Sunday 9 June 2013

9.6.13 First Organic Manzanilla

The finished product will be a while in coming, but an agreement has been signed between bodegas Delgado Zuleta and Jose Cabral, grower and winemaker in the Sanlucar area, to produce an organic Manzanilla. Jose Cabral will produce the grapes and make the initial wine, fortify it, and send it for ageing to Delgado Zuleta.

These are times of innovation, and new ideas are coming to market, yet still within the rules of production. Recently, Delgado Zuleta surprised the market with the launch of Goya XL, a Manzanilla “reposada” – or pasada – and bottled en rama. It impressed experts who already know the bodega’s long history (established 1744).

The idea with the new wine is to go further, to the grapes and vineyards themselves, where Jose Cabral is cultivating his grapes to the strictest ecological regulations, certified by the relevant authorities. The must from the grapes is very carefully fermented at the Cooperativa Catolica Agricola and taken to Delgado Zuleta bodegas where it is filled into butts, carefully selected by the bodega’s enologist, Manuel Barba, and placed in an ideal area for its crianza (ageing).

The Consejo Regulador is already involved in the project, along with the food and agriculture laboratory which will monitor progress. The plan is to create a new scale every year for the initial solera and eventually run the scales in a way which will produce the correct development of the flor to produce the final product – the organic Manzanilla.


The project started off with only a couple of butts, but is developing and will be constantly monitored by all the parties involved, who will also analyse the opportunities for the wine in markets where the adjective “organic” is highly valued. There is no doubt there is a market for these wines and there is plenty of scope.  The En Rama concept has helped to reawaken consumer interest in Sherry, and the new organic Manzanilla will surely add to it.

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