Bodegas De La Riva, Jerez
Jerez natives Ramiro and Willy met in the mid-2000s while studying oenology at Universidad Puerto Real then their ways parted for a while. Ramiro worked for many years as the head winemaker at a local Co-op, soaking up information about the land & vineyards, eventually founding his own bodega Cota 45, while Willy joined his father’s bodega, Luiz Perez.
Being part of a small group of young blood producers in Jerez the pair reconnected in 2016 which is when they embarked on their La Riva project (more on that soon) and also the immense task of writing a book, Los Sobrinos de Haurie, which focuses on documenting the development of the intricate wine production methods and history of the area spanning over the 19th century.
Essential to understand here is that these guys are all about returning to their roots and at the same time re-interpreting and paying homage to the rich viticultural history of their birthplace.
Initially having been a dynamic region where focus was the relationship between specific vineyards (pagos), soil, grape and ageing methods with the result of highly individual wines.
Varied economic factors, industrial big scale agriculture, a later failed monopolization,
all played their part in seeing these old vineyard-focused traditions increasingly replaced with the standardized house style, favoring extensive flor-influence and fortification.
Quality steadily decreased together with a decline in the demand and many bodegas went bankrupt. Something clearly went missing and it’s this lost piece of tradition that Ramiro and Willy’s work centers around.
Back to De la Riva and the revival of this ancient bodega.
Dating back to the late 1700’s it had always carried a great reputation for high quality sherries, old soleras and their top-notch vineyards in the Pago Macharnudo – one of the oldest vineyard areas in the zone at a high elevation and with very pure limestone soil – when Manuel Antonio de la Riva bought it in 1838. It stayed in the family until the 70’s when Bodega A. Domecq. took over. Bodega De La Riva and its wines stayed greatly admired by Jerezanos, and this struck a chord with Willy and Ramiro that noted that the wines had a particular sense of place to them. An opportunity emerged in 2017 and Ramiro and Willy purchased the bodega as a part of their project of reviving and maintaining precious tradition.
Under the De la Riva label they now make a white table wine (Vino Blanco),
a range of Sherries and some very rare wines they manage to source from old bodegas.
Paying attention to detail in the vineyards and understanding the variations between theese pagos is key in their work. If these ancient vineyards are allowed to speak for themselves instead of being masked in the porridge that mass production is, Willy and Ramiro are convinced that the world will start paying attention again.
These are truly unique wines, available in very limited quantities.
2020 La Riva Macharnudo Vino de Pasto
Macharnudo Alto
This white wine is sourced from the Palomino Fino parcel ’El Notario’, situated in Macharnudo Alto, northern part of Jerez and this is their own vineyards. Grapes were hand-harvested mid August 2020 and sun-dried (an old method in the area) for 6 hours before being pressed. Natural fermentation in a 600L bota at room temperature and aged under flor for 24 months.
This style of white wine was typical in Jerez in the 1940s and was a signature style of the De la Riva bodega.
Bottled in August 2022. 2000 btls produced. Not fortified.
2019 La Riva Macharnudo Vino de Pasto
Macharnudo Alto
This white wine is sourced from the Palomino Fino parcel ’El Notario’, situated in Macharnudo Alto, northern part of Jerez from their own vineyards. Grapes were hand-harvested at the end of August and sun-dried (an old method in the area) for 6 to 8 hours before being pressed. Natural fermentation in a 600L bota at room temperature and aged under flor for 22 months.
This style of white wine was typical in Jerez in the 1940s and
was a signature style of the De la Riva bodega.
Bottled in June 2020. 1370 btls produced. Not fortified.
2021 Las 10 Vino de Pasto
This white wine made from 100% Palomino Fino is sourced from the Carrascal vineyard and plot ‘Las 10’ in Sanlúcar. This vineyard consisting of 10 blocks used to belong to one of the most noted producers of Manzanilla during the past century, Bodegas García de Velasco. Their famous ‘Manzanilla Los 48’ were made with grapes from this exact 4,75 ha vineyard.
