Bodegas de la Riva, Fino Macharnudo, Jerez, Spain

This is honestly the kind of wine that makes you feel for people that don’t like sherry. It’s undoubtedly a style of wine that splits the room, but for those that do enjoy it, this is just about as good as it gets. 

Jerez is a region that lost sight of the important differences between individual vineyard sites and became all about the brands and big names. But it was not always so and is slowly and steadily becoming not so again. 

De La Riva is sherry house founded in the late 19th century by Manuel Antonio de la Riva, originally with 50 hectares of prime vineyard at high altitude on very pure limestone soils. But it was lost into Big Wine Corp in the 1970s and almost disappeared. Then along came Willy Pérez and Ramiro Ibáñez who rescued De La Riva from obscurity, are reviving the history of bottling individual vineyard wines, and producing non-fortified and fortified wines of exceptional quality. 

This fino style sherry, made from grapes grown in the historic Pago Macharnudo, is bone dry with wonderful intensity (wonderful at least for those that like it!) and a glorious salinity and depth. 

Producer - Bodegas de la Riva
Country - Spain
Region - Jerez
Variety / Blend - Palomino
Wine Style - Sherry
Vegan