Bodegas Valdespino

Eduardo Ojeda, Winemaker and Production Manager

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Country of Origin: Spain
Location: Jerez de la Frontera
People: Estevez Family, Owners | Jose Ramón Estévez, General Manager | Eduardo Ojeda, Winemaker & Production Manager

Items

Bodegas Valdespino Brandy de Jerez Solera Gran Reserva, Jerez (85 proof) Login In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino Quina, Jerez (35 proof) Login In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino Vermouth, Jerez (30 proof) Login In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino 'Promesa' Moscatel Sherry, Jerez DO Login In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino 'Contrabandista' Medium Dry Amontillado Sherry, Jerez DO Login In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino 'Isabela' Cream Oloroso Sherry, Jerez DO Login WS 90 In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino 2015 'La Especial' Manzanilla Sherry, Pago de Miraflores, Sanlucar de Barrameda DO Login WA 94 In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino 'Tio Diego' Amontillado Sherry, Jerez DO Login WS 92 WA 92 DEC 96 In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino (375 ml) 'Deliciosa' Manzanilla Sherry, Sanlucar de Barrameda DO Login WA 89 In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino (375 ml) 'Inocente' Fino Sherry, Jerez DO Login WS 92 WA 94 WA 94+ In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino (500 ml) 'Don Gonzalo' Oloroso VOS Sherry, Jerez DO Login In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino (500 ml) 'Viejo C.P.' Palo Cortado VOS Sherry, Jerez DO Login AG 95 In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino 'El Candado' Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Jerez DO Login WS 93 WA 90 In Stock
Bodegas Valdespino 'Ron Viejo' Rum Finished in Sherry Casks, Jerez (86 proof) Login In Stock

The origins of this historic bodega date back to 1264 when Don Alfonso Valdespino was one of 24 knights responsible for expelling the Moors from Jerez. As a reward for his efforts the king gave him land grants in the city of Jerez and thus began Bodegas Valdespino. Although commercial activities are recorded as far back as 1430, the company was not registered until 1875. In 1883 the House of Valdespino became a purveyor of sherry to the Royal House of Spain and in 1932, they also became purveyors of sherry to the Royal House of Sweden.

In 1910, they trademarked “Sacristia” which is the area in the bodegas where the best casks of sherry are kept. Other bodegas now use this term, but it is only Valdespino who have the right to use it.

What makes Valdespino unique? The heart of Valdespino is its vineyards. It is the only sherry house to have single vineyard wines. Macharnudo Alto Vineyard is one of the ‘grand cru’ vineyards of Jerez. It is 56.2 hectares, located 5 kilometers in the northwest of Jerez, in the middle of the region in within the famous Pago Macharnudo. It is located 135 meters high over the sea level, directed to the southeast with a 10% level. The vines are grown on albariza soil or bright white chalk.

Some Valdespino wines are still fermented the traditional way, in aged oak barrels; the norm for most houses today is stainless steel fermentation. They are also one of a few estates that take the solera system to the extreme going way beyond DO minimum regulations for all the categories. As an example fino sherry is required to have 2 criaderas (nursery levels of the solera) and the DO average tends to be 3 – Valdespino’s Fino Inocente has 10 Criaderas!

Luis Gutierrez for Wine Advocate
"I’ve often called Valdespino 'the Romanee-Conti of Jerez.' Well, there, I’ve said it. To me they represent quality and tradition at the very top of the Sherry hierarchy. The winery, soleras and brands are old, registered in 1875, but with documentation about their commercial and winegrowing activities going back to the 13th century. Their recent history starts in 1999, when Jose Estevez purchases the company from the Valdespino family. Today Valdespino is the jewel in the crown of the Grupo Estevez, which also includes Real Tesoro and La Guita, who stock and age 35,000 botas of Sherry and own 800 hectares of vineyards, 56 of which come from the Pago Macharnudo, on pure white albariza soil, one of the best vineyards in the Marco de Jerez, and 17 hectares from the heart of Macharnudo are still fermented in bota today and form the core of brands like Inocente, Tio Diego, CP or Cardenal. All the wines were carefully and slowly moved to the new facilities of the Grupo Estevez on the outskirts of Jerez, where they continue their development under the supervision of Eduardo Ojeda, technical director, winemaker, who as a wine-lover is very aware of his role preserving these old soleras, wines and traditions."