Grapes were hand-harvested at the end of August 2021 and then pressed (whole clusters). Natural fermentation in a 500L bota at room temperature and aged under flor for 12 months.
Bottled in August 2022. 600 btls produced. Not fortified.
2021 El Armijo Vino de Pasto
This white wine made from 100% Palomino Fino is sourced from the ‘El Armijo’ vineyard in Sanlúcar. This site was divided into hundreds of small plots, over the past two centuries, but the Florio family patiently united it all back to one vineyard now consisting of 33,5 ha.
El Armijo is situated between the vineyards Miraflores Alta, Pastrana and El Agostado.
Grapes were hand-harvested at the end of August 2021 and then pressed (whole clusters). Natural fermentation in a 500L bota at room temperature and aged under flor for 12 months.Bottled in August 2022. 600 btls produced. Not fortified.
2021 Lacave Vino de Pasto
This white wine made from 100% Palomino Fino is sourced from a tiny plot north of El Caserío de Lacave, in the middle of the ‘Maina’ vineyard, Sanlúcar. The Albariza soils at this particular place has very high levels of diatom (algae) biomass which gives extra concentration and boost of flavour. Approximate age of vineyard is 35 years and was formely owned by the Terán family.
Grapes were hand-harvested at the end of August 2021 and then pressed (whole clusters). Natural fermentation in a 500L bota at room temperature and aged under flor for 12 months.
Bottled in August 2022. 500 btls produced. Not fortified.
2021 El Cuadrado Vino de Pasto
This white wine made from 100% Palomino Fino is sourced from the beautiful and highly renowned vineyard ‘El Cuadrado’, in the heart of Los Cuadrados, a sub-vineyard in Balbaína Alta , Jerez. The plot belongs to the Hidalgo family of Bodegas La Gitana dating back to 1875.
Grapes were hand-harvested at the end of August 2021 and then pressed (whole clusters). Natural fermentation in a 500L bota at room temperature and aged under flor for 12 months.
Bottled in August 2022. 500 btls produced. Not fortified.
2021 Cambre Vino de Pasto
This white wine is sourced from one of the oldest vineyard plots in Balbaína Baja, Jerez.
Planted in 1944 the plot got the nickname ´Campell´ after it’s proprietor, the British man Carlos Sutter Campbell, who originally bougth the land in 1830. It was sold in 1880 to the winemaking family Pavón who still owns it. Gonzáles Byass also used this particular place to develop different Palomino clones, the most famous one that today carries the name California.
Grapes were hand-harvested early August 2021 in small baskets.
Natural fermentation at room temperature in a 500L bota, fully topped up and aged under flor for 12 months.
Bottled in August 2022. 600 btls produced. Not fortified.
La Riva Manzanilla Fina
Miraflores Baja
The La Riva Manzanilla is sourced from one single solera at the almacenista Luis del Río. Palomino Fino Grapes are picked from the Casilla Verde family estae, situated 7 km from the sea in Sanlúcar. Hand-harvest in mid-September and fermented in tank on the lees. Finally aged under flor for an average of 3.5 years in a traditional 1/12 solera system. This contract is a sort of adoption, allowing Willy and Ramiro to take control of the maintenance and bottling of the wines from an established solera. To refresh the solera they carefully select and source new wines to steadily continue the process.
Bottled in May 2019 4000 btls produced. Alc.15%
Cuatro Cortados Vera Cruz
This is a very old oxidatively aged wine sourced from the ancient and now defunct Bodega Veracruz in Trejbuena. The varieties in the blend are Palomino Fino and Perruno. The later was more widely planted in the area before the industrial era. It’s believed that the solera was started with mostly Perruno, to be replaced with Palomino as time moved on.
This is a very old wine made in the style of a Palo Cortado and classified as a Cuatro Cortados due to its elegant and concentrated qualities. Wine from 8 different botas that were found in the ancient bodega were unified into one single barrel in 1981 and has been oxidatively aged until bottling.
The exact age of the original wine is unclear but most likely the solera was started before 1900.
Bottled in February 2021 in 25cl bottles. 22% vol.