The Wineries of Jerez

The Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Designation of Origin includes wines produced in various towns in Cádiz and Seville (Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Chiclana de la Frontera, Chipiona, Puerto Real, Rota, Trebujena, and Lebrija).

However, the aging and storing processes can only be carried out in 3 towns: Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María. It is here that the specialist wine cellars for aging and storing are located, where the wines wait patiently for time and the care of their makers to work their magic.

The wine is kept in the wine cellars, in 600-liter casks made from American oak (known as "butts") for at least 2 years. The wines can be used from that point or stored indefinitely—the possibilities are endless.

An important feature of sherry is that, with some exceptions, it is made using the solera aging system. The casks are placed in rows, stacked on top of each other. The bottom row—the "solera"—contains the oldest wines and wine is taken from these casks for bottling. At the same time, wine is taken from the first "criadera" (row) and put into the solera; some is taken from the second criadera and put into the first criadera, and so on until the top level, which is refilled with new wine.

Many of them were built in the 19th century, in large, spectacular buildings looking up to an endless sky. Others are tiny and located in the most unexpected places, guarding casks containing what will become great sherries. There is no standard except for the humidity and air required by every wine in every winery.

González's uncle taught him all he knew about these wines, and their best-known bottles—like the one on the sign illuminating Madrid's Puerta del Sol and which are among the world's best-selling and best-known wines—still bear his name.

Given the success of his company, González went into business with Robert Blake Byass, his agent in England. It was a partnership that would last until 1988 when the Byass family left the firm.

At that time, the company was in the hands of the 5th generation of the González family, whose passion for wine and its culture was always clear, leading it to incorporate wineries from all over Spain into the company, such as Bodegas Beronia (D.O.Ca. Rioja), Viñas del Vero (D.O. Somontano), Cavas Vilarnau (D.O. Cava), Finca Constancia (V.T. Castilla), Finca Moncloa (V.T. Cádiz), Beronia Verdejo (D.O. Rueda), Pazos de Lusco (D.O. Rías Baixas), and even the Chilean brand Veramonte.

It's a piece of living history that has constantly looked to the future, launching successful wines such as the famous Castillo de San Diego, created in 1975 and probably one of Spain's best-selling white wines. But above all, Barbadillo is the very soul of the land of white albariza soil and palomino grapes, looking out over the Guadalquivir river and creating unique wines.

It all began with the original Bodega del Toro, a typically Andalusian building, set around an Andalusian courtyard with a well in the center and surrounded by 4 winery buildings, with its own distinctive design and style.

Today it has around 500 hectares and over 65,000 casks spread throughout 17 wineries in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Most of them are in remarkable buildings scattered around the Barrio Alto (high district), housing authentic jewels of the wine industry such as the Reliquias and wines with V.O.R.S status.

Bodegas Osborne

It is a symbol of the town, of sherry, and of an entire nation. And behind it, of course, are its wines and brandies, aged using the traditional solera aging system. Its origins date back to 1772, the year in which Thomas Osborne Mann founded the company.

It is a winery with a strong past, imposing buildings, and welcoming gardens. It's a meeting place that's open to the public, and the brand understands that it must continue to evolve, rather than relying on its past for survival.

Bodegas Gutiérrez-Colosía

Small and endearing, this winery has been located on the side of the river Guadalete, where the east and west winds cross to provide the ideal climate for aging its wines, since 1838.

The winery is a tall, cathedral-style building, to which they added the former Palacio de Conde de Cumbrehermosa in 1969.

To this day, Bodegas Gutiérrez-Colosía is the only winery that has direct access to the river, providing the perfect level of humidity for the layer of "flor" yeast to work its magic on the wines that are made there.

The wine made here was sold to other wineries. They were wine-storers: a Jerez tradition that still exists in many companies today.

In the 1940s, now under Berdejo's son-in-law, Emilio Lustau, the company took the big step of moving to the town of Jerez and bottling and exporting its own wines.

In 2000 it acquired what is now its current winery in the center of the town of Jerez.

This is the Los Arcos complex, built in the 19th century and housing 6 aging cellars dating from different eras.

Built in the style of a cathedral, it has high arches and is made of limestone. The hundreds of casks in which the wines rest are kept in darkness and humidity, providing them with the stillness necessary for them to develop. And develop they do, creating wonderful sherries in one of the great wineries of the area.