Bodegas: Carrasco Hermanos

The origins of this firm go back to 1840 when Manuel Gil y García, from Grazalema (Cádiz), bought the bodegas and fine soleras which had once belonged to Tomás Geraldino y Croquer (the Irishman Thomas Fitzgerald) who had died in 1755. The business grew to be very successful and in 1882 it was expanded and renamed after the relatives the Carrasco brothers (hermanos) joined the firm, based at Calle Cartuja 2-5. They owned a 25 hectare vineyard called San José in the pago Burujena.

The Official Guide to Jerez of 1889 describes them as exporters, particularly to the Americas where they had an office and near monopoly in Mexico, but were also present in other markets. The 1900 edition of the same publication lists them as a very successful business with large, spacious and well thought out premises, having bought another neighbouring bodega.

It seems that on the 31^st December 1895 the business was split into two to best manage the large volume of business. Thus Francisco Carrasco y Hermanos was created and established itself in Calle Arcos 55 where they had a cooperage, distillery and all the appurtenances necessary for a large business. Some of these bodegas now belong to Lustau. In 1897 the firm changed its trading name to Juan Carrasco y Hermanos and was bought out some twenty years later by Gutiérrez Hermanos who moved operations to the Carrasco bodegas in Calle Cartuja.

In 1936 the firm moved to Calle Cordobeses 3 and in 1963 became Fernando Carrasco Sagastizábal (1899-1982) where they remained till they were in turn bought out by Manuel de Argüeso in 1942, becoming part of Manuel de Argüeso SA which itself was bought by Valdespino in 1972.

At this point the firm disappeared from the radar except that there was a Fernando Carrasco Chacón, presumably the son, still operating  as late as 1984 likely as an almacenista and at the same address. The old bodega now belongs to Tradición CZ. Some small and very old soleras were bought by M Gil Luque and sold under the De Bandera label. Equipo Navazos Palo Cortado No.6 came from one of these.

Best known brands were  Manzanilla Fina Rafael, Amontillado Colombo, Pajarete 1800, Jerez Quinado Del Uno, Coñac san Carlos.

Corta y Raspa Viña Atalaya 2016 11%, José Manuel Harana

Appearance

Bright pale gold with golden highlights.

Nose

Fresh,clean and natural with notes of very young Manzanilla, very mineral with hints of fresh herbs and wild plants and a maritime note. There are faint notes of apple and even flor, so the wine leans slightly more towards Manzanilla than fruity table wine. Classic Sanlúcar vino blanco.

Palate

Light young and fresh with good acidity, almost crunchy, the fruit is balanced out by a faint flor bitterness and saline minerality which gives it a lovely tension. There is a chalky texture and while it seems a little lean at first it soon fills out and leaves a super clean dry finish. It is barely a year old and more time in bottle will bring it out further and enhance the vineyard character.

Comments

José Manuel Harana Yuste is a 5th generation grower and one of the three mayetos involved in the Mayetería Sanluqueña project which was the brainchild of oenologist Ramiro Ibáñez to make the vineyards more profitable by selling a finished product rather than just grapes. José Manuel's grapes come from his Viña Atalaya vineyard in the Pago Atalaya where the soil is the lentejuela type of albariza. All the Mayetería Sanluqueña wines have been made in exactly the same way, fermented in butt, to let the vineyard speak for itself, all the wines are different and all are good, showing just how important and how interesting vineyards are. Production for 2016 was just 700 bottles, but that could increase when he sees how well received the wines have deservedly been. Bottled by MC3 in El Puerto de Santa María.

Price

9.95 euros, De Albariza

Sweet Sherry for Ladies

Fashions come and fashions go, and as far as wine is concerned sweetness is definitely a fashion. A century ago – and even much more recently - sweet wines were far more popular than now. For example, divers were surprised by the sweetness of the Champagne they rescued from a XIX century shipwreck in the Baltic. But it shouldn’t be a fashion, it is not about being “cool”, it is all about the right wine for the right dish or the right occasion. And it is surely not about gender.

