Casa Bigote, by the mouth of the river, was one of the few bars still open. We ordered a half-bottle of manzanilla (priced just €7) while we waited for Thomas de Wangen of Sotovelo. The copas glistened; the wine in them was steel-green.
‘Oh no,’ said de Wangen, walking in a few minutes later. ‘Look at that colour!’ The remark shocked me. His glance told him that the wine had been filter-stripped before bottling, eviscerating its character. At that moment, it sunk in. Yes, the Sherry world has changed.
Here’s an intriguing story. Twelve years after founding a wine-importing company in Shanghai, de Wangen sold it (in 2019), came to Jerez and bought 20ha of fine limey clay soils in Balbaina, west of the city – to make an unfortified wine of the place as naturally as possible. ‘I’m convinced,’ de Wangen says, ‘that Jerez can produce world-class unfortified white wines, with the unique character of the veil of flor [layer of dead yeast cells protecting the surface of the wine maturing in barrel] – in my view, a key element to the local terroir.’ Moreover he found a singular partner for Sotovelo (which means ‘under the veil’).
Charles Rolls loves fino. His drinks career began, though, when he acquired a quarter-share in Plymouth Gin in 1997 and, as managing director, nursed it back to prominence; it was sold in 2000 to Absolut’s owners V&S Group. Rolls had discussions with the almacenista business [specialist in maturation] El Maestro Sierra after
