palo cortado
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.58 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A rare variety of sherry that is initially aged under flor to become a fino or amontillado, but inexplicably loses its veil of flor and begins aging oxidatively as an oloroso, resulting in a wine with some of the richness of oloroso and some of the crispness of amontillado.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "These wines are barely fortified to the minimum 15.5% required by Spanish law. By comparison, olorosos, the aged finos known as amontillados, the rare palo cortados (olorosos that spontaneously start to develop like finos) and sweet Sherries are usually fortified to 18% or 20%."
- "In contrast, palo cortado is hard to find and can retail for upward of 40 euros per bottle (about $52, at $1.29 to the euro) and higher, a price point that is out of reach for daily sherry drinkers. […] While many palo cortados out there are merely different sherries mixed together, and aren’t considered pure by aficionados, some bodegas have been in the business of making the real thing for more than a century."
- "The three restaurants are perched in a row along the waterside setting of Bristol’s supremely handsome former general hospital. (So maybe I did find myself in the property sales office after a few palo cortados – what of it?) […] Yet a big portion of clams, garlicky and fragrant with sherry, costs a fiver, and a generous glass of rare, luscious palo cortado comes in at £4, so I’ll say swings and roundabouts and shut the hell up."