Sweeter styles, at least the more inexpensive ones, are often appreciated by novice wine drinkers because they are easier to drink, and also by older people who are accustomed to the sweeter styles of the past. These days, many people profess not to like sweet wines, as if they were for simpletons or amateurs (or not “cool”), but I have done many tastings which included Cream, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel and – albeit with a little explanation - people loved them. Some think dark wine is sweet and that certain grape varieties are too, but this is usually not the case.

The fact is that the grape variety and colour don’t matter – the important thing is quality. These wines are often much more difficult to make and require great skill and special conditions, and many are not legendary without good reason. Sweet wines go with all sorts of dishes which are unsuitable for dry wines and are every bit as delicious. It is not as if loads of sugar has been added, as many seem to think; they contain natural grape sugar.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with sweet wines, indeed some of the world’s greatest wines are sweet; Sauternes, Málaga, Tokaj, Port, Constantia and the PX and Moscatel Sherries to name just a very few – and they offer all sorts of flavours and textures which dry wines simply can’t, though naturally the opposite also applies. All decent wines are interesting, dry or not.

So to get to the point, it has long been assumed, mainly by the men who made the wines, that ladies prefer something sweet, as if we were a simpler breed with simpler tastes, but my enquiries show that most of us in fact have much more sophisticated and wide-ranging tastes. Women are less dogmatic and accept a wine for what it is or what it is for. Furthermore, women are scientifically proven to be more sensitive tasters. In fact increasing numbers of women are working as oenologists at bodegas around the world, and the Marco de Jerez is no exception.

Thankfully, these condescending “special wines for ladies” are a thing of the past. Sweet or not, ladies are more than capable of making up their own minds, thank you very much.

Corta y Raspa Viña Morla 2016 11%, Rafael Rodríguez

Appearance

Pale straw gold with golden highlights.

Nose

Fresh clean, open and mineral with slight marine notes, there is a gentle leanness with a real feeling of nature and aromas of open meadow and hints of apple and kiwi. Young fresh and crisp with real vineyard character.

Palate

Crisp and clean, almost like biting into an apple, then salinity and minerals come through. There is a good acidity and while the whole thing seems on the lean side there is enough breadth. While lovely now, the wine is still young and that breadth will develop well over a couple of years.

Comments

Despite being made in an identical way, this wine is very different from the Viña Las 40 and shows the vineyard effect clearly. It was one of just 700 bottles made of 100% Palomino from the 3rd generation mayeto Rafael Rodríguez' vineyard Viña Morla in the Pago Añina with help from consultant oenologist Ramiro Ibáñez, whose brilliant idea the Corta y Raspa wines and the Mayetería Sanluqueña project was. There are two wines from Rafael, the other coming, like this one, from the tosca cerrada albariza soil of his Las 40 vineyard (QV). The idea was for the mayetos to make  a more sustainable income from their vineyards, and if the quality is as good as this, then they will. It was contract bottled by EMC3 in El Puerto de Santa María. Rafael is one of three growers involved in the project, and there is sure and certain hope that more will join.

Price
9.95 euros, De Albariza

Brandy Cardenal Mendoza Carta Real Solera Gran Reserva 40%, Sánchez Romate

Appearance

Deep walnut tinged mahogany with gold and copper highlights and a trace of green at the rim.

Nose

Intense and aromatic with a wealth of nuances. An attractive caramel and raisin sweetness greets the nose, then there are notes of dried fig, date, prune, oak, dried orange peel, spice and traces of Oloroso and PX, but with a brandy of this age many nuances are melding together to form an outstanding and complex bouquet. 

Palate

Full and super smooth with remarkably little tannin, but a great deal of flavour. It coats the mouth generously with a gentle sweetness and develops powerful notes of dried fruits, traces of nuts, toffee, oak, leather and tobacco. It has real layers of flavour and an extremely long and fairly dry finish.

