Casa Bigote, situated at the river’s mouth, remained among the sparse bars that hadn’t closed down. We indulged in a half-bottle of manzanilla, modestly priced at €7, as we awaited the presence of Thomas de Wangen from Sotovelo. The glasses shone brightly, holding a steel-green wine.
“Oh no,” de Wangen exclaimed as he entered shortly after. “Look at that color!” His words took me by surprise. It was clear from his gaze that the wine had undergone filter stripping prior to bottling, stripping it of its unique characteristics. That was the moment it dawned on me; the Sherry industry had indeed transformed.
Here’s a fascinating account. A dozen years after he established his wine-importing venture in Shanghai, de Wangen sold the business in 2019, proceeded to Jerez, and acquired 20 hectares of prime limey clay terrain in Balbaina, situated west of the city. His goal was to produce an unfortified wine from the area as naturally as possible. De Wangen believed fervently, “Jerez has the potential to create top-tier unfortified white wines, embodying the distinctiveness of the flor veil— a lacy covering of expired yeast cells that shield the wine as it matures in the barrel— which I consider crucial to the region’s terroir.” Along this journey, he teamed up with a unique partner for Sotovelo, denoting ‘under the veil.’
Charles Rolls is a fervent advocate for fino. He started his career in beverages by purchasing a quarter share in Plymouth Gin in 1997 and rejuvenated it as the managing director. The company was sold to Absolut’s owning group, V&S Group, in 2000. Although there were talks with specialist maturation enterprise El Maestro Sierra, they never materialized; instead, Rolls, along with his soon-to-be co-founder Tim Warrillow, ventured into the expansive yet stagnant tonic and mixers market. Their creation, Fever-Tree, was founded in 2004, saw its public debut in 2014, and has since risen to global prominence. Although he has retired from Fever-Tree and retains a 4.5% share, fino continues to captivate him. His connection to de Wangen was through a family acquaintance.
Why have prominent figures like Peter Sisseck of Pingus, who has vineyards adjacent to Thomas’ prime area, chosen to settle in Jerez? Geographically, it aligns just south of Tunis and Algiers, featuring nearly barren hills and an early harvest starting in July. Is global warming not a significant concern here?
While tasting the inaugural 2022 vintage of Sotovelo alongside de Wangen and Rolls, we looked out from the plaza towards the ‘Cathedral of the Holy Cross over the Waters’ in Cádiz, with the Bay of Cádiz shimmering in the distance, its next stop being Brazil. Indeed, the region of Jerez is fundamentally an Atlantic terrain, where the sea air intricately interacts with the land. Notably, two key towns within the Sherry region are port cities that historically launched mariners into the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries. The marine air not only tempers the high temperatures but also brings moisture to the vineyards on dry days, particularly with the Poniente winds, and helps cultivate the flor. “The closer you are to the ocean,” remarked de Wangen, “the safer you are.”
Sotovelo represents a growing trend towards non-fortified wine production in Jerez, a topic I initially covered in February 2016 for decanter.com. Other notable producers engaged in this movement include Jesús Barquín and Dirk Niepoort, Ramiro Ibáñez, Willy Pérez, Alejandro Muchada, and Alberto Orte, whose products are known as Vara y Pulgar and Atlántida. Not all of these winemakers employ flor; however, for those who do, this yeasty layer can significantly define the wine’s character more than it does in traditional fortified Sherries, enhancing their fermentative intricacies and assuming a structural role typically provided by fortification.
In these contemporary wines, the subtle nuances of different vineyard plots become apparent. De Wangen illustrates that higher sections of his vineyard exhibit more ‘verticality,’ whereas wines from lower altitudes tend to be fuller and fruitier. These distinct characteristics would likely be lost under traditional fortification and solera-ageing processes.
Something novel is emerging among the prestigious vineyards above Cádiz, intertwined with a rich history, for the vineyards in Jerez were esteemed long before wine fortification began. Wine, flor, and finesse define this region.
The 2022 Sotovelo (available for £19.95-£21.95 at Cellar Door Wines, Diatomists, Theatre of Wine, Thorne Wines) showcases a cloudy, light gold appearance and exudes a strong aroma of fennel, walnuts, straw, and soft fresh bread. It tantalizes the taste buds with its fresh yet satisfyingly dense texture on the palate – chewy and tangy, with hints of the nearby sea conveying flavors of seaweed and umami alongside mushrooms and yeast. It’s fulfilling, expansive, and all encapsulated within a 12% volume of wine.