Bodegas Yuste
Bodegas Yuste was founded by Francisco “Paco” Yuste, a successful beverage distributor in Andalucía. In 1991 he purchased and renovated the historic Bodega Santa Ana in Sanlúcar’s Barrio Bajo, including its 100+ years old solera of Manzanilla. It was the old house of the Rainera Pérez Marín family and it’s now the residence of the Yuste family. In 1998 he also acquired Viña La Alamedilla, 46 hectares of vineyards in the Jerez pago Carrascal. During this period he worked as an almacenista for other bodegas in need of a Manzanilla line extension or looking for limited high-end offerings.
In 2001 he bought the bodega Los Ángeles in the Barrio Alto. Then in 2010 he added the bodega Miraflores, founded in 1956 by a group of vinters in the famous pago with the same name.
Manzanilla Aurora and La Kika
Nowadays the young wines arrive at the Bodega Miraflores, where they have ideal conditions for sobretablas. After some five years, the wines move to Los Ángeles (which currently holds around 840 barrels), where they age to become the Manzanilla Aurora before eventually entering the solera of the Manzanilla Pasada La Kika at the Bodega Santa Ana.
Aurora Manzanilla / Amontillado / Oloroso / Pedro Ximénez
Bodegas Yuste has made quite an expansion lately. In 2015 the bodega acquired the rights to the Manzanilla Aurora from Pedro Romero, and in 2016 we saw the acquisition of Herederos de Argüeso (of San Leon fame). This would also be the start of exports abroad, although this is still a work in progress. The Aurora brand has been redesigned and expanded to a full range of wines.
Conde de Aldama
At about the same time, a new Conde de Aldama range saw the light. These wines are taken from ancient soleras, including rediscovered botas of pre-phylloxeric sherry sealed in plaster between the 1880s and 1920s. Carbon dating puts the solera founding around 1750. The bodega also maintains sherry brandies of high age.
Yuste sherry range
This is an overview of the wines maintained by Bodegas Yuste, not counting the Argüeso wines.
Aurora range
- Manzanilla Aurora, matured in the Bodega Los Ángeles (and previously transferred from a bodega in the Banda Playa). Named after the widow Aurora Ambrosse Lacave. Yuste integrated the 19th-C. solera with his own to produce a complex, rounded and saline Manzanilla between 8 and 10 years of age, bottled with minimal treatment.
- Amontillado Aurora, bottled from the third criadera of the Conde de Aldama solera in the Bodega Los Ángeles, around 15 years old of which the first 3-8 years under flor
- Oloroso Aurora, around 10 years of age
- Pedro Ximénez Aurora, around 10 years of age, matured in the Bodega Miraflores
Conde de Aldama range
- Amontillado Conde de Aldama
- Palo Cortado Conde de Aldama
Other sherry wines
- Manzanilla Señorita Irene
- Manzanilla Pasada La Kika, over 10 years old, matured in Bodega Santa Ana. For each saca individual botas are selected for bottling by hand.
- La Montería Manzanilla Fina, around 4 years old
- Fino La Montería
- La Montería Medium
- La Montería Cream
- Moscatel Añejo Pico-Plata
Brandy de Jerez
- Pedro I Brandy Solera Reserva
- Punto Azul “Heritage” Brandy Solera Gran Reserva
- Punto Azul “Prestige” Brandy Solera Gran Reserva
Visiting Yuste
Bodega Miraflores
Carretera Sanlúcar – Chipiona n°93
Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Visits possible by appointment.
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
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