SPRING | 2022

AN ENRAMISTA EXCLUSIVE

M Ant. DE LA RIVA

Coleción Nº1: Crianza Biológica en Andalucía

DESCRIPTION (FROM THE WINEMAKERS):

We are very honored to announce our collaboration here in the USA with M. Ant. De La Riva!

La Riva "Collection" is a new special and limited series of wines made and selected by Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibáñez. These collections are made up of a set of six bottles that will deal in depth with a specific theme about traditional Andalusian wines. There were 500 cases made total, 500 bottles of 6 wines. They are available from the winemakers on their website in Spain, and available currently in the USA exclusively through ENRAMISTAS SHERRY CLUB.

In La Riva "Collection" we will deal with the most interesting, confusing and novel contents of the sherry framework, and of the rest of the classic areas of Andalusia. The collections will always be accompanied by videos and/or documentation made exclusively for each issue. And of those that we are sure will excite and delight all fans of these wines.

With La Riva "Collection" we want to convey the concern for knowledge and understanding of traditional Andalusian wines, from a didactic and fun perspective in equal parts. The different collections will be a liquid book to enjoy in the form of chapters, whether you want to do it individually or with a group of friends.

For the first chapter of the collection we could not tackle another issue than the wonderful biological breeding. To which we will put in perspective from its beginnings to the present. And where we can understand, among various aspects, how it is developed, how it is worked and its final relationship with the wines that are produced.

On this occasion we have produced and selected wines in the main Andalusian areas of biologically aged wines; Cadiz, Cordoba and Malaga. With the collaboration of Bodegas Gómez Nevado, Viña Armijo, Cortijo La Fuente, Bodegas Alvear, Bodegas González Palacios and Bodegas De La Riva.

The Wines

1) Bodegas De La Riva | LA RIVA FINO 2016

INFO-La Riva Fino 2016 is made by Willy Perez and Ramiro Ibañez with grapes from an iconic vineyard, El Majuelo, in what is considered Grand Cru vineyard territory: Macharnudo.  This is a very special fino sherry.  This wine is aged statically for 6 years, meaning it’s not aged in a solera system.  The wine isn’t moved or replenished like a solera system would be.  The wine is always in contact with the flor yeasts, but the yeasts become more integrated and thinner over time as the wine ages and the flor dissipates.  Only fortified very lightly, this wine began as a “vino de pasto” or still table wine, allowing for the fruit and soils to be the showcase.   Willy and Ramiro took one barrel of the table wine from 2016, separated it from the rest of the still wine, fortified very lightly, and let age as a “fino añada”.  

Location: Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucía, Spain

Pago: Macharnudo

Vineyard: El Majuelo

Serving Temp: Cold

Style: Fino

Grape: PALOMINO FINO

Aging: 6 years static

2) Bodegas Gaspar Florido | MANZANILLA El Armijo

INFO: Gaspar Florido is one the most historic manzanilla producers and sherry makers in Sanlúcar.  The family owns vineyards in Pago Miraflores that actually form it’s own sub-pago called “El Armijo”, riding the boundary of Miraflores Alta and Miraflores Baja.  Formerly, since the late 1800’s, the family sold grapes and aged wines as an “Almacenista” and then bottled their own wines beginning in the late 1990’s.  The wines were acquired by Pedro Domecq and later Pedro Romero.  In the 2000’s the soleras were sold, and blended into other companies’ collections.  The family, however, still maintains vineyards and a small collection of soleras on it’s property.

Location: Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Andalucía, Spain

Pago: El Armijo - on the boarders of Miraflores Alta and Miraflores Baja, 9k from the sea.  

Vineyard: El Armijo

Serving Temp: Cold

Style: Manzanilla  

Grape: PALOMINO FINO

Aging: 4 years aging in solera system under flor

3) Bodegas González Palacios | FINO

INFO:Bodega González Palacios is a family winery founded in 1960 by Mr. Francisco González Palacios, who as a good lover and expert on the wines of the earth began his work as a hobby rather than a business. Located in Lebrija, a city founded according to legend by the very God Bacchus, whose privileged location on the banks of the Guadalquivir and just a few kilometers from the sea, make it ideal for the production and production of our wines because it gives the perfect microclimate for aging thereof. Our winery is under the protection of D.O.P. Lebrija, being currently the only Denomination of origin of Seville wines.