Comments

This superb brandy was introduced to commemorate the arrival of the new milennium with something special and is available in limited quantities in numbered bottles. It has an average age of at least 25 years. A parcel of the standard Cardenal Mendoza, already a Solera Gran Reserva was set aside for extra ageing in 1981, the bi-centenary of the founding of the bodega. It was put in mainly old Oloroso and a few PX butts till it had an average age of at least 25 years. The name Carta Real commemorates a dinner at the Royal Palace in Madrid in 1900 when wines and brandies from Sánchez Romate were served. In fact the owner of the bodega at the time, Juan Manuel Sánchez y Gutiérrez de Castro was also a minister to King Alfonso XII who elevated him to Duke of Algeciras for his efficiency in organising an international conference there.

Price
Around 70 euros

Corta y Raspa Viña La Charanga 2016, 12.5%, Antonio Bernal

Appearance

Pale silvery strawy gold with bright golden highlights.

Nose

Super fresh, clean and natural with notes of apple skin and wild meadow plants, both herbs and flowers. A faint hint of sweeties is overpowered by salinity and ozone, and there is even a slight trace of lemon icing. Young and promising.

Palate

Clean, fresh and crisp with a distinct malic note, surprising given the 12.5% strength and the ripeness that would imply. Yet that malic acidity gives the wine amazing freshness and is certainly a part of the Palomino flavour profile when young. The salinity is still there, adding to the fun. This is a very young wine and needs time in bottle to develop, but I am sure it will develop well.

Comments
This is was one of 1,000 bottles made from 100% Palomino grapes grown by Antonio Bernal Ortega, a 4th generation grower, in his historic Viña La Charanga vineyard in the northwest part of the Pago Maina (or Mahina) near Sanlúcar. Here the soil is the barajuelas type of albariza and the vines are around 30 years old. He also supplies grapes to Viticultores Alba for their lovely sparkling wines. As a "member" of Mayetería Sanluqueña, the project set up by oenologist Ramiro Ibáñez to make the vineyards more profitable, the wine is made from low yield grapes which are virtually organic and fermented naturally in butts. All the project's wines are made the same way allowing the individual vineyards to speak for themselves, and they do. This project deserves maximum support and will hopefully help protect the vineyards from encroaching urbanisation. I would like to buy the Corta y Raspa range again to see how they age, and it would be very helpful if some way of identifying the vintage were on the labels, even a lot number. Yes it is on the cork, but you have to remove the capsule to see it, and most wine merchants wouldn't want you doing that.

Price

9.95 euros, De Albariza

Manzanilla Entusiástica 15%, Delgado Zuleta

Appearance

Pale straw gold with golden highlights.

Nose

There are signs of development since the first release with a little less fruit and a little more flor. While the first was more a 15% table wine with a trace of flor, it has developed a little more in the Manzanilla direction. It is very clean and fresh, retaining some mosto notes, but is more of a Sherry now, with faint green herb, almond and flor notes, and most attractive.

Palate

Some apple and quince fruit, grassy green herb notes and just a little bitterness. There is a gentle mineral salinity and a pleasant roundness beautifully balanced by the flor. It is a serious wine with some class and is much better than some young Manzanillas - and it is still a baby. Lovely.

Comments

Organic viticulture is growing in  the province of Cádiz, and while there are quite a few very good organic table wines, this is still the one and only organic Manzanilla. The grapes were grown by organic pioneer Pepe Cabral in his vineyard in the Pago Burujena and the wine was made at Delgado Zuleta. Here the small young solera of only some 12 butts is located and quietly growing in size and complexity every year under the care of oenologist José Sánchez. The butts were previously used for La Goya. This is the second release, and the wine is now three years old and comes with a completely new label, quite different from other brands. Unusual too are the clear glass bottle and driven Diam cork, perhaps with the idea of attracting table wine drinkers - let's hope it works. The wine is bottled en rama and there are - or rather were - about 1100 available.

Price
17.95 euros, De Albariza