Muchada-Léclapart is a fascinating partnership between Alejandro Muchada, a grower from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and David Léclapart, the biodynamic Champagne vigneron. Together they have carved out a unique space in the Sherry district, where their wines explore the terroir without fortification, expressing the albariza soils in their purest form.
This wine comes from a single vineyard called La Platera, a 1.6-hectare plot in the western part of Pago Miraflores, just outside Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The palomino vines are more than seventy years old, massal selections rooted in pure albariza – a mix of tosca and lentejuela that gives both finesse and tension. Farming is fully biodynamic, and the work in the cellar is equally gentle: spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts in used French oak barrels, followed by ageing on fine lees, without fortification or additives.
Lumière 2023(Muchada-Léclapart)
Pale, almost crystalline gold with silvery glints. The aromas open with lemon peel, grapefruit pith and white flowers, followed by hints of chalk dust and a whisper of sea breeze. On the palate it is taut and linear, with a fine, almost chalky grip that frames the fruit. There is a marked salinity, echoing the Atlantic winds, and a cool herbal note that brings freshness.
The reborn La Riva label has its origins in 1776. For over a century it was known for wines from the great pagos of Jerez, until the brand was absorbed into Domecq in the 1970s and gradually disappeared. In 2016, when it seemed destined to be forgotten, Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibáñez brought it back as both homage and statement – a return to the vineyards (pagos) as the true source of identity in Jerez.
The two friends met while studying oenology in Cádiz in the mid-2000s. Ramiro went on to taste and vinify fruit from almost every single vineyard in Sanlúcar and Jerez while working at the local co-op, an experience that convinced him the secret lay in the diversity of albariza soils. Willy returned to his family’s bodega, where his father Luis Pérez had already turned away from industrial sherry production in favour of traditional viticulture and forgotten grape varieties. Both became convinced that terroir – not cellar technique – is Jerez’s real strength.
La Riva embodies this philosophy. The goal is not to craft wines shaped by fortification or blending, but to let each vineyard’s chalk speak clearly. In a region long dominated by winemaking style over viticulture, this approach is both controversial and groundbreaking – but it is also the path to the future of sherry.
Rancho Riquelme is a 5-hectare site on the eastern edge of Pago Burujena, facing north with steep slopes and little topsoil. Here the bedrock of barajuelas lies close to the surface, its chalk laced with diatomaceous silica. This combination brings both intensity and freshness to palomino fino, yielding wines of tension and clarity.
The 2023 was harvested by hand in late August, the grapes pressed as whole clusters and fermented in 500-litre butts at ambient temperature with natural yeasts. Ageing took place for 12 months under flor, giving subtle biological character without losing purity. 12.5% alc..
Burujena Rancho Riquelme 2023 (La Riva)
In the glass the wine is straw yellow. The nose shows chalk, fennel, alnond and a whisper of sea breeze. In the mouth it is full (glyceric) and concentrated, marked by citrus zest and a salty mineral backbone, with a lingering finish.
I’m back in Porto, for this year’s edition of Simplesmente… Vinho. Starting officially tomorrow, but we are now gathered in Niepoort’s lodge. Leader of one of the classic port producers, Dirk Niepoort, was among those who spearheaded today’s boom in 2008 with his collaboration with Equipo Navazos and the wine Navazos Niepoort. The wine was made from grapes grown in an albariza vineyard in Jerez and fermented without fortification, undergoing a period under flor, thus combining freshness, depth, and a subtle saline character. It quickly became a cult wine.
Tonight, Dirk poured both the 2014 and 2016 vintages of that wine, alongside some backlog vintages of his reds and a stunning white port from 1895. Ricardo Freitas from Barbeito added to the lineup with an exceptional 50 year old Madeira..
Ricardo Freitas presenting his contribution. Dirk Niepoort next to him.
The Jerez boom is about a return to the vineyard, organic farming, and singular wines. It is this movement that Simplesmenteseeks to highlight by presenting 14 producers from the sherry region this year—both raw and refined. That same energy—of pushing boundaries while respecting history—is what Simplesmente Vinho is all about.
Beyond the wines, the evening took on an artistic dimension as well, with guests contributing their own creative expressions—spontaneous, vibrant, and very much in the spirit of the gathering.
Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez, two of the leading lights in today’s boom
From tomorrow, the focus shifts to Alfândega do Porto, where the festival truly comes alive. The grand riverside space will host winemakers, drinkers, and thinkers from across Iberia, with a special spotlight on the producers from Marco de Jerez. They’ve come to challenge perceptions, to pour wines that blur the lines between past and future, between oxidative depth and raw immediacy.
