A guest post and photos from a customer who recently visited.
There are certain wine experiences that stay with you. Walking through the arched halls of Bodegas Gutiérrez Colosía in El Puerto de Santa María, past rows of oak barrels stacked three high, through rooms that smell of decades of wine ageing, into a bodega that has been producing Sherry from the same site since 1838, is one of them. We visited earlier this year, and came away with a renewed conviction that Gutiérrez Colosía is producing some of the most characterful, most authentic Sherry available from any of the three towns in the Sherry triangle.
Most people who know Sherry know Jerez de la Frontera, the great capital of the region, home to the largest bodegas and the most famous Sherry names like Gonzales Byas, Harvey’s, Osborne, Sandeman’s and many more. Many also know Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the coastal town at the mouth of the Guadalquivir whose maritime conditions produce the lightest and most delicate of all Sherries, the extraordinary Manzanilla. The third town which forms the Sherry triangle – El Puerto de Santa María – is less known but produces Sherries of a distinctive and genuinely intermediate character that no other town in the region can replicate.
El Puerto de Santa María sits on the Bay of Cádiz, directly across the water from Cádiz itself, at the point where the Guadalete River meets the Atlantic. The seaside location means the local bodegas have a cooler, more humid microclimate than inland Jerez (although not as strongly maritime-influenced as Sanlúcar). The resulting Fino and Amontillado wines have more body and depth than Manzanilla, but with a freshness and Atlantic salinity that distinguishes them clearly from the richer, more concentrated style of Jerez. This is the specific character that makes Puerto Sherry, as it is sometimes called, so prized by Sherry enthusiasts.
Bodegas Gutiérrez Colosía distinctive white-and-gold facade, dated 1838, stretches along the street in the characteristic style of the great Andalusian bodegas: whitewashed walls, golden-yellow trim, arched windows and heavy iron lanterns.
The sign reads “Despacho de Vinos, Bodega Gutiérrez Colosía” in the old hand-painted style of a firm that has never needed to update its branding because the thing it does has not changed in nearly two centuries.
The building is divided into two distinct spaces: the front room, the aforementioned “Despacho de Vinos”, is where wines are sold directly to local customers as they have been since the 19th century. Behind it, through a door that opens into a different world entirely, the main bodega extends into a series of cathedral-like halls: high-vaulted ceilings, arched Moorish brickwork, stone floors worn smooth by generations of bodega workers, and everywhere – stacked three and four barrels high, labelled with hand-painted names like “Criadera,” “Solera Fina” and “Campo de Guia” – the American oak butts of an active solera system that has been running without interruption since the bodega’s founding.
The oldest fraction of each solera contains wine that has been ageing and refreshing since the 1800s. When you taste a Gutiérrez Colosía Amontillado or Oloroso, you are tasting the direct descendant of wine that was first laid down before the railway reached Andalusia!
The barrels you see in these photographs are arranged in the traditional solera and criadera system that defines Sherry production. The bottom row, known as the solera, contains some of the oldest wine. Above it, the criadera rows contain progressively younger blends of wine at each level.
Each year, a portion of wine is drawn from the solera for bottling, and the gap is replenished by wine drawn down from the criadera above it, which is in turn replenished by younger wine entering from the top. This fractional blending system means that no Sherry from any single vintage is ever bottled, the wine is always a blend of many years, with the average age of each bottling determined by the age of the solera itself.
At Gutiérrez Colosía, the soleras are genuinely old. The Atlantic microclimate, the age of the solera system, and traditional production methods combine to produce wines of unusual depth and authenticity that immediately distinguish themselves from commercial Sherry.
If you find yourself in Andalusia, Bodegas Gutiérrez Colosía is an essential stop. The bodega is located on the riverfront in El Puerto de Santa María, a short ferry ride across the bay from Cádiz, and offers guided tours that take you through the ageing halls and into the history of one of the region’s most authentic surviving family bodegas.
Fareham Wine Cellar stock their full range of Sherries: Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, Moscatel, and Pedro Ximénez.
Pale, dry, and bracingly fresh, this dry Sherry is aged under flor yeast in the classic style, with almond, bread dough, and a crisp saline finish that speaks directly of the Atlantic influence at El Puerto de Santa María. The finest aperitif wine in the world, served ice cold with jamón, anchovies, or olives.
Fino that has crossed over into oxidative ageing. This produces an amber, nutty, and complex wine, with nuances of hazelnuts, dried orange peel and a persistent saline depth on the finish. Dry despite its richness, and an outstanding match for aged cheeses, charcuterie, and earthy mushroom dishes.
The richest and most structured of the dry Sherries which is aged entirely without flor, with full oxidative contact producing a deep amber wine of walnut, dried fig, leather, and dark chocolate. Long, warming, and compelling. Serve with game, roast lamb, or aged manchego.
Intensely aromatic and sweetly generous, think orange blossom, dried apricot, and honey from sun-dried Moscatel grapes. Serve slightly chilled alongside fruit desserts, crème caramel, or soft cheeses. The 37.5cl half bottle is the ideal format.
The most extreme Sherry of all — almost syrupy with concentrated raisin, dark coffee, molasses, and bitter chocolate. Pour over vanilla ice cream for one of the great simple pleasures of the wine world, or sip slowly in a small glass after dinner. The 37.5cl half bottle is perfect.
The 37.5cl half bottle is particularly well suited to Sherry, and we stock the Gutiérrez Colosía range in this format for good reason. Fino and Manzanilla are best consumed within a day or two of opening, refrigerated like a white wine. The half bottle gives two to three generous servings, the perfect amount for an aperitif for two or a small tasting across multiple styles. For the sweeter expressions, the PX and Moscatel, where serving sizes are normally a bit smaller, a half bottle can serve six to eight people comfortably at the end of a meal. Browse our full range of wine half bottles for more options across styles and regions.
Visit Fareham Wine Cellar at 55 High Street, Fareham, Hampshire, or shop online at farehamwinecellar.co.uk with UK-wide delivery.