Location: D.O.P. Lebrija, Seville, Andalucía, Spain

Pago: Pago de Overo, 

Vineyard: Single Parcel

Serving Temp: Cold

Style: Fino Style (outside the D.O. Jerez)

Grape: PALOMINO FINO

Aging: 6 years in solera

4) Bodegas Cortijo La Fuente | FINO

INFO: Cortijo La Fuente is tucked away in the municipality of Mollina, in the region of Antequera (Málaga) in the heart of Andalusia. The family has been cultivating vines since the 19th Century, and finally began elaborating their own bottling in 2008.  The 15 hectares of vineyards are located on a plateau at an altitude of 480 metres, on limestone and sandy soils., with an average age between 30-40 years.

Location: Molina, Antequera (Málaga), Andalucía, Spain

Style: FINO style

Serving Temp: Cold

Grape: PEDRO XIMENEZ

Aging: 5 years in solera system 

5) Bodegas Gómez Nevado | PALIDO (FINO STYLE)

INFO: Gabriel Gómez and his daughter Carmen descend from several generations of growers that have worked the soils in the Sierra Morena mountains.  The first records of them making wine goes back to the 1700’s, and then culminated with the establishment of their winery - in 1870.  Along with the nearby Montilla, the Sierra Morena wines were once highly sought after, and traded in Jerez; as the winemaking has been –for centuries- in stride with the Sherry tradition: the wines are raised under flor and fractionally blended in a solera system.  With a dwindling vineyard land and nearly all of the bodegas now closed, Gómez Nevado 
Location: Sierra Morena, Villaviciosa de Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain 

Style: Fino Style 

Serving Temp: Cold

Grape: ARIS (40%), PALOMINO FINO (30%), PEDRO XIMENEZ

Aging: 6 years in solera

6) Bodegas Alvear | FINO

Info:The Alvear Family has its origins in the old neighborhood of Trasmiera in the mountains of Burgos. In the early 16th century the family uprooted from its modest ancestral home in San Miguel de Aras, and settled in Nájera (La Rioja) subsequently relocating, some years later, to the province of Córdoba in Andalucía. Alvear is one of the most prestigious and internationally renowned bodegas in Andalucía, dating back to the 1700’s, and boasting extensive vineyards that are located in the most famous estates in the Sierra de Montilla y Moriles (Córdoba). 

Location: Sierra de Montilla y Moriles (Córdoba), Andalucía, Spain

Style: FINO

Serving Temp: Cellar Temp (57 degrees)

Grape: PEDRO XIMENEZ

Aging: Aged 8 years in solera under flor

VIP ADDITIONS

ABOUT Bodegas Tradicion
Bodegas Tradición is located at N° 3 Calle Cordobeses in an unassuming little plaza in the Santiago Quarter of Jerez de la Frontera. Along with the San Miguel Quarter, Santiago is famous as a gitano neighborhood. Indeed, many of the most revered names in the history of flamenco lived and performed there. In an interesting bit of geographic coincidence, the bodega’s humble installations are just a few blocks away from the Museo Arqueológico Municipal de Jerez de la Frontera, a small museum which nonetheless boasts a fine collection of artifacts dating back to the Paleolithic Age, including many objects related to the region’s 3,000-plus-year history of wine production.

Bodegas Tradición was founded in 1998 by Joaquín Rivero Valcarce, scion of one of the region’s most historically prominent wine families. Bodega CZ, J.M. Rivero was established in the early 1650s, making it one of the oldest firms on record. It’s golden age was most certainly the 19th century – in 1855, it housed over 3,000 butts and commercialized a dozen or more world-renowned brands. The bodega’s fortunes waned with those of the region, and it was finally sold in 1991 to a Cordoba-based olive oil and vinegar concern, adding it to the long list of historic firms that shuttered in the latter part of the 20th century.

Despite the decline and eventual sale of the family bodega, Don Joaquín himself became immensely wealthy through his work in construction and real estate. It was with the backing of his personal fortune that Bodegas Tradición was born. “The name Tradición,” he said, by way of a mission statement, “corresponds to a dual requirement: continuance of the family wine business and a return to the traditional styles and processes in the making of Sherry wines.” There is a conspicuous absence of technology in the cellars – all the operations of the bodega are undertaken by hand using traditional tools.

