Medium Contubernio (Vinos Según Cede)

Good Medium sherry is blended early on in the maturation process

Vinos Según Cede (quite literally Wines according to yield but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some double entendre) is the small winery of the Guerra Monge family, which also runs the Taberna Der Guerrita. They have a small bodega of merely 300 m² and around 130 casks. They are fed with wine from vineyards in Mahina and Campix. It is also the home of the Cernícalo Primilla wines by Wim Casteur and Armando Guerra).

Medium sherry is the category that is exported most, and that’s a bit strange since it is hardly sold within Spain itself. While generally a bit looked down upon, Medium sherry can be very, very good. Most of what you’ll find on the market is pretty middle-of-the-road, but there are definitely a few gems, usually the ones that are a little bit more on the dry side. Often these Medium sherries have a base of Amontillado wine (e.g. Valdespino Contrabandista, W&H As You Like It or the Harveys Medium Dry), whereas Cream sherry will often focus on Oloroso.

Vinos Según Cede - bodega

Medium Amoroso

The key is often the moment of blending. Most sweet sherry is blended right before bottling, with only a very short period of integration. Finding a blend of Palomino and PX that has been ageing for years, is much more difficult in the region, but they are certainly the interesting ones.

This wine from Vinos Según Cede is described as a Medium Amoroso, the old name for a lightly sweetened Oloroso. Other than that there’s very little information.

Medium Contubernio (19%, Vinos Según Cede 2024, Lote 030424MD)

Nose: like a 10-15 year old Oloroso. The sweetness is not easy to note at this point. You get dates and raisins, with almond biscuits and hints of toasted almonds. Also precious polished wood. Underneath there is a whiff of lemony sharpness. Hints of dried apricot, along with a very light smoky touch. Now I realize most of what I’m mentioning are sweetish aromas, but it’s far less sweet than I expected.

Mouth: more serious, with only a low sweetness and a lot of big Oloroso character coming out. There’s a fairly old dry Oloroso (as well as some Amontillado?) at its base, no doubt. That means plenty of hazelnuts and walnuts, with some maple syrup and velvety caramel to make it rounder. Good acidity again, with a saline edge. A very powerful old wine, only rounded off by its sweetness. Light bitterness and smoke in the aftertaste.

Availability: this was part of a Contubernio pack. Remaining bottles are still available from their webshop for € 12 (half bottle).

Summary: A Medium sherry with a lot of old and serious wine at its base, and only the minimum amount of sweetness. In fact one of the driest mediums I've had. A perfect pairing for a cheese table, in my opinion.

4

Very good

Tags: 19%, Amoroso, Club Contubernio, Medium Sweet, Vinos Según Cede

About the Author

Ruben is a Certified Sherry Educator who fell in love with sherry some 25 years ago, but switched to a higher gear in 2013 and started writing about it. Lived in Madrid for a couple of years, now back in Belgium. I also run a whisky blog over at www.whiskynotes.be