Types of Sherry: Manzanilla, The Wine of Sanlúcar

Of all the different styles of Sherry, Manzanilla is the only wine with its own separate Denominación de Origen within the overall Sherry DO of Jerez-Xeres-Sherry: Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda, granted in 1964. The reason is that it is different despite being made from the same grapes and by the same process. Oddly, according to the regulations Fino can be produced in Sanlúcar but Manzanilla can’t be produced anywhere else, though the grapes for Manzanilla can come from anywhere in the Sherry production zone. But as someone once said, "Manzanilla is born of a romance between the sea and the west wind."

This delightful style of Sherry could be defined as a wine always aged biologically under a film of flor yeast and bottled at various stages of ageing from very young to very old. It is fresh, bone dry and has pungent saline almondy yeasty notes like sea breezes with a hint of dried flowers in its youth, up to tangier, savoury, nutty autolysed yeast notes when older. Manzanilla is the style of Sherry most profoundly affected by the flor yeast since the moist coastal atmosphere promotes its growth.

Sanlucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir looking roughly north

Once the powerful climatic effect was understood, bodegas were built in the best possible locations and oriented to get the most from the humid Atlantic breezes. Furthermore, esparto grass “curtains” on the windows and the earth floors are often sprayed with water to accentuate the coolness and humidity, anything to keep the flor happy.

Because of this, Manzanillas can age for long periods without losing their freshness, as long as the butts are refreshed regularly. In Sanlúcar therefore, soleras have many more criaderas (or “clases” as they are called locally) than in Jerez, and the butts are refreshed more frequently. In Sanlúcar it is not uncommon for this to happen monthly, while it would be more likely quarterly in Jerez.

Sanlúcar de Barrameda is in a unique situation at the mouth of the river Guadalquivir with direct access to the Atlantic. The town lies on the south bank opposite the extensive UNESCO protected marshlands of the Coto Doñana. This geographical position provides a unique fresh, humid microclimate for the production of Manzanilla, as well as providing plenty of the chalky white “albariza” soil which is ideal for the growing of the Palomino grape. The main local vineyard areas or pagos are  Miraflores and El Hornillo.

There is ample evidence that wine has been produced here for some 3,000 years, pre-dating the arrival of the Greeks and the Phoenicians. Successive colonists realised the quality of the wines and production and export grew. But it was not until the XIII century, after the re-conquest from the Moors in 1264, when wine became the principal source of wealth to the town. The lord of Sanlúcar, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán “El Bueno” was awarded privileges by the grateful Catholic Monarchs, one of which was to hold open fairs each year, and these began to attract foreign traders such as the Bretons, English and Flemish. He was also granted the right to load and unload cargo in port, and Sanlúcar grew to be one of the most important ports of the late middle ages.

In 1492 the Americas were discovered, and soon a new seafaring route was opened to “Las Indias”, with Sevilla, further upstream, granted the commercial monopoly of the American trade. This made Sanlúcar an important port for the provisioning of shipping, as some ships were too big to reach Seville, and there were many “Cargadores a Indias” (“provisioners for the Indies”) loading ships with both export goods and provisions for the journey (including the local wine naturally) or transferring arriving goods onto smaller vessels for delivery in Sevilla.

Sanlucar from the river XVI century

With foreign trade increasing, especially in wine, traders were given further privileges as an encouragement. Many, especially the English settled in the area and founded the trading company Compañía de Andalucía in 1530, based at the Church of St. George which was built on land given to them by the Duke. By now the vineyard area had increased massively and many traders were vineyard owners and wine producers, but life soon deteriorated due to the unstable political situation between England and Spain.

With a protestant Queen Elizabeth reigning in England and the great wealth being brought back to Spain by sea, English raiders such as Hawkins and Drake posed a constant threat, leading to the Spanish Armada of 1588. The Spanish Inquisition made life difficult for English traders in Sanlúcar, but though wine exports slowed, they by no means stopped.

