Bodegas: Emilio Lustau

One of Jerez's most prestigious bodegas, Lustau dates back to 1896 when it was founded by Don Jose Ruiz-Berdejo, a legal secretary who cultivated a modest vineyard in the outskirts of Jerez caled Finca Nuestra Senora de la Esperanza. Here he made and stored his own wines in a small bodega, and as such was an Almacenista. He would later sell the wines to the big exporting bodegas.

In the 1930s he died, and his son in law took over in 1940. His name was Don Emilio Lustau Ortega from Granada. He managed to combine a rather impressive military career with that of a bodeguero, deciding to move the bodega to the old Santiago area in the heart of Jerez. There, in historic buildings which formed part of the old Arab city walls, he set about slowly but surely building up the business - still as an almacenista. He also invested in more vineyards, in 1948 he purchased Pago La Guita in Balbaina and Pago Pino Fiel in Raboatun, followed in 1962 by Pago la Cruz de Usillo in Balbaina. Emilio began to export wines in the 1950s. In 1962 the company became an SA (limited Company) and his sons took over.

The company continued to expand during the 1970s, constructing new bodegas at the old family finca, then at the start of the 1980s, under the management of Rafael Balao Chilla (1933-93) it became one of the most innovative firms in Jerez. He felt Lustau should be at the forefront of quality, and what with its almacenista roots, he introduced the Solera Reserva range which comes from old almacenista stocks then added the Almacenista range, a series of beautiful wines from small almacenistas bottled by Lustau. Balao also revived the old tradition of Old East India Sherry, and released Vendimia Cream (now Lustau Anada) in 1992.

Luis Caballero, a Sherry, brandy and liqueur producer in Puerto de Santa Maria purchased Lustau in 1990. His Ponche Caballero is Spain's biggest selling liqueur. This added 170 hectares of vineyard at Montegilillo to the portfolio. In 2001 Lustau purchased 6 bodegas in the Calle Arcos from Allied Domecq totalling 20,000 square metres which were then restored, and in 2008 they purchased the great Domecq brands La Ina, Botaina, Rio Viejo Macarena and Vina 25 along with the appropriate soleras - 4,000 butts in all. Lustau now market over 40 wines, not to mention brandy and vinegar. They are now the Sherry division of Caballero which concentrates on spirits.

Their impressive list of products is as follows:

Solera Reserva Range:
Puerto Fino; Fino Jarana; Manzanilla Papirusa; Amontillados Los Arcos and Escuadrilla; Palo Cortado Peninsula; Oloroso Don Nuno; Creams Capataz Andres, Candela and Rare Cream Superior; Moscatel Emilin; PX San Emilio

The Domecq Range
Fino la Ina; Rio Viejo Oloroso; PX Vina 25; Botaina Amontillado; Manzanilla Macarena

Solera Gran Reserva
Oloroso Emperatriz Eugenia

Especialidades
VORS Amontillado; Palo Cortado; Oloroso; PX
East India Solera
Seleccion Centenaria PX Murillo
Anada 1990 Oloroso Dulce

Almacenista Range
10 different rare wines from small almacenista soleras.


Visits? Yes, by previous appointment
Contact
Address: Calle Arcos, 53, 11402 Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz)
Tel: (+34) 956 341 597
Web: www.lustau.es

Puerto Fino 15%, Emilio Lustau

Appearance
Bright pale strawy gold, legs.
Nose
Light and fresh, touches seaside, almond, quince, flor and slight traces of dried apricot and bread with just the slightest hint of Marmite, soft.
Palate
Middle weight soft and very smooth. Less "punzante" (sharp pungent attack) than some, dry, low acid and easy but quite classy with all the flavours offered by the nose plus some Palomino fruit. Good length with some charm and presence.
Comments

This fino has an average age of about 5 years, matured in Lustau's bodega in el Puerto de Santa Maria. It won a gold medal in the 2005 International Wine Challenge, and was Champion Fortified Wine in the IWC of 2007.

