Bodegas Barbadillo, Patinegro Organic, Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz, Spain, 2020

Producer Profile

Barbadillo in Singular is a small part of Bodegas Barbadillo, the renowned producer whose name is inseparable from its home in Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

For 200 years the winery has stood at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, where its biological process came into being with the first Manzanilla it produced in its cellars. Never ones to rest on their laurels, the Barbadillo family continues to experiment, and push this traditional region into modernity with ever-daring projects, small-scale thinking and focusing on the detail … and in this instance, the detail is ‘Singular’, a white wine from a specific location, showing two expressions whilst never losing the spirit of Barbadillo. Barbadillo is also collaborating with organisations including the Natural Parks of the Junta de Andalucía, University of Cadiz, and Trafalgar Environmental Volunteers Association to preserve the nesting sites of the Kentish Plover (Chorlitejo Patinegro) on the beaches of Cadiz.

Viticulture

The second wine in the Barbadillo Singular organic range, named after the patinegro, or Kentish plover, a bird whose population is in decline due to human encroachment into their coastal habitats. Palomino grapes from two albariza vineyards, one close to the sea in Sanlúcar, with vines that are more than 35 years old, which has been organic for the last 17 years, the other further inland, located on a hilltop overlooking the marshes between Sanlúcar and Trebujena. This vineyard is more than 25 years old and has also been certified organic for more than 12 years. By using grapes from these two vineyards, they manage to unite the maritime influence with that of the Guadalquivir River and the marshes.

Winemaking

Patinegro is made from the same grapes as Sábalo, with each vineyard vinified separately in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks at 17C. Fermentation is spontaneous and uses native yeasts. The wine is then aged for one year in old manzanilla casks, imparting a distinctive flor salinity to the wine.

Oak Ageing

Time: 12 Months
Type: Old Manzanilla Casks
% wine oaked: 100
% new oak: None

Tasting Note

Gloriously intense colour. A bone-dry organic white wine with a rich nose of flor, dry grass and fresh brine characters. Incredibly complex, powerful in the mouth, with yeasty, bread flavours, saline and vibrant ozone notes on the finish. Uniquely brilliant.

Food Matching

Perfect with fish dishes and flavourful soups, but also with tofu, artichokes or cheese.

Awards

Robert Parkers The Wine Advocate 91 Points
he 2020 Patinegro is pure Palomino from oldish vines fermented in stainless steel and aged in topped-up (ouillé) Manzanilla casks that have already been used for white wine, as they don't want the Sherry character and want to avoid the formation of flor. This is a white wine that is not fortified, but through the aging, it gains in intensity, complexity and texture, losing the fruit of the Sábalo, and is very chalky. This is delicious and easy to drink with moderate ripeness (13%) alcohol and good harmony. This comes from organic vines in Balbaína, Añina, Macharnudo and Burujena. This is the second vintage, and they only produced around 2,000 bottles. 91 Points, LG, September 2022.