Palo Cortado De La Cruz

Origin

Luis Arroyo, owner of the winery decided to start from scratch in his winery, Bodegas Arfe, initials of their two surnames. He did not want to buy good, old soleras that were abundant in the year 2000 in consecrated wineries in Jerez, as the small, new wineries that are happily beginning to emerge usually do. He chose to make an authentic signature wine from the beginning, a detail that in itself, and in Jerez, constitutes a great novelty. He selected the best 'musts', all from the 2000 harvest from a cooperative in Chipiona.

In reality they were not musts in the true sense of the word, but overtable winesalready headed at 18º. The amount necessary to fill his 216 boots, not one more, not one less. The boots were bought on average 40–50 years old, empty and at a good price. The truth is that many boots were sold in those years because unfortunately many wineries were dismantled in the area, in the 'frame'.

he acquired exactly 108,000 liters. And subsequently, every year he was and is selecting and buying 3,500-4,000 liters of 'musts' (not suitable for minors) to spray the second criadera.

Luis Arroyo does not make wine or head . He only breeds and directs his wines towards what he wants , palo Corta . Which somehow comes to create a new concept of the palo Corta, a clear palo Corta design.

Palo Cortado De La Cruz 1767

According to his words, his Palo Cortado De La Cruz 1767, "have very little biological aging. Scarce. At most, maximum, one year. This is the time we call sobretablas and it is the only time they normally spend as vintage wines. Once these sobretablas are They are classified by the Venencia foreman, this is when the wines that have more structure are marked as 'rayas' and are headed for oxidative aging. They never really become part of a Fino solera.

Where does his name come from? 

Among those wines marked as 'stripes', already in their casks, and in later venenciados, is when in some of those casks it is appreciated by the foreman of venencia a special finesse, and they are marked by crossing the vertical stripe that they already had on the boot with another horizontal one, that's where their name palo cut comes from. If the wine had been aging for some time as a Fino under a veil of flor, the explanation for a subsequent increase in the alcohol content to 17-18% would give rise to an Amontillado, not a Palo Cortado." .

So it follows that a chopped palo is not the consequence of a thin gordo but of a fat fine, to understand us, in the Jerez winery jargon.

Definitely Luis Arroyo defines Palo Corta as "a distinguished, fine and very chic Oloroso". It is an excellent description that, although it takes away the mystery and magic of the cut suit, gives it a certain nature.

Palo Cortado De La Cruz

Palo Cortado De La Cruz, the new signature Palo Cortado, which could well have been vintage, but he has chosen to follow the traditional system with a very defined base, from a very precise vintage, that of the year 2000. It is the confirmation in the 21st century of a very precise origin.

The bottles it bottles goes without saying. that they are en rama, directly from the boot, but it is clear that it does not appear on the bottle because for Luis Arroyo, using the expression en rama would be almost a discredit when it comes to cut sticks. Even Oloroso or Amontillado, which are not his creations in this case, but could really be his first cousins.

Count this when serving:

 The cellar hull acquired by Luis Arroyo, in addition to having that privileged location, has more added values. It was once part of the oldest firm of Jerez, Cabeza y Zarco, which although officially founded in 1750, in its archive there are documents that prove its greatest antiquity, dating back to 1653.

On one of the old stone columns that supports the semicircular arches of the secluded two-street winery, there is a shield sculpted in the stone itself and an inscription on a tombstone. On the shield, a cross on some waves, the cross of the sea, and in the inscription it is perfectly read that it was rebuilt - therefore, it had to exist before - in the year 1767 with Olbaneja (Orbaneja), another Jerez winery family from the time.This date and that cross on waves, defined the name of their wine: De la Cruz 1767.

We must highlight the clear symbolism of the label of its only product. A different design, which unites modernity with atavisms. A cross, the cross of the sea, which is engraved on one of the columns of the small Bodegas Arfe, and which is also a clear reference to the cross on the foreman's chalk when he marks the boot.A stick crossed by a line. An author's cut stick.