The wines of Sanlúcar really took off in the second half of the XVIII century. By the time of the census of 1777 the town had a population of 15,000 of whom 116 were foreign. At this time agriculture and viticulture were the most important activities, followed closely by maritime trade with 26 cargadores a Indias. The main exports were wines, spirits and salt, while the most important imports were sugar and cacao. By the end of the century some cargadores had moved their business to Cádiz yet still lived in Sanlúcar, where many diversified into the wine trade, looking north rather than west for business.

Towards the end of the XVIII century much had been invested in the vineyards, and a wine they called Manzanilla first appeared. The first recorded reference to it is in 1781 at a Cádiz council meeting. It won great popularity especially in Cádiz being lighter than the usual oxidised more Oloroso styles of a single year which had been the norm. There is no written evidence, but it is thought that the idea of the solera came from the taverns, often run by “montañeses” or people from the north of Spain. They noticed that when a barrel of Manzanilla was not regularly topped up the flor yeast which developed on the surface made the wine more interesting, and producers experimented with ways to do this on a bigger scale. The development of Manzanilla and the solera went hand in hand.

With the XIX century came war with Napoleon and French occupation during which 1,700 butts of wine disappeared and in the 1830s the loss of the American colonies. Yet Sanlúcar was on the verge of its golden age as wealthy expats returned in the second half of the century. The bourgeois class was emerging and the wine business was growing with increased investment in vineyards and the construction of bigger bodegas. The railway arrived in 1877 facilitating sales further afield within Spain. Phylloxera in France helped increase exports. Manzanilla became the most popular wine in Spain and beyond. Bodegas in Jerez and El Puerto all listed Manzanilla. But it all crashed to a halt when Phylloxera arrived in Sanlúcar in 1894 wiping out many vineyards and smaller bodegas.

The XX century saw gradual recuperation but was very quiet until after the 1940s when sales began to increase again through till the end of the 1970s when sales of Sherry in general began to plummet. Currently Manzanilla is extremely popular especially at the ferias, but Fino sales are currently ahead.

Etymologically speaking the word Manzanilla is tricky. If you order it outside Andalucía you will get a cup of camomile (Sp. Manzanilla) tea. Both will do you good but one is much more fun than the other. It could be named after a town called Manzanilla in the province of Huelva. Academics have argued about the word’s origin for years as there is no historical documentation. In the days before accurate records and Denominaciónes de Origen it was quite common for wines to go from one area to another either for blending or for export from a suitable port – such as Sanlúcar. The wine from Sanlúcar could have been named for its similarity to the other (ie “like Manzanilla wine”). After all, Amontillado is named as being “like Montilla wine”. Certainly many wines are named after the place they come from. Other possibilities are that it is named after the occasional floral camomile-like aroma found in some Manzanillas or after the slight apple (Sp. manzana) aroma. Then there are Manzanilla Olives, the briny aroma of which can often be detected in the wine. Whatever the case, the word Manzanilla has meant Fino-style wine from Sanlúcar for well over 200 years. Another curiosity is the fact that while wine is a masculine word in Spanish (el vino), Manzanilla is feminine, and many labels reflect that eg: Gabriela, La Guita, Aurora, La Goya, La Gitana etc. There have certainly been a few prominent women producing Manzanilla over the years.

Javier Hidalgo of La Gitana with typical Sanlucar cane venencia

This wonderful liquid is bottled in various forms. Manzanilla Fina is a young wine heavily filtered for the everyday market, the bread and butter of the bodegas. Wine labelled simply Manzanilla can vary from Fina to some quite old wine, say 3 – 9 years old. Then comes Manzanilla Pasada, a wine which has spent longer in solera and is usually sold at well over 8 years old. This has much more complexity thanks to longer flor contact and some autolytic flavours from the dead yeast cells at the bottom of the butt. It is similar to a Jerez Fino-Amontillado, but in Sanlúcar a wine can be very old before they want to use the word Amontillado. For instance La Guita has a “Manzanilla Pasada Vieja” which is about 22 years old and an even older Viejísima. They used to use terms like Manzanilla Amontillada and Manzanilla Olorosa (fragrant rather than an Oloroso) but they were deemed too confusing. Now labels must have one descriptor of the wine so an old Manzanilla Pasada will probably have to say Amontillado. La Guita’s Manzanilla Pasada Vieja mentioned above is labelled by Equipo Navazos as Amontillado yet it still has strong zippy Manzanilla characteristics.