Rated Top 100 Wineries of the Year by Wine & Spirits 10/15/2015
Rated Top 100 Wineries of the Year by Wine & Spirits 11/30/2013

Media Links
SFGate.com: Sherry's Great Hopes, Found at Its Fringes
The World of Fine Wine: Amontillado - A Draught from Paradise
The New York Times: Your Next Lesson - Fino Sherry
The Vine Inspiration: Valdespino and the Marcharnudo Maze
The New York Times: Sherry Sidles Out of the Drawing Room

Social Media
Twitter: @grupoestevez
Bodegas Valdespino Facebook

Reviews

  • Valdespino 'El Candado' Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 93 (7/31/2013)

    Offers layers of macerated date, ganache, warm caraway, buckwheat honey and chocolate-covered orange peel notes, with a deep, intense finish that lets a wonderfully smoky hint curl through. The power is obvious, the range and definition more subtle. Drink
  • Valdespino 'Tio Diego' Amontillado Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 92 (7/31/2013)

    Smoky and taut, featuring date, dried orange peel, clove, singed sandalwood and salted caramel notes. The dry, nervy finish has lots of tension. Begs for salted almonds.
  • Valdespino (375 ml) 'Inocente' Fino Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 92 (7/31/2013)

    High-pitched, featuring talc, chamomile, chalk and jicama notes, followed by a pure, stone-tinged finish. Very graceful, lacy and long.
  • Valdespino 'Tio Diego' Amontillado Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 92 (8/29/2013)

    The NV Tio Diego Amontillado Palomino from the Macharnudo vineyard, is fermented in botas, aged biologically for 10 years under flor in a solera separated from Inocente, and with a further five years of oxidative aging. It has a beautiful, perfumed nose of dry flowers, very elegant and clean, subtle, with some saline notes, both in the nose and the palate, where it is balanced, medium-bodied and elegant. A very fine Amontillado, showing superb value for a 15-year-old wine. Drink 2013-2019.
  • Valdespino 'El Candado' Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 90 (8/29/2013)

    The NV El Candado Pedro Ximenez, produced from sun-dried Pedro Ximenez grapes for two weeks, and aged in a solera for an average of 8-10 years, is bottled with 400 grams of sugar and 17% alcohol. Mahogany color, the nose is a symphony of candied, dried fruits, raisins, figs and dates. The palate is clean, very sweet and spicy, and should be consumed quite fresh (10?C), with chocolate dessert (or as a dessert in itself). Drink 2013-2015.
  • Valdespino (375 ml) 'Inocente' Fino Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 94 (8/29/2013)

    The NV Fino Inocente must be one of the few wines in Jerez that is still fermented in 600-liter American oak botas, which is an incredible amount of work compared with fermenting tens of thousands of kilos of grapes (or even more) in a big stainless steel tank. This method was the norm of yesteryear, but is so labor intense that it was discontinued in most wineries, and gives a big diversity of wines, as each barrel has its own character, which contributes to the complexity of the blend. Furthermore, the bottled wine is on average 8 to 10 years old. One other thing that makes it apart from other Finos is that the grapes are exclusively from the high part of the Macharnudo vineyard, so this is a single-vineyard Fino. The nose is very complex, showing the effect of the long lees contact: chalk, dried hay, aromatic herbs and salty almonds. The palate is full, but at the same time elegant and balanced, powerful and fine, with the texture of a Meursault rather than a Puligny. A very complex wine, that manages to be both powerful and elegant. Inocente is great value for money. Drink 2013-2016.
  • Valdespino 'Isabela' Cream Oloroso Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 90 (10/31/2013)

