Bodegas Tradición

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

The launch of this project arises from the desire to continue the family tradition of one of the oldest wineries in Jerez, with more than three hundred and fifty years of history. Our origins are linked to the legendary CZ brand – a contraction of the surnames Cabeza de Arnada and Zarco – considered the oldest in Jerez.

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

We want to convey, to connoisseurs and fans, what they can find in a bottle of Sherry wine. We want you to witness the legacy and wisdom we have in our land. We want the work of generations that we find in a bottle of Sherry to be enjoyed and respected wherever we can reach.

The Jerez framework

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 Sherry Wine a unique wine in the World.

Geographic 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 fundamental to understanding the uniqueness of our wines.

We must geographically differentiate two concepts: production area and breeding area. The first is the one in which the vineyards that will produce fruit suitable for wine production can be grown, they are the following: Jerez, El Puerto, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Chipiona, Chiclana, Puerto Real, Rota and Lebrija (this one in Seville) . The breeding area is limited to the municipalities of Jerez, El Puerto and Sanlúcar.

Although vine cultivation 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 vines to sunlight and the movement of the wind, to the composition of the land, generally 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 sand, in the coastal areas and which usually produces good muscatel, and the mud, in the valleys, which is usually good for grapes.that will give fatter wines.

Palomino vines in the very white “Albariza” soil

The Grape

All these factors mean that there are a series of grape varieties that have managed to adapt better to the environment to produce 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 of them, Palomino, is the “queen” of dry Sherry, while the other two are traditionally used for sweet wines.


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

Preparation of Jerez wines

The Vineyard:

To begin with this section, we look at the vineyard, the basis of all good wine. The vineyard has been cared for throughout the year so that the vine has water, is healthy to be able to ripen the grapes well, is well pruned to be able to produce the best possible fruit and in the optimal quantity, in short, the winegrower has worked hard and You are about to see the fruit of your labor.

Vinification:

Towards the end of August or beginning of September the harvest begins, it is a hot time in which the grapes are already reaching their full maturity and the sugar and acidity content is optimal for the production of our wines. After harvesting, the grapes are taken to the wineries for selection and pressing. Those that come from better vineyards will be used for the best wines, normally, allowing the “yolk must” (known as “tear” in other areas) to drain, that is, obtaining must from the grapes without having subjected it to hydraulic pressure. Simply due to the pressure of its own weight. This must is the purest, most elegant and aromatic of all and will be used for the aging of very high quality wines. After this first phase, we will gently press the grapes to obtain a very good must that will surely be used for aging fine wines. The musts obtained with normal presses will be used, mostly, for the aging of Oloroso wines.

After the fermentation of the grape must into wine, due to the transformation of its sugars into alcohol, we have a wine (in Jerez it is still known as “musto”) with 12-13% alcohol and we will let it clarify in the tank in what is called “deslío” – fall of the fermentation lees to the bottom of the tank, normally at the end of December – to proceed to its 1st classification. This is where the big differences with the rest of the world's wines begin.

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

Fortification:

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

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

What is the “Flower”? It is a colony of various types of yeast that establishes itself on the surface of Sherry wines naturally (they come from the grapes from the vineyard) and that will feed on the wine to transform it and give it a unique character. It is responsible for the so-called “biologically aged” wines (Finos and Manzanillas), as well as the amontillados. Due to the humidity and temperature conditions that these yeasts need to live, Finos have traditionally been made in El Puerto and Manzanillas in Sanlúcar, while in Jerez this type of wine has only recently been raised and its character is very different from that of the raised in coastal areas.