Finally there are the En Rama wines, a style pioneered in Sanlúcar, which are usually selected for their good character and bottled with minimal “stabilisation” (or excessive filtration). They have lost much less of their colour and solera flavour and are quite delicious. We are told to drink them as fresh as possible, but they will happily age in bottle – some are even bottled in magnum for that specific purpose.

5.12.15 More High Scores for Williams & Humbert

The Wine Spectator has awarded high points to various Sherries from this illustrious bodega. The influential American magazine obviously liked these wines: 90 points means “Outstanding, a wine of superior character and style,” while 88 points signifies “Very good, a wine with special qualities.” It is good to see Sherry being taken seriously.

Grupo Mostolé – Organic Producers

Founded by José (Pepe) Cabral, this is a group of seven growers formed in 2013 with a total between them of 20 hectares of organic grapes, mostly Palomino, between Trebujena and Jerez. These grapes are allowed for DO Jerez being grown within the official production zone and indeed used to be sold to bodegas, but they are now used to make upmarket young table wines or “mostos” – which the group would like to see as a DO unaged Sherry.  

The Andalucian Organic Certification Seal

Pepe was inspired by the idea of Beaujolais Nouveau, red wine released young and fresh amid lots of media attention. It saves the producers money as the wine is sold as soon as it is ready, avoiding the expenses of ageing. Now these mostos are growing in popularity; most bars offer one, often with a typical stew such as “ajo caliente” (tomato, garlic, bread, oil) and there are even tasting routes and competitions. The mostos are the earliest wines to be released in Europe. The name Mostolé derives from “mosto” (newly fermented wine) and “olé” (hooray!) and expresses their enthusiasm for it.

Most of the Mostolé crop was bought by the cooperative AECOVI Jerez to make the first ever organic Sherry but unfortunately AECOVI went bust in early 2015 and the Sherry dream was never realised. The coop did however produce a couple of vintages of the group’s table wines bottled en rama: Riachero from Palomino grapes grown by José Fernández Aguilar, and Entusiástico made by Pepe Cabral since 2009, a Palomino which includes about 10% percent of the once widely planted Mantua Castellano grape. Grapes from his vineyard were made into the first organic Manzanilla – Manzanilla Entusiástica – by Delgado Zuleta and launched in 2015.

L-R: Salvador Real, Jorge Pascual and Pepe Cabral launching the Manzanilla (foto:cosasdecome)

Pepe is keen to recuperate old grape varieties which, despite their quality are not now permitted, varieties like Mantua Castellano and the Alarije Dorada, which he would field graft. He says that there were no fewer than 52 varieties growing in the Trebujena area in the XVIII century. His plan is to encourage lots of growers to follow his example and recover the diversity of grapes in the area, make their own quality, ideally organic, wine with its own character and create a revolution with wine made with respect for the vineyard, and with all this achieved, they might make some money.

The group has its own awards ceremony in which a “chambra de crudillo” (a hardwearing jacket typically worn by wine growers in the XVIII century) is awarded to the “enthusiast of the year”. For the time being these wines can only be consumed locally due to their limited production, but they merit a visit in themselves. Too many visitors to the area confine themselves to the big bodegas in Jerez and miss out on all the interesting things happening elsewhere in the area. Get yourself here in November and enjoy a whole new experience!

