If any of you were stalking my Twitter feed recently, you may have noticed I spent 10 days in the beautiful sun drenched Andalusia in Southern Spain. Rich in food, wine, sherry, religion and lush green escapes. If heaven exists, it probably looks a little like this – including the alcohol I’m hoping. I first visited this part of the world around seven years ago now and simply fell in love with it. The pace of life is so relaxed here and the people are so friendly that we even considered moving here.
While our base was firmly set in the City of Jerez, a quick bus journey led us into Sanlucar de Barrameda, a city which makes up one part of the sherry production triangle, along with Jerez and El Puerto De Santa Maria. I decided a quick walk around was in order, which meant – we got lost in blistering 37 degrees heat. A few glasses of chilled Sherry on the beach soon sorted that. It’s not the most glamorous of beaches that Southern Spain has to offer but the sand is golden and the sea is warm – making it the perfect place to simply get away from it all.
One thing that quickly becomes apparent about this city is that it’s not all about the fino you’ll find in Jerez, but Manzanilla. It can only be produced here in Sanlucar and develops a unique salty tang, which it is said to take on from the salty winds blowing through the high bodega windows off the coast. To really explore this trait to its finest we booked a tour at Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana, the masters in many sherry types, but mostly – Manzanilla. The tour here costs a mere 10€ per person and includes the visit, a tasting of two Manzanillas en Rama, Amontillado, Cream and Pedro Ximénez – all from bottle. Upgrade to 20€ and you can taste directly from the barrel. On arrival we gathered at the meeting point by Tienda La Gitana in Calzada Duquesa Isabel, peering in through the iron bars, with the sweet smell of sherry blowing out into our faces.
A tour here commences with a brief introduction to this family owned Bodega’s history which can be traced back to 1792. Now the Bodega sits in the family’s fifth generation in direct line of the founder, Don Jose Pantaleón Hidalgo. You may recognise the famous label of Hidalgo’s Manzanilla which is sold under the name of ‘la Gitana’ and carries a label depicting the ‘gitana’ (gypsy girl) which was originally painted for the family by Joaquan Turina – we were lucky enough to see the tiny original painting inside the bodega. The whole process of sherry creation is done in-house, with huge stainless steel tanks and wine making equipment on site to create this wonderful drink before being placed into the Solera ageing system.
The solera system is the most complex part of Sherry making and is composed of several “solera rows” stacked on top of each other. Each row is made up of a quantity of barrels, depending on production and the wine contained inside is over time hand pumped from the top row to the bottom row, before being bottled over many years – the duration depends on the style of Sherry being made. This is one reason why tasting from the barrel is so interesting as you get to see the drink not after, but during its evolution. The En Rama from barrel was particularly exquisite and the aged Oloroso was a dream.
In true tour fashion we of course ended up in the gift shop afterwards, though sadly with only a hand luggage allowance we couldn’t bring anything back – probably a good thing with bottles of La Gitana for sale at just a few euros. We visited lots of Bodega’s during our time in Spain and while we have our favourites – Bodegas La Gitana firmly ranks as our number one in Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
After all the fabulous sherry we drunk, it was time for lunch on the beautiful square of Plaza del Cabildo which is just a few minutes walk from the bodega, sitting down at a simple but very well-respected restaurant called, Taberna Juan. It’s perfect for people watching and known for its amazing home-made croquettes. Expect a crunchy golden crumb with a delicious meaty filling. The fried boquerones (anchovies) are some of the freshest I’ve eaten and the tiger-striped shrimps were quite honestly the finest I’ve ever come across. The perfect way to end our afternoon – with a few more glasses of sherry on the side.
After spending much of our time in Jerez, it was so easy to get sucked into the more lively Sanlúcar de Barrameda. It’s busier, bigger and given its coastal location a lot more international. With gorgeous weather, delicious food and so much passion here for Manzanilla, a day really isn’t enough to explore this city. Instead 12 hours here is just a snapshot and for that, we’re going to have to come back – and very soon I hope.
