in a 9-butt solera under the label "Viejo Cream", never before commercially available except for a few exceptional sacas for British customers. This solera has in turn a bota NO as well as a double NO- of notably higher age and character, and which is where this wine has been sourced, again in limited volumes. This sweet oloroso results from a blending process with top-quality pedro ximénez that was performed early on, when the solera was founded, likely over a century ago. Harmonious integration during these decades has made the wine finer and rounder, thanks to the patience of several generations of winemakers, reaching today a prodigious balance between the raciness of dry oloroso and the mellowness of sweet PX.

What originally started out as a private buying club for an outstanding Amontillado located in the cellar of Miguel Sánchez Ayala, has become one of the most sought after series of bottlings sourced from, and inspired by the wines of Jerez and Montilla-Moriles. Jesús Barquín, a professor of criminal law at the University of Granda and Eduardo Ojeda, the technical director of Grupo Estévez, guided by their vast knowledge of, and unparalleled access to, the best wines, cellars and soleras of the region, have since 2005 assembled one of the finest offerings of Sherries in the market. When word got out about their project, what was once a hobby became a full-fledged commercial enterprise. Supply remains limited and demand has only increased. Since that first cask of Amontillado, labeled simply Bota de Amontillado no.1 in honor of the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, each successive bottling as been numbered, bottled en rama, limited in release and quick to sell out. Not content with only exploring the possibilities of fortified wines, Equipo has also released brandies, unfortified Palomino Fino aged under flor, and a couple of PX wines, one dry and one made from raisined grapes. They have also partnered with Dirk Niepoort and Quim Vila to make a Vin Jaune styled Palomino Fino and Sergei Colet to produce a Cava utilizing flor in the secondary aging of the wine as well as Sherry and Montilla for the dosage.

Antonio Hidalgo, President, is the 6th generation of Sherry winemakers and still family owned and operated - Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana. The winery was founded in 1792 by Pantaleon Hidalgo in Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain. Surrounded all his life with the wonderful world of wines and wine makers has given him the opportunity to be front line with the changes and evolution of Spanish wines in the last two decades. Antonio envisioned from his native Spain to position wines from his country in the United States and that is how Hidalgo Imports was born in 2006. Over the years, wines from other countries where necessary to cover all of our clients demands and that is how we started to distribute wines from Argentina, Chile, Italy and France. A great amount of Hidalgo Imports wines have received the highest ratings from the most important magazines and specialized people in the industry, obtaining great recognition in the country, proving that his long career and experience play a very import role in the profile of the company.