In order to establish its soleras, Tradición bought carefully selected butts from other bodegas. The sources of their current collection are myriad, including, but not limited to, Domecq, Agustín Blazquez, Croft, Delgado Zuleta, Osborne, Paternina, Sandeman and Bobadilla. The component wines were then blended to achieve the desired style. The otherworldly Amontillado is composed of wines from Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a fact that undoubtedly contributes to its staggering complexity. The team that was assembled to establish and maintain the soleras and run the firm was of unsurprisingly élite pedigree. On the selection and blending side was José Ignacio Domecq Fernández de Bobadilla, former oenologist at Domecq and son of José Ignacio Domecq González, AKA “The Nose”, one of the most revered oenologists in the history of Jerez. José “Pepe” Blandino, a capataz with close to fifty years of experience at Domecq, was charged with buying old casks and making the arrangements to set up the soleras. Pepe is currently responsible with the day-to-day operations, assisted by his son. Lorenzo García-Iglesias Soto acts as Director General.

In addition to vinous treasures, the bodega is also home to one of the finest privately-held collections of Spanish painting in the world. The Joaquín Rivero collection is comprised of more than 300 paintings spanning periods from the 15th through the 19th centuries, including noteworthy works by Zurbarán, Velásquez, El Greco and Goya (importer notes, Skurnik).  

About Bodegas Luis Perez

Luis Perez Rodriguez, a professor of oenology at Cadiz University and former chief winemaker at Domecq Sherry, started his winery in 2002 with the goal of making non-fortified Red and White wines from the Sherry region. More recently, Luis, along with his son, Willy Perez, launched a project to produce a series of Sherries made using an ancient technique of crafting Sherry without either fortification or traditional solera aging. Willy Perez is part of a group of young turks in the region, such as his friend Ramiro Ibanez of Cota 45, who are fascinated by the history of Jerez winemaking, including the terroir “maps” of the best parcels on different types of albariza. In fact, Willy and Ramiro are co-authoring a book detailing their extensive research into these subjects with an anticipated release in 2020.

On the Sherry side, in 2013, the family acquired the famous El Corregidor parcels within the Pago de Carrascal to begin a single-vineyard focused premium sherry project under Willy’s direction. The vineyard was planted to 40 year old Palomino Fino vines on a special albariza called “barajuela” where the chalky white marl is layered like a deck of cards. One of the critical pieces of this history of the winemaking of Jerez is that at times in history the wines were not fortified or solera aged.  The alcohol levels we see in the fortified wines of today were in the past achieved naturally.  A typical grower would make many passes through a vineyard during harvest.  The early pass would be a green harvest where less ripe grapes would be used for brandy distillation.  A second pass through when the grapes are ripe would be harvested to make structured white wine, such as the Perez’s “El Muelle” (this style was also very popular in the 19th century).  Lastly, a final late harvest pass would be done to make Sherry (Finos and Olorosos) and some of these grapes would see periods of sun drying or asoleo to concentrate the sugars and gain higher alcohol levels depending on how they were intended to be used – shorter sun exposure for Fino and longer for Oloroso.

Many of the Finos made in this way were either single-vintage wines or blends of vintage aged wines into a Non-vintage bottling (notes from importer).  

The Wines

Bodegas Tradición | FINO SACA NOVIEMBRE 2021

INFO- A bottling from November, 2021.  Cooler bottling than June.  The flor here is thinner and less vibrant.  

Location: Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucía, Spain

Serving Temp: Cold

Style: Fino

Grape: PALOMINO FINO

Aging: 10 years in solera

Bodegas Tradición FINO SACA JUNIO 2021

INFO- bottling from June, 2021.  Fun to compare with a saca from a cooler part of the year!  Bottled while the flor is at its peak.  

Location: Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucía, Spain

Serving Temp: Cold

Style: Fino

Grape: PALOMINO FINO

Aging: 10+ years in solera

Bodegas Luis Perez | FINO CABERRUBIA SACA IV

INFO: Caberrubia is a blend of single vintages of La Barajuela, which is a project fino añadas, finos with a vintage. 

Location: Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucía, Spain

Pago: Carrascal, Corregidor Estate

Serving Temp: Cold

Style: FINO

Grape: PALOMINO FINO

Aging: 4 years of average age, blend of vintages