La Cigarrera ‘Amontillado Viejo’ Sherry (375ml)

Location: Spain, Andalucía, Jerez

Winemaker: Ignacio Hidalgo

Grapes: Palomino

Winemaking: Aged for over 30 years in the solera

From the Importer De Maison Selections: Amontillado Viejo is an amazing wine that is located in the Sacristia of the bodega. The Sacristia contains Ignacio’s family’s oldest wines that have been passed down through generations. This Amontillado was started as a special barrel for Ignacio’s grandmother and has never been sold before.

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.