In Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Cask of Amontillado”, one nobleman’s grudge finally turns murderous, as he lures his long-time rival deep into his wine cellars, where he then leaves him to die. The rival misses the ominous tones we readers pick up on partly because he is drunk… but also because he has been promised a sip of the narrator’s finest Amontillado.
This wine, so coveted that (at least in this case) it’s to die for, hails from the Spanish winemaking region of Montilla.
The word Amontillado was coined in the 18th century, meaning ‘in the style of Montilla’ and it’s this style that so literally sealed the fate of the narrator’s ill-equipped rival.
Amontillado begins very similarly to the region’s Finos. The grapes are dried by the sun into raisins, which concentrates the sugars to produce its sweet taste. Similarly, it enters the solera system, an aging method that blends new vintages into older ones to smooth out any anomalies and create a consistency year-to-year.
Unlike Fino, Amontillado has a much longer aging journey. As it continues to age, it oxidizes, which breaks down the wine’s crisp primary flavors into more complex, nuanced levels and brings its
soft color to a rich amber or brown-yellow color. This oxidation is
as careful a process as the solera system, and winemakers take great care to control humidity and temperature as they go.
The result is a wine that has both lightness in body but a depth of flavor, a sweet harmony that becomes synonymous with Montilla. Amontillado typifies the winemaking of Montilla, in its sweetness, commitment to quality through fine vinicultural control, and the surprising depth found in every sip.
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