Price
About £13.50
Available at Drinkmonger Edinburgh and Pitlochry

Tio Pepe Fino en Rama 15%, Bodegas Gonzalez Byass

Appearance
Rather deeper colour than normal Tio Pepe, mid strawy gold, and not as bright (due to lack of fining and filtration, legs.
Nose
Has a certain intensity and depth, less "punzante" (sharp in attack) than normal Tio Pepe and more complex. Quite broad with very slightly floral notes eg camomile, perhaps less saline, but no lack of Flor. Beautiful.
Palate
Quite full with a gentle tang despite low acidity, very dry and full flavoured, quite savoury - almost to the point of trace yeast autolysis, hints of membrillo (quince) and palomino fruit with slightest hint of oxidation. Flavour lingers on the palate leaving a dry sensation - and the strong desire for another glass!
Comments
This 3rd edition of Tio Pepe en Rama, drawn in Spring when the Flor is thickest, commemorates the 200th anniversary of the birth of the founder Manuel Maria Gonzalez Angel. It comes from a selection of butts from the 4 oldest fino soleras known as "the casks of great aroma", the best of which Manuel Maria used to mark with a chalk star. The wine is sold as it once used to be: direct from the cask without fining nor filtration. (Though these operations provide better stability, they do remove some of the wine's subtlety and intensity). En Rama wines should be enjoyed within about 3 months of bottling, so don't waste a minute in obtaining yours!

I tasted the normal Tio Pepe alongside the En Rama, and they are like chalk and cheese. Normal TP has very little flavour or subtlety after the En Rama, yet is lovely beforehand, so one can see how much is lost in fining and filtration. Also the En Rama was from a specially selected limited range of casks, as opposed to hundreds. It just shows how good Sherry must have been before technology took over.
Price About £15-16 - And worth every penny!

Tio Pepe Fino 15%, Bodegas Gonzalez Byass

Appearance
Fairly pale, bright, strawy gold, legs.
Nose
Noticeable Flor, very fresh with slight salinity, hints of straw, dried flowers and light Palomino fruit.
Palate
Very dry, quite low acidity yet slightly tangy with just a trace of bitterness from the Flor, very clean with good length, and certainly stimulates the appetite. Unashamedly dry, for real Fino aficionados.
Comments
A classic. No nonsense, ultra refreshing and wonderful with tapas. The world's biggest selling Fino, not surprisingly, and very good despite the scale of its production. It came from an original solera laid down in 1849 with three criaderas and a solera but which has grown to 22 soleras containing some 21,750 butts housed on two floors of Jerez's only three storey bodega and various other bodegas too - there are eight in Las Copas. The wine therefore has to be a blend from the various soleras. So there's plenty of scope for wine for the Tio Pepe en Rama, and indeed the Una and Dos Palmas.

Manuel Maria Gonzalez Angel, the founder, named the wine after his uncle (Sp: tio) Jose (pet name Pepe) Angel y Vargas, who encouraged him to make Fino. Uncle Jose often visited and advised his nephew and had a key to the bodega, and being from Sanlucar, he expected Manuel to have some Manzanilla for him. Manuel did this and this Manzanilla formed the basis of the Tio Pepe solera.

Price: £9-10  Available everywhere.

Fino Inocente 15%, Bodegas AR Valdespino

Appearance
Bright strawy gold with golden highlights.
Nose
Big, quite full, plenty flor salinity and slight trace of butter from yeast autolysis, light Palomino fruit, slight almond notes and a hint of dried flowers, dry with subtle quince notes. Complex and full. This is a serious wine, lovely.
Palate

Dry, firm, salty with traces of tangy fruit and mineral notes, fairly low acidity, fresh yet obviously has some solera age which imparts great subtleties and complexity, fuller and more structured than many and quite delicious, its wonderful purity of flavour lingers on the palate arousing the appetite.

Comments

A wonderful wine. The grapes come from the 18 hectare single "Inocente" vineyard located in the classic Pago Macharnudo in Jerez Superior. It is, most unusually, fermented in wood, and aged for about 10 years through the solera system, which has 10 criaderas and then the solera. The solera wine is remarkably mature presenting hints of Amontillado, most of which are lost in filtration. Wine from this solera is also used to feed the Amontillado Tio Diego solera. There are two "sacas" (withdrawals of wine) every year, Spring and Autumn. The brand was first registered in 1894. Wines from this solera have been used on many occasions by Equipo Navazos for La Bota de Fino, and Parker awarded Inocente 94 points.

