Bodegas Tradición

Bodegas Tradition was born with the main objective of respecting and valuing the noble old Jerez and brandy sherries, through the use of the traditional elaboration procedures that have given so much fame to our denomination during centuries.

The implementation of this project arises from the illusion of continuing the family tradition of one of the oldest wineries in Jerez, with more than three hundred and fifty years of history. Our origins connect with the legendary CZ brand - contracting the surnames Cabeza de Arnada and Zarco - considered the oldest in Jerez.

With our contribution, we seek to return to the sherry the place that corresponds to The Great Wines of the World. We trust that, through respect for traditions and ancestral parenting methods, we can achieve the best possible quality and character for our products.

We want to convey, to connoisseurs and amateurs, what they can find in a bottle of Jerez wine. We want them to witness the legacy and wisdom we have in our land. We want the work of generations that we found in a bottle of Jerez to be enjoyed and respected wherever we can go.

The framework of Jerez

In addition to its history and the evolution of viticulture, winemaking and aging according to changes in the environment, there are many other factors that make Jerez Wine a unique wine in the World.

Geographical location: Marco de Jerez is located in the province of Cádiz, southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. The influence of the Atlantic Ocean, the Guadalquivir River, the Guadalete River and the Sierra de Cádiz are essential to understand the uniqueness of our wines.

We must geographically differentiate two concepts: production zone and breeding zone. The first is that in which the vines that will bear adequate fruit for the production of wines can be cultivated, are the following: Jerez, El Puerto, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Chipiona, Chiclana, Puerto Real, Rota and Lebrija (this one in Seville) . The breeding zone is limited to the municipal terms of Jerez, El Puerto and Sanlúcar.

Although the cultivation of the vine extends widely, the breeding areas are limited to the towns of Jerez, El Puerto and Sanlúcar.

The orography refers to the relief of the landscape, in this case formed by gentle hills, which facilitate the exposure of the strains to sunlight and the movement of the wind, to the composition of the earth, usually with a high content of calcium carbonate and called "Albarizas" for its white color. There are two more types of land within the framework, the sands, in the coastal areas and that usually give good muscat and the mud, in the valleys, which are usually good for grapesthat will give more fat wines.

Palomino strains in the very soft “Albariza” land

The Grape

All these factors mean that there are a number of grape varieties that have managed to adapt better to the environment to give the best fruit. The varieties allowed by the Regulatory Council of the D.O. Jerez and Manzanilla are the following: Palomino Fino, Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez. The first one, the Palomino, is the "queen" of dry Jerez, while the other two are traditionally used for sweet wines.


But in addition to the natural factors we have seen, there are a number of human factors that make these wines something very special, unique in the World. The upbringing of Jerez is key to making them different, the ancestral wisdom of the winemakers to bring a wine to its maximum expression through the “System of Soleras and Criaderas”.

Elaboration of the wines of Jeréz

The Vineyard:

To start with this section, we are located in the vineyard, the basis of all good wine. The vineyard has been taken care of throughout the year so that the strain has water, is healthy to be able to ripen the grapes well, is well pruned to be able to give the best possible fruit and in the optimal amount, in short, the winegrower has worked hard and You are about to see the fruit of your work.

Vinification:

Towards the end of August or beginning of September the harvest begins, it is a hot season in which the grape is already reaching full ripening and the sugar and acid content is the optimum for the production of our wines. After harvesting, the grapes are taken to the wineries for selection and press. Those that come from better payments, will be destined to the best wines, normally, letting the “yolk must” (known as “tear” in other areas), that is, obtaining grape must without having undergone hydraulic pressure simply by the pressure of its own weight. This must is the purest, elegant and aromatic of all and will be used to raise wines of the highest quality. After that first phase, we will make a soft press of the grape to obtain a must also very good that, surely, will be used to raise fine wines. The musts obtained with normal presses, will be destined, in their majority to the odor raising.

After the fermentation of the grape must in wine, by the transformation of its sugars into alcohol, we have a wine (in Jerez it is still known as “must”) of 12-13% alcohol and we will let it clear in the tank in what is called "slip" - fall of the fermentation lees to the bottom of the tank, usually at the end of December - to proceed to its 1st classification. Here the great differences begin with the rest of the wines of the World.

In this first classification in the tank, the head of the winery or “foreman”, together with the winemaker, using his tasting ability, his nose, will decide the type of aging that wine needs. In case of finding that the wine is subtle, elegant and light, it will be used for aging as Fino (like Manzanilla in Sanlúcar); However, if what they find is a more corpulent, more aromatic and potent wine, they will use it for aging as Oloroso.

Fortification:

And then comes a very important part in the vinification of the Wines of Jerez, the fortification. To fortify a wine is to add alcohol of wine origin to obtain a higher alcoholic degree. The origin of this practice seems to lie in the old need to stabilize the wines so that they could travel without problems but, nowadays it is part of the legacy of wisdom that allows the aging of Jerez wines.

In this way, those wines that were destined for fine (or chamomile), will be fortified or "headed" from 12-13 degrees to 15.5; At this point we achieve the ideal environment so that the yeasts of the “flower” continue to proliferate.

What is the "flower"? It is a colony of various types of yeast that is established on the surface of Jerez wines naturally (they come from the grapes from the vineyard) and will feed on the wine to transform it and give it a unique character. She is responsible for the wines called "biological aging" (Finos and Manzanillas), as well as the amontillados. Due to the humidity and temperature conditions they need to live these yeasts, they have traditionally been made fine in El Puerto and Manzanillas in Sanlúcar, while in Jerez they have recently grown this type of wine and their character is very different from that of raised in coastal zone.