NV Emilio Lustau - Jerez Oloroso Pata de Gallina (500ml)

Emilio Lustau was founded in 1896 by Don Jose Ruiz-Berdejo, who began as an almacenista, cultivating vines outside Jerez de la Frontera and aging wine in his own vineyard house before selling to larger exporting bodegas. The firm passed to his son-in-law in the 1940s and later grew into one of the most respected sherry houses in Jerez, known for reviving the almacenista tradition of bottling small, unblended lots from independent producers under their original bodega names.

This Oloroso comes from the cellar of almacenista Juan Garcia Jarana, aged in the historic bodega El Aljibe from an exclusive solera holding only thirty eight casks. Made entirely from Palomino grapes and matured through the traditional solera and criadera system, it falls into the rare Pata de Gallina category, a term used for Oloroso sherries showing unusual richness and smoothness from naturally high glycerol levels.

The wine is dark gold in the glass, with aromas of dried fruit, pipe tobacco, and toasted nuts. On the palate it is concentrated and intense, dry overall but carrying a subtly sweet edge through a long, warming finish. It suits partridge, venison, and wild boar, and works equally well as a reflective after dinner pour.