San León Reserva de la Familia (Argüeso)

Don León de Argüeso gave his name to the flagship Manzanilla from Bodegas Argüeso

This is the Familia de Reserva (black label) version of San León, the flagship Manzanilla from Bodegas Argüeso. It used to be preserved for the owners of the bodega and it is said to be around 6-8 years old. It sits in between a Manzanilla and a Manzanilla Pasada I would say.

San Leon Familia de Reserva comes from a solera of 44 casks. It dates back to the foundation of the company in 1822, when Léon de Argüeso buys a number of old soleras and the Bodega San José. A limited number of bottles are made available of this wine, around 2500 per year.

Like other Manzanillas of the past, this wine used to be bottled at a much older age but consumer preferences lead to the current-day younger style of the regular Manzanilla San León. In a way this Familia de Reserva is a legacy from the past. I believe this wine is also used to refresh the solera of the Amontillado Viejo VORS.

Bodegas Argüeso

San León Reserva de la Familia Manzanilla (15%, Bodegas Argüeso)

Nose: rather great. Salty scrubland, dried algae and hints of iodine. Hints of roasted hazelnuts and salted almonds. Touches of smoke. Quite some dried herbs. Chamomile. Very light hints of candied fruits in the background.

Mouth: quite mineral with medium intensity and a decent acidity. Still a slight ‘green’ herbal note as well as some brine and yeasty notes. Aniseed. Bitter hints and green olives after a while. Long, elegant finish, with some floral hints.

Availability: okay, distributors in quite a few countries. Around € 14.

Summary: This San León Reserva de Familia certainly has its own complex character, marked by some spiky hints of dried Mediterranean herbs. The finest Manzanilla of the house, for sure.

4

Very good

Tags: 15%, Argüeso, Manzanilla Pasada, Reserva, San Leon, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Solera Familiar

About the Author

Ruben is a Certified Sherry Educator who fell in love with sherry some 25 years ago, but switched to a higher gear in 2013 and started writing about it. Lived in Madrid for a couple of years, now back in Belgium. I also run a whisky blog over at www.whiskynotes.be