Production

One of the major parts in the creation of our wines is the production process, which is essential to the production of any kind of product. In our wineries we are aware of the importance it involves and therefore we treat it with special attention and accuracy.

Once the pressed grape juice has fermented, the splitting of sugar into alcohol produces what we call must. At this point, the foreman of the winery decides about the following steps necessary to transform the must into a Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso or Manzanilla.

The foreman adds wine-alcohol to the must with an original alcoholic content of 11 or 12 % Vol in order to reach an alcohol content of 15 % Vol and create the desired product.

For at least 10 to 11 months after the grape harvest, the must remains in this state until it goes into the criadera - several layers of barrels piled up one on top of another. Due to the completely natural procedure, a layer of leavening, called "velo de flor", that prevents oxidation, feeds the must with nutrients, and withdraws alcohol, appears on the surface of the liquid. Consequently, the biological process of maturity takes place.

In Sanlúcar, the Manzanilla keeps its vigour all year.

Following the "Solera system", the barrels are piled up in three to four layers on top of the so called "soleras", the layer at floor level (span.: "suelo"= ground). In regular time lags, ideally every three months, about one third of the wine from the soleras is extracted for bottling. This amount of wine is then respectively replaced by wine from the next layer and new wine is added to the top layer barrels. This process guarantees constant quality and characteristics of the wine as it inherits the characteristics of the respective older blend.


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Production - Production, en uk.bodegaslacigarrera.com - Bodegas La Cigarrera, Manzanilla de Sanlúcar, Amontillado, Vinos del marco de Jerez, Oloroso, Pedro Ximenez