Inside the Cathedrals of Sherry

At Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana, founded in the late 18th century, you can see the original painting that inspired La Gitana’s famous label. And director Javier Hidalgo points out that the runners underneath some of their oldest barrels were carved from coral reef before our thirteen States ever became the United States. Time telescopes.  

Bodegas in the Sherry Triangle keep their traditions close. Cellar masters still plunge an instrument called a venencia into a barrel’s bung hole to break through the flor and bring up a sample of wine. It’s a marvel to watch a master venenciador flick the wine into each tasting glass with a graceful gesture. 

In the past, the venencia’s long flexible shaft was often made of whalebone and the cup at the end of the shaft was silver. Today most venencias are made of stainless steel and fiberglass. But Javier Hidalgo still uses one made of cane cut from the marshes with his pocket knife. 

A sherry tasting will generally go from the lighter to the more complex, starting off with a Fino or Manzanilla, depending on whether the bodega is in Jerez or Sanlúcar or elsewhere, then move on to Amontillado, perhaps Palo Cortado, Oloroso, and the syrupy Pedro Ximenez. The miracle of sherry is that all the wines start off life in the same way, yet some barrels go their own unpredictable way.  Why a certain barrel becomes Palo Cortado and not Amontillado is something of a mystery, best explained in the recent documentary “Sherry & the Mystery of Palo Cortado.”  

Some connoisseurs prize the maverick barrels that never quite fit in with the house style. The distinguished firm Equipo Navazos started out just that way, by buying up forgotten barrels. And newcomer Alex Russan of Alexander Jules has made his reputation for quality by searching out barrels languishing in the corner of historic cellars, usually from smaller producers.  

In the serene dark of the bodegas’ cellars, time slows. Hard to say how much time you spent inside tasting and exploring. But suddenly, here again is the sun, the sea breeze, and that chilled glass of Manzanilla washing down a shrimp fritter at Casa Balbino or a plate of king prawns at Casa Bigote Tavern in Sanlúcar.