Bodegas: R Jiménez Dávila

Ramón Jiménez Dávila was born in Albuñol, Granada in 1833 and established his wine business in 1860 at the Bodega Victoria on the west side of the Camino de Urdax (now Avenida de la Estación) in El Puerto de Santa María. He also purchased the Viña La Rosa vineyard in the pago Balbaina which supplied musts for some of his best wines, and recognising its quality this vineyard was extremely well cared for. It had been a vineyard since at least the mid XVIII century, having passed through the hands of "indianos", people who had returned after making a fortune in South America.

The casa de viña at Viña la Rosa and the interior of the bodega Victoria

He married a girl from Sevilla, Rosario Mateos Garabito (1846-1921), and they had nine children; five girls and four boys who would continue the business after Ramón´s death in 1912 under the style Hijos de R Jiménez Dávila. The firm lasted until the 1960s and now the bodega complex has gone having been replaced by housing.

In those days there were some 25 bodegas in El Puerto (not to mention 18 cooperages and 8 distilleries!) and Jiménez Dávila was soon regarded as one of the best. His bodegas were full of infinite varieties of Sherry with an unusually large range of Amontillados ranging from wines which were still almost Fino to very old wines, as well as Manzanilla, Madeira, Málaga, Tintilla, Pajarete and Port, and business was brisk with a thriving export trade. As early as 1867 he exported over 260 butts.The firm won medals for the quality of its wines in every competition it entered.

Some of the many brands were: Amontillados Medalla de Oro, Rosa Blanca, Rosa Encarnada, Rosa Amarilla, Rosa Aterciopelada, all from the Viña la Rosa, also Balbaina, Nobleza, Alfonso XIII, Reina Victoria, Imperial Añada 1754 (this was expensive at 25 pesetas a bottle when one could buy 5 litres of a 14 year old Amontillado for the same price!) Then there were Moscatel Casa Real, Pedro Ximénez NPU and Ponche Davila to name a few.

Grateful thanks to Bernardo Rodriguez Caparrini for information.

La Bota de Manzanilla Pasada 83 Bota No 16.5%, Equipo Navazos

Appearance
Deep bright gold, almost pure amber with old gold highlights.
Nose

Beautiful, full, deep and complex, this is almost Amontillado but not just quite. It is at a wonderful tipping-point stage where it has distinct light and charming Amo notes of hazelnut and almost caramel-like gentle oxidation yet still has some fresh zippy Manzanilla undertones as well as slightly buttery notes of cabezuela, faint traces of straw, flor and salinity. It is in fantastic condition, super fresh, and is an absolute treasure.

Palate

Fresh and clean with incredible depth of flavour and complexity. It is lighter than an Amontillado and still has some of that tangy Manzanilla bite with a dry, gently saline bitter edge, but it is fuller, rounder and more concentrated thanks to the beautifully controlled oxidation and an extra 1.5% alcohol which is acquired naturally. The finish is fairly light but packed with lingering flavour. This is an outstanding wine, virtually unique, and shows just why Sherry is the best wine in the world.

Comments

This stunning wine comes from the La Guita bodegas in the Calle Misericordia. Here there is a small solera of 15 very special butts which have reached the very limit of survival of the flor and which are filled almost completely to preserve what remains of it against the oxidation which is creeping in, since only occasional sacas and rocíos are done. Technically the wine is bordering on Manzanilla Amontillada meaning it is very close to Amontillado in style but has not been re-fortified and still has many Manzanilla characteristics. Since the old term Manzanilla Amontillada is no longer permitted in the regulations, the wine has to be labelled Manzanilla Pasada, and it is very Pasada, almost at the limit of being allowed to be called Manzanilla. It has an average age of around 14 years and was selected from just one of the 15 butts so availability is scarce with just 900 half litre bottles released. It is not cheap at 1 euro per centilitre, but it is worth every céntimo.

Price

50 euros per 50cl, Er Guerrita

29.1.19 Brandy de Jerez to be Allowed Average Age Statements

Up till now European legislation (CE 110/2008) has only permitted age statements on labels of Brandy de Jerez to be expressed as the age of the youngest component of a blend, as with whisky, but this does not take into account the solera system and the notion of average age. As it progresses through the scales of a solera the youngest component forms an ever decreasing proportion of the final product, down to some 2%-5% approximately. 

The Consejo Regulador is taking advantage of an opportunity to have the current regulations modified to incorporate the traditional system of criaderas and soleras, and the proposal for such a derogation has already been approved by the EU council of ministers, always providing that the brandy is subject to controls which guarantee its average age. A “delegated act” would be required to activate this which involves the Commission consulting with experts from each member state, but things look hopeful.

Definitions of the criaderas and soleras system and of the method of calculating average age will be contained in a new Annex IV which will substitute the provisions of Annex II in CE 110 and once approved by the EU parliament will hopefully be published in the Official Journal of the EU in the first quarter of 2019. It has been a difficult task to get this far as there has been opposition to it mainly from the Scotch Whisky Association which is a little unfair as it implements very different - static - ageing procedures. Whisky and brandy are very different products from very different places with very different traditions, however. The solera system is not a blending system but rather a dynamic system for ageing blends. Currently Brandy de Jerez has three categories: Solera (min. 6 months wood ageing), Solera Reserva (min. 1 year) and Solera Gran Reserva (min. 3 years), but most, particularly the latter, are much older yet have not been able to state this on the label.

28.1.19 Appeal Period for BIB Ruling Corrected

Last Monday the High Court of Andalucía declared its ruling on the prohibition of BIB effective since the period allowed for the submission of any appeals had expired. It turns out however that this was a mistake as the court had miscalculated the number of working days and instead of expiring on the 21st January it actually expires today at 3 o´clock. This still allows time for the defendants to present their appeal for a judicial review, and if it has merit the court will send the case up to the Supreme Court. The defendants are the Junta´s agriculture department, the Association of Artisan Bodegas of Sanlúcar and three of its members: Yuste, Sánchez Ayala and Argüeso, Hidalgo La Gitana having decided not to take the matter further.