Entusiastico 2010 11.5%, Pepe Cabral

Appearance

Pale gold with golden highlights.

Nose

Forthcoming, ripe and mature yet very fresh with stewed apple and lactic custard notes, straw, a certain soft minerality and very slight bottle age notes. It is very attractive with a hint of sweetness from ripeness and maturity rather than sugar.

Palate

Fresh, dry and clean with the right level of acidity, though a little softer than it was. Lots of fresh and stewed apple along with hints of ripe buttery pineapple and the faintest oxidative note with a certain roundness from maturity. Good length. This wine is in superb condition for its seven years.

Comments

Made from 100% Palomino grapes grown organically in Pepe Cabral's Viña Entusiasmo in Trebujena. This is the first Andaluz wine certified suitable for vegans. The wine's name might seem familiar, and not without reason; Pepe grows the grapes for the first organic Manzanilla, Entusiastica, which is made at Delgado Zuleta. He also supplies mosto to various people. He is a leading light in the Mostolé movement to recuperate the styles of wine and grape varieties of the past and is its president.

Price
4,95, De Albariza

21.12.16 Delgado Zuleta Release 2nd Saca of Entusiástico

Entusiástico is the first ever organic Manzanilla and has now spent three years under flor in its little solera in Sanlúcar consisting of butts previously used for Manzanilla La Goya. Both the wine and the fortifying alcohol are certified organic and the final product is bottled en rama. The grapes came from a one hectare plot in the Pago Burujena, owned and worked by Pepe Cabral, one of the founder members of Mostolé, a group of growers who produce small quantities of organic wine from their own vineyards.

According to José Federico Carvajal, commercial director of Delgado Zuleta, the wine is developing nicely and taking on some of the house style with more floral and yeasty notes yet retaining  a certain fruitiness as well, giving it freshness. The presentation has changed for this second saca with a new label illustrating a girl with flowers strolling in the countryside. Only 1,200 bottles have been released, so it will be hard to obtain, especially as DZ have received many pre-orders, but it can be purchased from the bodega and certain restaurants and shops in the Sanlúcar area.

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.