Manzanilla Ecologica Entusiastica 15%, Delgado Zuleta

Appearance

Deepish for a young Manzanilla, mid strawy gold, brassy highlights and light legs.

Nose

Unusual but attractive, an interesting mix of flor and fruit with elements of dried fruit such as apricot and a slight butteriness. Naturally being a new solera it lacks some of the complexity that would impart, but there is plenty of the briny doughy character and a certain salinity. It is a bit like mosto aged under healthy flor. It is really interesting.

Palate

A slight cider note gives way to flor bitterness then that hint of fruit kicks in. I think the fruit might come from the Mantua Castellano grape, a traditional variety which might unofficially be in the wine. It is quite intense and rounded in the mouth then gets drier towards the end. For a young wine it has amazing character and I can't wait to see how it develops in the years to come.

Comments
This is the first organic Manzanilla on the market, and was released on the 9th October. It is suitable for vegetarians and vegans alike. The project goes back to 2011 when Pepe Cabral, a grower of ecological Palomino grapes and co-founder of Mostelé, a group of organic growers, decided it was time there was an organic Manzanilla. Previously he had been working with the cooperative AECOVI Jerez but they went bust. 

The paperwork was double the usual, what with the Consejo and the Organic certification which comes from both the EU and Andalucian bodies. He approached Jorge Pascual the director of Delgado Zuleta, who was very interested. After the 2012 harvest 1,000 litres of must from 1 hectare Pepe owns in the Pago Burujena near Jerez were put into two specially prepared ex La Goya butts in the DZ bodega Don Rafael. The must was fortified with organic spirit and left to age, and as the 2013 and 2014 musts arrived a tiny solera was forming. 2 sacas are envisaged each year. It wasn't easy for a big bodega to make such a small quantity, and this might well have some influence on the character.

In October 2015 a very small saca was made (1,100 bottles)with a view to launching the wine and finding out what the public thought of it. While the wine is made exactly the same way as all Manzanilla - albeit with organic grapes - the presentation is very innovative. The en rama wine had a deep colour for its age so a clear glass bottle was chosen to highlight it and it has a driven organic cork. The label is from a painting by the Russian artist Igor Andreiev. The packaging was all done by Pepe Cabral. The successful launch took place at DZ with the new wine being presented by its makers: Pepe Cabral, Jorge Pascual and Salvador Real, the DZ oenologist. I hope and believe this will be just the first of many organic Sherries.

Price

18.15 Euros. Only available in Sanlúcar as far as I know.

2.12.15 Japan Loves Fino & Manzanilla

Jerez Chamber of Commerce yesterday brought Jerez companies a step closer to the Japanese market. Some 40 Jerez businesses attended the meeting as well as Juan Núñez Moreno, director of the Confederation of Businesses in Cádiz and Kentaro Naruse, director of Jetro Madrid, a Japanese governmental organisation to promote trade between Spain and Japan.

Naruse said that what the Japanese market wants is diversity and quality of products. Three Jerez companies with much experience in Japan were called upon to talk about their experience to encourage small and medium-sized companies to get involved with export: Estévez, Williams & Humbert and Productos Majuelo. The latter makes an up-market range of sauces, vinegars, salt etc.

The three companies explained the rigour and faithfulness of the Japanese market. It is very difficult to get into, so when neighbouring countries see goods going to Japan, they see this as a guarantee that they also should import them. Joaquín Gómez of Majuelo said that this allowed them access to the Australian and New Zealand markets. Buyers saw our products in Japan and knew they must be good and therefore worth importing themselves.

Williams & Humbert operations director Rafael Medina said that they had been exporting Sherry to Japan for 25 years. He said it was easier to deal with small and medium-sized wholesalers or intermediaries who can sell to the smaller people. Guillermo Arce, brand development director at Estévez, said that Japan is our most important Asiatic market for bottled wine. We have been there for many years and have a very wide range of consumers, from big corporations with huge consumption to the gourmet market which takes the best the bodega can offer, specialised demanding consumers who are happy to pay for the best. Our best sellers in Japan are Fino and Manzanilla. There has been a boom in Sherry bars and Tapas bars which suits us very well as they act as our ambassadors. I have been to Sherry bars there which have the best list of Sherries anywhere.

