Wine of the week
Bill Bolloten travels to Sanlúcar for one of Spain’s best wine festivals and tastes a fine vino de pasto from Jerez.
Yema 2024, Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla
IGP Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz
ABV: 12.5%
Variety: 100% Palomino
€15.60 from Fernando de Castilla
Last month, in the company of fellow Spanish Wine Collective scribe Alan Nance, I made it to the 2025 edition of the Innoble Wine Fest in the town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, north of Cádiz. Held every two years, it’s surely one of the best wine events in Spain, as much for the fun and camaraderie as the range of producers showing their wines.
Although there were plenty of top, even prestigious, winemakers present, Innoble doesn’t take itself too seriously. The atmosphere was relaxed and lighthearted.
As you would expect, there were several leading bodegas from the Marco de Jerez attending, including smaller ones with a big reputation such as Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla. We published a video report on them back in 2022.
Unfortified still white wines, known as vino de pasto, continue to grow in terms of visibility and reputation. In 2023, Fernando de Castilla made Yema, their first vino tranquilo (a still wine). The 2024 vintage was on show in Sanlúcar.
Yema is a word with several meanings in Spanish, but it most commonly means egg yolk. However, in wine making in this region it refers to the mosto yema or mosto lágrima, the the free-run juice produced by the weight of the grapes themselves, rather than by applying mechanical pressure. This process produces a delicate must with fewer tannins and lower acidity.
The Palomino grapes are from a pago called Lomopardo, located southeast of Jerez. This vineyard has a type of albariza soil called tosca cerrada, whose dense structure results in wines with finesse and minerality.
Fermented at a low temperature, it was aged in contact with fine lees for six months. The result is a pale straw-coloured wine with notes of ripe apple and subtle floral aromas. In the mouth there’s stone fruit, some leesy volume and a lovely purity. It finishes with some gentle mineral flavours and a slight hint of bitterness.
This is a fine expression of variety and vineyard. A wine to look out for.
At Innoble, Fernando de Castilla also presented the 2025 saca primavera of their Fino en Rama, drawn from a selection of eight botas chosen by Jan Petersen, the owner of the winery.
With an average age of 6 years, this was a yeasty, pungent fino with notes of citrus, pear and fresh saline sensations. You can get the 2025 edition, along with the 2023 and 2024 sacas, in a limited edition vertical pack for just 45 euros. Only 100 units are available, so get in quickly if you want some.