Price: About £15

Bodegas: Delgado Zuleta

One of the oldest Sherry firms, Delgado Zuleta was officially established in 1744 - though there is evidence of trading going back to 1719 -  by Don Francisco Gil Ledesma y Sotomayor to supply wines to the American colonies. In 1870 his descendant Don Jose Delgado y Zuleta, once a marine arrived at Sanlucar de la Barrameda, married Dolores Nudi y Diaz de la Concha and took over the reins of the firm. In 1876 the company was appointed as a supplier to the royal household.

In 1918 their famous Manzanilla La Goya became the house's first and principal brand. It was named after the stage name of a well known singer and dancer of the era, Aurora Jauffre "La Goya".

In 1978 they merged with the firm of Benito Rodriguez La-Cave SA, retaining the title Delgado Zuleta. Manzanilla La Goya was served at the wedding of the Principes de Asturias - Don Felipe and Dona Letizia in May 2004. They are now King and Queen after the abdication of Don Juan Carlos I.

For a long time the firm owned no fewer than 24 bodegas in Sanlucar: Monte de Piedad, Gitanos, Cuestecilla, Carmen Viejo, Pastora, Luis Equilaz and Trillo, to name a few, but with urban development they became less practical, scattered as they were around the city. Furthermore, their microclimate had been affected and extra precautions to protect the flor had to be implemented. In 1998 the firm consolidated them all into one purpose built complex ideally suited by way of atmosphere to the ageing of Manzanilla. The chosen site is on the Avenida Rocio Jurado, on the Chipiona road. Orientated south-west with good exposure to the west winds and suitable soil humidity (it is built on albariza), the new bodega was designed by  Carlos Delgado Hidalgo.

Moving soleras is a nightmare as many butts are very old and might not stand the disturbance. The oenologist, Manolo Barba, worked with five expert coopers to check the condition of every butt and make any repairs necessary, always using old staves already "known" to the wine. The younger wines - the criaderas - were moved first to acclimatise in their new surroundings, so that when the soleras arrived, they would be fed by wine which was in good shape. The solera casks were arranged extremely carefully, as over centuries bearing the weight of the criaderas, they can be a little distorted. This process took 16 years. It was not till 2012 that Manolo decided that they could make a special approximately annual saca, the outstanding Goya XL which is bottled en rama.

At one time the firm owned top quality vineyards in the Pago Miraflores, such as Viña Las Treinta, but has since sold them and buys in musts from growers and cooperatives.

Export Director Pelayo Garcia with a bottle of La Goya

90% of production (of some 60,000 cases) is Manzanilla. Exports are still fairly small, but growing.

The bodega markets various brands:
From the soleras of Rodriguez de Lacave:  Manzanilla Pasada Barbiana
                                                                     Amontillado Viejo Quo Vadis
                                                                     Amontillado Goyesco
From DZ soleras :                                        Manzanilla La Goya
                                                                     Manzanilla La Goya XL
                                                                     Amontillado Viejo Zuleta
From joint soleras or blending:                    Monteagudo premium range
                                                                     Las Sierras Oloroso/PX/Moscatel
                                                                     Las Señoras Oloroso Abocado
                                                                     Abuelamaria Oloroso Abocado
                                                                     Zuleta range
New solera:                                                  Manzanilla Entusiastica, organic Manzanilla

This organic Manzanilla is made from mosto from the Trebujena vineyard of Pepe Cabral, a local pioneer in organic viticulture, and is getting better with every annual saca.

The firm also produces vinegar and the table wine Viña Galvana blended from Moscatel and Palomino grapes.

Visits can be arranged by prior appointment -

Contact: comercial@delgadozuleta.com
Avda. Rocio Jurado (Carretera Chipiona), km 1.5
11540 Sanlucar de la Barrameda, Cadiz
Tel: (+34) 956 360 543