Luis Pérez is one of the leading producers in the new wave of Jerez. I reviewed a pasto wine in September last year. Here you can learn what it is, if you don’t already know, and also get an introduction to the producer.
Caberrubia is a non vintage wine from the El Corregidor estate in the Carrascal pago. It’s named a palma, a classification for especially fine wines in the fino style.
The grapes are palomino fino trained in gobelet, from a 40 years old vineyard. The producer’s website tells that the harvesters go through the vineyard from the beginning of August to the end of September selecting bunches for different types of wines. The first pickings are for the greenest bunches on the plant. From these they make a wine with low alcohol and high acidity, that is used to correct the rest of the wines. The third of five pickings is the base for the palmas such as Caberrubia.
The vinification is typical: Light pressing and fermentation in the barrel, packing in December and approximately three and a half years of biological ageing.
There have been various sacas (bottlings) of the wine. Now we have come to the seventh. With Saca VII they have expanded the selection to 17 botas (typical sherry casks), mostly 2017, 2018 and 2019, and small proportions of previous vintages. With this assemblage they seek a style that is representative for the vineyard, that is “an inland character, roundness and concentration, without losing the elegance and finesse that defines all the previous sacas”. According to the new legislation a wine can be called sherry even if it’s not fortified, only if it has reached 15º of alcohol. This saca has not reached that level, so it’s not released as a fino within the D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, but as a white wine.
Caberrubia Saca VII(Luis Pérez)
Deep golden. Complex aroma with fresh fruits like baked apples and peach, complemented by nuts, and a touch of flor and salt. Good volume in the mouth, concentrated and smooth, salty and long. It has more power than the previous saca, but it’s also very elegant.
Price: Medium-high
Food: Aperitif, various tapas incl. asparagus, cheese and nuts, also nice with rice and spicy dishes
Ximénez-Spínola is a rare bird in the fauna jerezana, in that they are focusing on a single grape, the pedro ximénez, or simply PX.
This week’s wine is a dry take on what’s normally, in this region, elaborated as a sweet wine. It’s made from grapes that are overripe, the producer counts 21 additional days to the conventional harvest. The grapes are harvested by hand, then pressed softly,. The wine is placed with its skins in French oak barrels of between 225 and 300 liters, adding 30 liters to each barrel every day – hence the name, that means slow fermentation – so that the yeasts can finish off all the sugars daily and leave the wine completely dry. The musts are aged on lees with a gentle batonage for six months in the barrel.
Fermentación Lenta 2019(Ximénez-Spínola)
Light golden with greenish hint, high viscosity. Aroma of dried plums, wax, hint of caramel. Full in the mouth, glyceric, with figs, ripe fruit and a sweet touch like caramel, but rounds off dry. A unique wine with lots of personality.
This is the second article in a series of three, about unfortified wines from the sherry district. This white table wine is just brilliant. It’s a palomino without additions, not even any influence of flor. It’s a sublime expression of grape and place.
Alejandro Muchada and his partner David Léclapart make incredible terroir-driven wines full of saline minerality, and always with a lovely texture. From three plots of a total of 3.6 hectares in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Alejandro works according to biodynamic principles, and in the cellar he shows a hands-off philosophy..
The grapes for this wine is taken from Viña La Platera Vieja in Miraflores Baja, that is a 1.2 hectares plot. The soil is calcareous albariza, with a hard rock albariza type called “tosca cerrada”, under clayey limestone. The orientation is west and the vines are more than 60 years old.
The grapes were hand-harvested, directly pressed for 3-4 hours, spontaneously fermented and matured for 12 months on lees in used barrels. Bottled without filtering.
Lumière 2021(Muchada-Léclapart)
Yellow colour, slightly cloudy. Aroma of yellow apples, flowers, almonds, black olives and citrus and a touch of salt. Concentrated, medium-bodied, fruity in the mouth with almonds, smooth texture, mineral. Finishes very long. It has this extra nerve that is hard to define, but makes it a great wine. As the name might imply: Brilliant.
Vino de pasto is a table wine, here as opposed to a fortified sherry. The word is probably from the same root as pasture.
But first a brief history. The Pérez family have been winemakers for several generations. In 2002 Luis, a professor of oenology and former winemaker at Domecq, set up his bodega just outside Jerez, together with his children. Most significantly, his son Willy has made his name as a brilliant winemaker that takes the sherry trade in new and interesting directions.
