Though his name might suggest otherwise, Jesús Barquín is uncomfortable with being thought of as a saviour. But this accidental wine merchant may soon need to get used to it. Along with his friends Eduardo Odeja and Álvaro Girón, Barquín is the driving force behind Equipo Navazos, the mysterious group of Spanish academics, hobbyists and wine professionals responsible for the most exciting new wine launches of the past decade – a set of wines so good they have transformed the way anyone lucky enough to have tasted them thinks about the region they come from.
That region is Jerez in Andalucía, the home of sherry, a wine style that, as Barquín says, has endured an "unending crisis for nearly 40 years now". Sales of sherry have fallen by 40% in the last two decades, a slump that millions of euros spent on ads and celebrity chef endorsements have done little to arrest. With some 40% of sherry drinkers around the world reckoned to be 65 or over, it's no surprise that Barquín says the prevailing mood in the region, where sherry is vital to the economy, has long been one of "great pessimism for many of the people involved".
Barquín has never given up. A criminal lawyer-turned-academic and director of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Granada, he is also one of Spain's leading wine writers, and one of the world's foremost authorities on sherry. During one of his regular visits to the region in 2005, Barquín met Odeja (the technical director of sherry bodegas La Guita and Valdespino), and Grión (another wine-loving academic) to make what would turn out to be a fateful visit to Bodega Sanchez Ayala, just up the coast from Jerez. The friends came across a solera (set of barrels), which had been untouched for 20 years. The wine inside – a style of sherry known as amontillado – was superb. "We thought it was world-class," says Barquín. "We thought: 'Wouldn't it be exciting to have bottles that we've produced ourselves, to open at home, and bring to wine dinners with friends all over the world."
The trio contacted friends they thought might be interested in helping out and the Equipo Navazos was formed. The team made 600 bottles, labelled as La Bota de Amontillado (after the short story, The Cask of Amontillado, by Edgar Allan Poe), to be shared among the members. Knowing that there were similar hidden gems, however, they began to look for more. Soon they had a series, each labelled with a number and "La Bota de", followed by the style of the wine in question.
Word soon got out. These were sherries, but not as most people knew them; there was something about their texture, concentration and complexity that set them apart. They can be hard to find, although their importers (www.rhône2rioja.co.uk) can provide stockists. The wines listed on this page are more easily accessible, and still delicious, alternatives.
Could Equipo Navazos be the saviours of sherry? Not on their own: the scale of production is too small. But they've certainly got people talking. With other recent developments – such as the success of the Bar Pepito sherry bar in London's King's Cross, and the 13% rise of sherry sales at Waitrose over the past year – it seems that this great wine region may be returning to something approaching its former glories, in this country at least.
Six of the best sherries
La Gitana Manzanilla (£8.49, Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Majestic)
Manzanilla, produced in the town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, is generally speaking the lightest style of sherry, with a saline tang thought to derive from the position of the barrel cellars near to the sea. This is a great introduction to its refreshing charms; dry, crisp, clean, and with a hint of that savoury saline character, it's best served chilled.
Waitrose Solera Jerezana Fino del Puerto Sherry (£8.19, Waitrose)
Like manzanilla, chilled fino sherries age under flor, the layer of yeast that develops on the surface of the wine during the winemaking process, and they're also best served chilled. This typically brilliant example from Lustau has notes of Marmite, roasted nuts, a hint of smoke and citrus, and finishes clean.
Sainsbury's Taste the Difference 12 Year Old Dry Amontillado (£6.86, Sainsbury's)
Amontillado wines are essentially finos that have been left to age after the flor has died, making them more intensely coloured than fino. Few wines on the high street can match this example (again from Lustau) for value: aged for an average of 12 years, it has a touch of sweetness and is zesty and graceful, but with powerful flavours of toffeed nuts and a hint of savoury broth.
Gonzalez Byass Apostoles Palo Cortado Muy Viejo Sherry (around £16.99, 37.5cl, Majestic, Ocado, Waitrose, Harvey Nichols, Fortnum & Mason, Tesco)
A Palo Cortado is a very rare style of sherry that starts its life as a fino, but which switches identity very early on to become more like an oloroso. From Gonzalez Byass, the people behind the estimable, widely available fino, Tío Pepe, this one is so fabulously concentrated as to defy description, with a mellow quality that calls to mind very old Cognac, and endless length.
Solera 1842 Oloroso VOS Valdespino (From £26.95, Lea & Sandeman; Vagabond Wines
Oloroso wines differ from finos in that they do not develop flor, meaning they have more influence from oxygen in the ageing process, making for darker, richer wines in both colour and flavour. Valdespino's benchmark example of an Oloroso Dulce is sweetly rich and concentrated with a nut-praline/sweet nutty bar flavour and silky texture, and a twist of bitterness on the finish.
Harveys PX (£20.49, Waitrose)
PX is made from Pedro Ximenez grapes dried to raisins in the sun, and it looks and tastes like nothing else in the wine world, as dark and viscous as crude oil, and as sweet as pure molasses. Not surprisingly, it can be a little one-dimensional and overpoweringly sweet, but this one has enough definition, texture and raisin/tobacco shop complexity to make it a pleasure on its own, or poured over ice cream. david.williams@observer.co.uk
