BODEGAS BARBADILLO, Spain

For 200 years its winery has stood at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River producing Sanlúcar’s unique and distinctly saline take on dry Fino known as Manzanilla. Never ones to rest on their laurels, the Barbadillo family has recently embarked on its ‘Singular’ project to produce dry white wines from further up the coast, closer to the port of Cádiz. As an interesting aside, the family is also collaborating with the Natural Parks of the Junta de Andalucía, the University of Cádiz and the Trafalgar Environmental Volunteers Association to preserve the nesting sites of the rare Kentish Plover (Chorlitejo patinegro) on the region’s beaches.

Viticulture

100% organic Palomino Fina grapes exclusively from two white clay albariza vineyards. The first is close to the sea in Sanlúcar, with vines that are more than 35 years old, and which has been organic for the last 17 years. The other vineyard is further inland, located on a hilltop overlooking the marshes between Sanlúcar and Trebujena. This vineyard is more than 25 years old and has been certified organic for more than 12 years. This combination of vineyards unite the maritime influence with that of the Guadalquivir River and the marshes, leaving a unique mark on its DNA. Grapes are harvested by hand.

Winemaking

Both Patinegro and Sábalo are from the same vineyards, with slow fermentation in stainless steel deposits at a controlled temperature of up to 17º C. The fermentation is spontaneous using only the native yeasts, followed by ageing on the lees for four months in the case of Sábalo, whilst Patinegro is aged for a year in old American oak manzanilla barrels, imparting more flor character on the wine.