De la Riva

"Even though they may be fortified, great wines have traditionally been made in Jerez, and the idea is to be able to embrace a different style of wines from those we make in our personal projects."

Ant. De la Riva was once a thriving bodega from the late 1700s, purchased by Manuel Antonio De la Riva in 1838, until it was sold to Domecq in the 1970s and succumbed to the great sherry crash.

Enter Ramiro Ibañez and Willy Pérez, who met in the mid-2000s while studying oenology at the Universidad Puerto Real.  While Ramiro and Willy forged separate paths after Uni and went on to manage their own wineries in the Marco de Jerez, they still had questions about the complex winemaking heritage of the region.  After a deep dive into the past, they learned that the Romans had classified the distinct albariza soils and grapes long ago, mapping out a blueprint for the grand cru pagos in Sanlúcar and Jerez.  Coastal soils rich with oceanic fossils for wines of elegance, finesse, and salinity.  Inland soils for wines of concentration, power, and richness.  All wines of great sapidity.

After continued, extensive research and tasting bottles from older vintages, Willy and Ramiro seek to preserve the ancient winemaking wisdom and honor the traditional wines of the past.  In 2016, they were able to acquire a few rows in Pago Macharnudo and crafted the first wines under the De la Riva label in styles not seen since the 19^th century.  Single vintage, biological and oxidative palomino fino wines (vino de pasto) agedunder flor, as well as mature manzanillas and other sherries from botas resting untouched in bodegas long retired.