Winemaker Notes
#37 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2018
The standard of type and leader both in Spain and abroad. Manzanilla is the rarest of all authentic sherries, being uniquely site-specific in origin. Matured beneath a constant veil of yeast (called flor) as only occurs in beachfront and protected cliffside bodegas of sanlucar, giving Manzanilla a dry, haunting delicacy analogous to fine Champagne.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A bright, high-pitched style, showing tangy quinine and chamomile notes laced with talc and fleur de sel flavors. Very dry, brisk, stony-edged finish. An absolute delight.
Sherry is a fortified wine that comes in many styles from dry to sweet. True Sherry can only be made in Andalucía, Spain where the soil and unique seasonal changes give a particular character to its wines. The process of production—not really the grape—determine the type, though certain types are reserved for certain grapes. Palomino is responsible for most dry styles; Pedro Ximénez and Muscat of Alexandria are used for blending or for sweet styles.
Known more formally as Jerez de la Frontera, Jerez is a city in Andalucía in southwest Spain and the center of the Jerez region and sherry production. Sherry is a mere English corruption of the term Jerez, while in French, Jerez is written, Xérès. Manzanilla is the freshest style of sherry, naturally derived from the seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.