Antonio
Barbadillo Mateos left the Barbadillo family bodega in 2008 with the idea of establishing a
business sourcing and bottling the finest jewels of Andalusian winemaking. In Autumn 2010 he and his wife and four sons began Sacristia AB Seleccion. This is not a bodega, he simply sources the finest wine and has it bottled. Based in
Sanlücar he specialises in Manzanilla but is not confined to it.
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| Antonio with the then mayor. He's tall isn't he?! (foto:sanlucardebarrameda.tv) |
He is a
large man, physically, personally and professionally, charming and with
extraordinary skills such as being able to tell which neighbourhood a
Manzanilla had matured in. He has, of course, an exemplary family background.
For his Manzanilla he already had a shortlist of possible suppliers, finally
choosing the iconic Sánchez Ayala. For the first release he tasted his way
through 80 solera butts and chose 32 from which to make his blend. The
quantities from each were not always the same and once the blend was made it
was allowed to settle at 5-6ᴼ before bottling en rama.
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| Antonio Sr and Jr presenting the new wine (foto:cosasdecome) |
He is also
looking into Amontillados, Olorosos, Palos Cortados and both Jerez and Montilla
PX, and has already launched A very old (@ 60 years old) Amontillado and a 50 year old Oloros from Jerez. The labels’ AB/barrel logo was
designed by his son Antonio. At the start he had hoped to bottle Manzanilla in 4 seasonal sacas, but hasn't managed to achieve this so far. The wines he has released are of impeccable quality and character, however.
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| Sacristia was used at the Copa Jerez. Note the magnum labels! |
Sacas to
date:
Manzanilla (“La
señorita de Sanlúcar” as Antonio likes to call it!)
2010: (October,
Sánchez Ayala), 2011: (May, Sánchez Ayala), 2012: (April + September, Sánchez
Ayala), 2013: (January, Francisco Yuste + May, Sanchez Ayala also in magnum)
2014: 2 sacas (June and He filled 150 magnums but is only selling 115. The rest he will keep to observe how the wine evolves in bottle. It evolves more slowly in magnum. 2015: (September, Francisco Yuste)
Amontillado
2014 (from
an ancient solera once owned by the Conde de Aldama, now owned by Francisco
Yuste. It is around 60 years old and there are only 350 half bottles).
Oloroso
50 years old from Jerez but the bodega is a secret for the time being for some reason. Anyway it is his first non-Sanlucar wine.
Website: www.sacristiaab.com
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