2.12.15 Emperador: “A New Era”

Philippine magnate Andrew Tan, whose Emperador empire bought Harveys, Terry and Fundador on Saturday, arrived to have a look round the bodegas in Jerez on Monday where he signed a butt with the words “A new era begins.” He was impressed by the brandy bodega La Mezquita and met the workforce of 160 at the various production centres in the city to whom he expressed enthusiasm. The distillery in Tomelloso (La Mancha) has a further workforce of 15.

Mr Tan assured them that Emperador will do all it can to expand the brandy and Sherry markets in different parts of Asia. The magnate, of Chinese origin, explained: “I came to Jerez 33 years ago to learn how to make brandy and since then it has been very close to my heart. 42 years ago my father was so pleased when I graduated from university that he and his best friends opened – and drank – three bottles of Fundador, so I have fond memories of it and it has always been a part of our celebrations.” His passion for brandy goes farther than that, however, and he expressed his satisfaction in the purchase also of Tres Cepas and Centenario.

Andrew Tan in Jerez (foto:diariodejerez)

After successive changes of ownership, what used to be Domecq lost emblematic Sherry brands like the La Ina range (now Lustau), the VORS wines and the brandies Carlos I and Carlos III (now Osborne), but Beam Suntory kept the Terry and Harveys Sherries. Harveys Bristol Cream is the leading brand in Britain, one of Emperador’s strategic markets where just last year they bought Whyte & Mackay, the 5^th largest Scotch whisky distiller in an ambitious expansion project.

Generally speaking the wine and spirit trade in Jerez is happy with the arrival of Emperador as this investment could develop sales of Jerez brandy in the Philippines market, its biggest export market with over 4 million litres, and that might restore some prestige to the brandy of Jerez.

1.12.15 César Saldaña on the Sherry Symposium

César Saldaña director of the Consejo Regulador is interviewed by JP Lobato of the Diario de Jerez.

“The Scientific Symposium held over last weekend in Jerez to celebrate the 80^th anniversary of the DO has served above all to fill a gap in the recent recorded history of Sherry. Today we know much more about the last 80 years than we did before, which is very gratifying to the trade,” commented César on behalf of the organising committee and the Consejo.

When we began organising the symposium, the committee said that if 60 people attended it would be a success, but it ended up with 100, and we are sure that if there had been more room more would have come. It was a great success, not just in terms of the number of people coming but also in the level of attendance at each and every event. The Consejo is very pleased that each sector of the trade was represented. There must be a reason for so much interest and now we have to analyse this response, because the presence of young people gives us hope for the future and justifies optimism that the trade is being seen through different perspectives. The committee will soon publish the minutes of each event which will later be reflected in a book.

Cesar Saldaña, Consejo director

Does this mean that this will be the first of other conferences on Sherry? “Of course, but we’ll need to look into which aspects. This event was multidisciplinary, and from now on we want to be more specific, questions such as image, pricing, profitability of the wine, which is the daily task of those in the trade. Research needs to be done into many aspects.”

On top of covering the last not particularly well recorded 80 years of the history of the Consejo and its wines, the final day covered the very important matter of the future of Sherry and was a “real exercise in full, deep reflection.”  Many of those who attended the symposium were delighted that the issue was squarely addressed and referred clearly to the delicate position in which the industry finds itself; why and how people have turned away from Sherry both at home and abroad. César referred to his own lecture saying that his analysis of the markets offered an opportunity: now we know where we are and that is essential in deciding where we want to go. This is our challenge now: taking into account the complexity of the markets and paying attention to the growing numbers of young experts and people who are interested in wine, who are leading us to predict a change in fashion.