Tasting Note

Oooooh, this is nice! Smelling like wonderful aged Champagne, and then having that superb salty, cashew nut aroma coming off it that you want from sherry. The palate has a pure salty, minerally flavour, lemon and grapefruit pith and then sea salt on the end. Such a lovely Manzanilla.

Producer

Jerez is commonly seen as a region where terroir isn’t an important factor in defining the wines. This hasn’t always been the case; in the past the region was delineated into Pagos - blocks of vineyards that have similar characteristics - and naturally some vineyards were considered more noble than others and were bottled separately. De la Riva is a renowned historic Jerez brand that was rescued by young winemakers Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez in 2017. Manuel Antonio de la Riva established himself in Jerez in the late 19th Century, buying a bodega and 53 hectares of vineyards in the Pago Macharnudo, one of the oldest vineyard areas in the zone at a high elevation and with very pure limestone soil. The brand belonged to the family until the early 1970s when it was bought by Domecq. Today, Ramiro and Willy are reviving the history of Jerez and returning to the tradition methods of bottling more individual wines. Under the De la Riva label they make a white table wine (Vino Blanco) from the El Notario plot in the Majuelo vineyard in the pago Macharnudo and a Fino from the pago Balbaína Alta. Additionally, there are two “almacenista” wines, both available only in half bottles and in very small quantities: an Oloroso Viejísimo from Balbaina Baja and a Moscatel Viejísimo from Loma Baja. These are fascinating wines, available in very limited quantities.

_{Country: Spain | Region: Jerez | Alcohol: TBC | Grapes: Palomino}