One of their main objective is exploring the historic pagos (vineyards) of Jerez. This wine La Escribana is made of palomino fino grapes grown on Cerro de Obispo, a hill in the pago Macharnudo, on albariza (limestone) soil. This south-east facing plot, approximately 100 metres above sea level, is pruned in the local vara y pulgar pruning method (means stick and thumb, and has some similarity to Guyot). Picking is done twice; early for acidity, then later for more maturity. After a 5-6 hours asoleo (drying) and cold fermentation in steel, it undergoes 12 months of ageing on the lees with a little flor, in 80 years old sherry butts.
This review is the first of a “triangle” of unfortified wines from the sherry area.
La Escribana2022(Luis Pérez)
Light yellow. Notes of citrus (lemon peel), yellow apples, flowers, green olives, nuts, and also a tropical element. Full in the mouth, fresh, good acidity, some grapefruity bitterness and a marked saltiness.
Price: Medium
Food: We had it with bacalao, but should go to a variety of tasty fish and light meat dishes, as well as various tapas.
This wine was served in a panel tasting of dry sherries for Vinforum magazine.
Bodegas Ximénez-Spínola has since 1729 built its reputation on a single grape variety, namely pedro ximénez, that has always found itself in the shadow of palomino. The current proprietor is José Antonio Zarzana.
Their vineyards between the towns of Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María have chalky chalky albariza soils and are worked organically.
The wine is put together from single vintage casks from 2009, ’13, ’15 and ’19, blended together in 9 new barrels, matured for a year and then bottled. Fermentation was in French oak with wild yeasts, followed by ageing in American oak with some casks developing flor, whilst some not, giving complexity from both biological and oxidative ageing. There has been no fortification. Still it carries the DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, thanks to the new regulations from 2022. Alcoholic fermentation brought it up to15%, then an oxidative ageing and evaporation, resulted in a final 17%.
Palo Cortado Jerez Seco Serie 2(Ximénez-Spínola)
Beautiful amber colour. Smells of apricot, candied fruits, and lightly fried onions. It’s full and glyceric, in a way fruity, with a saline touch, grapey, long with a nutty finish, and with perfectly integrated alcohol. A complex and generous wine, with lots of personality. Truly memorable.
An armada of Spanish producers visited Stavanger, Norway this last Tuesday with their importer Moestue Grape Selections. I participated at the following dinner at Matbaren Renaa.
Visiting from Spain were Telmo Rodríguez, Fernando García (Comando G) and Carlos “Curro” Bareño (Fedellos and Vinícola Mentridiana). Pedro Parra from Itata, Chile should have been there, but was left somewhere in Europe with covid.
Paired with the restaurant’s lobster, lamb and quail dishes were seven wines. The fino Caberrubia Saca VI from Luís Pérez was a welcome drink, a natural sherry from pago Balbaína outside Jerez. It’s a grapey, salty and fresh sherry with no added alcohol.
Telmo Rodríguez introduced his white Branco de Santa Cruz 2020 from Valdeorras. He tells that this is one of the places he spends most time nowadays. It’s made from that premium northern grape godello, with some treixadura, doña blanca and palomino, all found in a mixed vineyard together with red varieties, and matured in used oak vats. It’s a super elegant wine with good volume, textured, and a complex aroma of citrus, herbs, a touch of menthol and a stony minerality.
Fedellos started as Fedellos do Couto because they were based in that village. Now they have moved. They make wines from the Bibei valley. Peixeda Estrada2019 is a village wine from Viana do Bolo outside both Valdeorras and Ribeira Sacra designated areas, a field blend of 60-80 year old vines with predominantly mencía made with whole bunches in partially used barrels, steel, concrete and/or fiberglass tanks. Long maceration time and light extractions. It’s a fresh, delicate wine with aromas of red and dark fruits along with herbs and some balsamic.
Pedro Parra couldn’t attend as he was sick with covid and stuck somewhere in Europe. But his wines made it to Norway. Pedro is a leading figure in the new terroir-focused Chilean wave, concentrating on cinsault on granite soils. He tries to make his wines in a reductive way, at present with 20 days skin-contact.
Trane was obviously (?) dedicated to John Coltrane, an innovator and creative jazz musician. It’s a single-vineyard cinsault from a plot of highly decomposed granite soils. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts and some 30% full clusters and matured in big oak vats for 11 months. It’s a light wine, but also structured. The fruit is both dark and red, with hints of flowers, anise and smoke.