    The rum raisin, date and burnt orange peel notes are nicely melded with fruitcake and licorice root accents, all allied to a juicy, lush frame.
  • Valdespino (375 ml) 'Toneles' Moscatel VORS Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 100 (8/1/2013)

    The NV Moscatel Toneles has reached a mythical status locally in Spain. It’s an extremely old, concentrated and powerful sweet wine that was long forgotten, because there was no market for it. The color is dark brown, almost opaque with amber-green edges. The ever-changing nose is an explosion of spices (curry and cinnamon) and noble woods, and from the sheer concentration it displays a myriad of roasted coffee, dark chocolate, balsamic herbs and even a note of coconut. After some time in the glass the roasted orange notes of Muscat come back intermixed with very spicy incense notes. Give it more time and it smells of camphor. It’s fascinating to smell it over the course of a few hours - even days. The palate is immensely concentrated, with the alcohol perfectly integrated and the extreme sweetness compensated by a piercing acidity that reminds me of some century-old Madeiras. It ends with an acute coffee note. The aftertaste is eternal. It is exceptional that such an old wine (it could be over 80 years of average age) keeps the freshness and balance, but when this happens, the wine is exceptional. A world-class sweet wine that shows what aged Muscat is able for. With its 430 grams of residual sugar, this wine is indestructible, but only 100 bottles are withdrawn and bottled yearly from a single, large cask. Drink 2013-2034.
  • Valdespino (375 ml) 'Deliciosa' Manzanilla Sherry, Sanlucar de Barrameda DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 89 (8/28/2013)

    The impressive line-up is opened with the pale-colored NV Manzanilla Deliciosa, which is produced with Palomino grapes from the Miraflores vineyard and aged for five years under yeast. It is a finer version of La Guita, easy to drink, with a sweet note of apples in the nose, a polished and gentle palate, ending with a saline touch.
  • Valdespino (375 ml) 'Inocente' Fino Sherry, Jerez DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 94+ (12/29/2017)

    As with many other wines from the José Estévez group, there is a special bottling of Valdespino's flagship NV Fino Inocente in magnum. It has all that you expect from Inocente, a long aging wine fermented in bota from grapes grown exclusively in the Macharnudo Alto vineyard and bottled with an average age of ten years. All the textbook aromas and flavors are there, coupled with the elegance and mineral intensity the Macharnudo white chalky soils provide.
  • Valdespino 2015 'La Especial' Manzanilla Sherry, Pago de Miraflores, Sanlucar de Barrameda DO
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 94 (9/8/2022)

    The2015 Manzanilla La Especial Pago Miraflores is a new, rare, single-harvest and single-vineyard Manzanilla bottled in a Rhine bottle (because there was a Manzanilla from Valdespino bottled in that bottle years ago). This is quite powerful and concentrated; the single-harvest wines age at a faster pace, and the wines are more concentrated. 2015 was already a powerful vintage, and time has only increased its power.
  • Valdespino 'Tio Diego' Amontillado Sherry, Jerez DO
    Decanter
    Rating: 96 (6/8/2023)

    (Gold) Smoky charred wood and roasted almonds interwoven with a breeze of crushed sea shells and grated lemon zest. Has a shapely viscosity and long, spicy finish.

  • Valdespino (500 ml) 'Viejo C.P.' Palo Cortado VOS Sherry, Jerez DO
    Vinous
    Rating: 95 (12/1/2023)

    "The NV Palo Cortado Viejo C.P. is sourced from a Palomino single vineyard planted in the Macharnudo area in Jerez. It underwent barrel fermentation and aged under a veil of flor in an oxidative process using the Criaderas and Solera methods. This unique wine presents classic Palo Cortado aromas, combining saffron, peas and mint with caramel, oak and cashew, in an Amontillado-like bouquet. Dry, lean and chalky, its delicate palate lingers extensively - a delightful, saline wine."