La Cigarrera ‘Manzanilla Pasada’ Sherry (375ml)

Location: Spain, Andalucía, Jerez

Winemaker: Ignacio Hidalgo

Grapes: Palomino

Winemaking: Aged for over 20 years in the solera

From the Importer De Maison Selections: Manzanilla Pasada is one of the family heirlooms kept in the bodega’s Sacristia. For many generations this wine has been Ignacio’s family’s sherry of choice.

La Cigarrera began life as an almacenista operation in 1758, owned by Joseph Colóm Darbó. Together with his son, he managed Colom & Compañia, in buildings leased from the monastery. The current bodega housing their solera of 500 barrels was started in 1891 in a former convent by Manuel Hidalgo Colom, the great grandfather of Ignacio Hidalgo, who runs the house today.

Ignacio Hidalgo is a ninth-generation cellar master who was one of the very first almacenista producers to begin bottling manzanilla under his own label, once it was allowed by law in 1997. Previously, the wines were sold to other famous manzanilla houses, including the negociant house Lustau, for bottling under their labels. La Cigarrera is a tribute to the cigarette/tobacco women who used to sell on the sidewalks of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. It is a tribute to the pride, beauty, and history of this incredible Andalusian port town.

The key to the quality of La Cigarrera is the exceptional raw materials and the location of the winery. La Cigarrera Manzanilla is produced exclusively from vineyards in the Jerez Superior Denomination of Origin. They are still located in the original bodega from 1891 in the Plaza Madre de Dios in the Barrio Bajo (lower part) of Sanlúcar, possessing some of the oldest casks in town. La Cigarrera consists of three naves: Bodega de Colóm, Bodega de Cabral, and Bodega de Samilla, which surrounds a beautiful central Andalusian patio.

The town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda holds a special distinction within the D.O. of Jerez-Xérès-Sherry: this town in the only place where Manzanilla can be produced. The distinct climate of Sanlúcar de Barrameda imparts a unique flavor to the protective yeast (known as flor) that grows on Fino Sherries. The flor here is more heavily influenced by the ocean than the flor that grows in other parts of Sherry Country. It gives a salty, ocean-like quality to the Sherry that separates it from other finos and characterizes it as a Manzanilla.