Fernando García represented Comando G, that has contributed to putting the Gredos mountains on the wine map. They were also on this trip promoting the book Calicata, about the wine region. The English edition was released a few months ago, and Moestue sells it on the Norwegian market. In fact I was visiting Fernando at his table when another wine was passed around. I didn’t realize this in time, but my fiancée gave me a few drops to taste. It had a strong signature of a Gredos garnacha, ruby red, ethereal, with red fruits (raspberry), flowers and smoke – in a way light, but intensely full of flavours. It turned out to be Las Iruelas 2019, a parcel wine from El Tiemblo in the Ávila province. It was earlier made by the Jiménez-Landi family winery, but is now labelled Comando G.
The last wine was a lovely rioja from the new wave, that I advocate, Telmo’s Tabuérniga 2019. It comes from a cool vineyard in the village of Labastida, planted with old tempranillo vines, some graciano, mazuelo, garnacha and garnacha blanca. The soil is shallow and calcareous. It’s a serious wine; somewhat austere and maybe a little closed, but underneath are red and wild berries waiting to burst; it’s full of fruit and the tannins are elegant. It’s a wine that invites you to meet again, so let’s remember it and follow. A wonderful evidence that a wine does not need to be oaky to be complex nor ageworthy.
Miguel Valdespino gave me this wine. He became the last Valdespino in the centuries-old company. His two children did not want a career in wine, so he chose -quite surprisingly for me and to many others who followed sherry closely at the time- to sell to José Estévez.
Surprisingly, because Estévez had been more known as a business man than a sherry ‘aficionado’, and furthermore he was involved in the infamous RUMASA fraud.
Valdespino is for me the ultimate sherry producer from the old times. They had unbelievable stocks of treasures in their cellars. And a moscatel from three casks was released a few years ago to a 100 points ovation from American media. But Valdespino was also forward-thinking, and the first producer to mention the vineyard and the ‘pago’ (denotes a larger area) on a label, the fino Inocente from the vineyard of the same name in pago Macharnudo Alto.
Some fifteen years after the first removal of the cork the bottle looked like this
I know this is personal, but never mind: I had visited Miguel Valdespino several times as a journalist and lover of great sherry, and he gave me this bottle some 20-25 years ago. I don’t know all the details. But he told that it had participated in the Paris 1889 world exhibition (the one that celebrated 100 years since the revolution), “then as an old wine”, to quote the master. At the time I got it the wine was bottled from a big barrel, a ‘tonel’ with the letters ‘NO’, denoting that it must not be touched. It was clearly not meant for sale, and Miguel put on a provisional label with the company name, and with a name Pedro Ximénez Tonel written by a typewriter of that time. At that particular time I was visiting with my now former wife. When we parted around 15 years ago we talked about sharing this wine, so I pulled the cork. Suddenly I (as I would say) came to my senses thinking ‘this is wrong’. So I pushed the cork back into the bottle. And I admit that until today I have been unsure what happened to the wine when it was exposed to air some 15 years ago.
What do we know for sure about the wine then? It’s made from the pedro ximénez grape variety. It participated at in Paris 1889. Before that it might have been born in a solera, but I’m not completely sure. Valdespino was a leading company at that time too, so it’s very unlikely that the wine was less than 30 years old, I would say probably a lot more. I think it must have been born some time between 1820 and 1850.
All right, this wine does not exist commercially, and it probably never did. But I call it:
Pedro Ximénez Tonel(A.R. Valdespino)
Unctous, thickly flowing wine, motor oil consistency, with dense curtains (‘cortinas’ in Spanish), dark raisiny brown/mahogany with evident green notes (like all very old px sherries).
Aroma of toasted hazelnuts, nutmeg, prunes, figs, coffee and dark chocolate, but also flowers and more delicate fruits (in direction of yellow tomatoes, plums, mango).
Very sweet and concentrated, but somehow also fresh with an rich resonance and great length.
In my opinion it’s unfair and devaluating to a wine like this to reduce it to points and punctuations, figures and numbers. A Portuguese writer once likened a wine to a cathedral. In the same tradition we could say that this wine evokes images from the ancient times and the soldier that the pedro ximénez grape took its name from. And it’s easy to imagine the ‘alcázares’ and the basílica churches of Jerez de la Frontera, and the sun rising over the ancient Valdespino bodega in that narrow street of the old gypsy quarter of Santiago, right in the heart of town.
Price: Priceless
Food: A variety of desserts, such as cakes and cookies, puddings, nuts, cheeses, and even a small sip is something of a meal in itself
