Vino de Pasto

Traditionally Spanish 'Vinos de Pasto' were white table wines. They share some winemaking traditions with classic sherry wines, but they are not fortified. Often there was some degree of ageing though. They’re close to the base wines for sherry production, the sobretablas that go into the top of a Fino solera. While very common until the late 19th century, they fell into oblivion after the phylloxera plague and the foundation of the D.O. in 1935.

While Vino de Pasto is generally considered to be a daily wine with a simple appearance, there is now a tendency to use this name as a badge of honour. Intentional understatement, so to speak. Vinos de Pasto can reveal high quality and high complexity.

Several references exist in old price lists. It’s surprising to see that Vinos de Pasto generally had a higher price than their fortified counterparts. It compensates the additional work and higher risk of failure for the producer. If you look at the 1864 price list of González Byass,  the price was almost the same as a Fino (which was still a rare style back then) and twice the price of a “good sherry”.

A key element for Vino de Pasto is authenticity, which translates as a firm regional anchoring. If you’re passionate about terroir in the sherry region, then this is an essential piece in the puzzle.

While there are no strict rules or obligatory elements (yet), Vino de Pasto will adhere to most of the following elements:

• No fortification (although many will reach 13% -15% in a natural way)
• Focus on albariza soil and terroir, in order to express the unique characteristics of the region but also each vineyard or pago
• Focus on autochtonous grape varietals. Often this means monovarietal Palomino Fino wines, but also wines from Tintilla de Rota or the ancient varietals
• Often using traditional winemaking techniques, like a short asoleo (sun drying- often no more than a few hours though) or fermentation in cask
• Sometimes they’re flirting with classic sherry wines by applying a short biological ageing or using ex-sherry casks for ageing, but never at the expense of the soil expression

sherrynotes.com