Founded in 1729 by Don Diego de Alvear y Escalera, it is one of the oldest wineries in Spain and is currently managed by the eighth generation of the Alvear family. The production facilities are spread between Lagar de las Puentes, in the mountains of Sierra de Montilla – a two-hour drive northeast of the sherry capital Jerez and sharing the same chalky white soils– and the so-called Casa Central, a building complex spread across 60,000 m2 in the town of Montilla. Nearly all of the 6,000 ageing butts in the winery – each holding between 500 to 600 litres– rest at this larger site where the oldest soleras (a fractional blending system) are stored in the 18th century Bodega de la Casa (House Cellar).
The wines come from 150 hectares of family-owned Pedro Ximénez vineyards and from grapes purchased from 200 hectares controlled by local growers. Most of the current brands and brandies date from the early 20th century, under the management of Francisco de Alvear, count of Cortina, who oversaw the acquisition of a large number of vineyards and the expansion of the winery. The iconic C.B. Fino brand predates this period. It goes back to the foreman (capataz) of Diego de Alvear y Ponce de León, an army officer who defended Cádiz against the French. Capataz Billanueva, who eventually became his right-hand man and winemaker, used to mark the best butts with his initials.
Throughout its long history, the Alvear family has always been in charge of the winery. Illustrious names such as Sabina de Alvear y Ward, member of the English branch of the family, opened the British market in the 19th century and the winery welcomed renowned visitors such as empress Eugenia de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III, or Prosper Merimée, author of Carmen, which inspired the famous opera with the same name.
The wines are made from Pedro Ximénez, the dominant white grape in this warm and sunny region which is harvested in August and has great sugar concentration potential. This means that there is no need to add neutral spirit to Fino and when grapes are dried in the sun, it can produce some of the most dense and sticky wines in the world, known as PX.
Alvear produces brandies, vermouth, vinegars, dry whites (young and aged) and specially sweet and generoso wines (Finos, Amontillados and Olorosos), including liqueur wines like Cream. The two flagship brands in the range are C.B. Fino (40,000 bottles, around €8 in Spain), the archetype of unfortified Fino from Montilla, aged for over six years, and the sweet PX 1927 (30,000 bottles, €16), made from grapes dried in the sun and aged in American oak butts.
In recent years, efforts have been directed at developing a new range of terroir-driven wines in line with the new wave of unfortified Palominos thriving in Jerez. The project Tres Miradas (Three Perspectives) was developed together with Envínate and, at a later stage, with Ramiro Ibáñez, the winemaker from Sanlúcar de Barrameda who is behind Cota 45 and De La Riva. The focus is on the different nuances of albariza terroirs and their soils, exposure or elevation in the Sierra de Montilla, one of two areas in the DO exhibiting the Calidad Superior (top quality) seal. This is also the area with the oldest, +50-year-old Pedro Ximénez vines.
The first perspective (“primera mirada”) seeks a straightforward expression by fermenting and ageing the wine under flor for just a few months in the fascinating tinajas (cement jars) still in use at Lagar de las Puentes. Two wines are made under this philosophy: the village wine Tres Miradas Vino de Pueblo (7,000 bottles, €15, a blend of different vineyards in Sierra de Montilla) and Laderas de Benavente (€20), made from two north-facing vineyards. The “segunda mirada” goes one step further as it adds a second stage of 10 to 12 months under flor ageing in oak butts for Paraje de Río Frío Alto 3er Año (3,000 bottles, €23). Finally, the “tercera mirada” has been developed with Ramiro Ibáñez and focuses on single-vineyard wines that are fermented and aged under flor in butts for 22 months. This not only adds extra complexity and depth, but also helps to enhance each terroir in wines like Viña de Antoñín, Cerro Macho and Cerro Franco (all of them below 1,000 bottles and around €27 in Spain).
The range of historic wines (around 5,000 bottles altogether), which Alvear calls “mythical”, comprises the winery's finest soleras and can be easily identified by their refined vintage-style packaging. It starts with Fino Capataz Solera de la Casa (€22), the bodega's oldest fino with 12 years of ageing, and continues with the sweet Pedro Ximénez 1920, aged for an average of 15 years. The rest of generosos in the range have an average ageing of 20 years. The most radical example is probably Criadera A (€50 the 37.5 cl. bottle), which started its life as a Fino and evokes now the demise of the flor and the deep, sapid quality of the albariza soils. More orthodox, Amontillado Secular (€33) is sourced from the first criadera within the B scale of Amontillado at “La Sacristía” in the Bodega de la Casa, while the powerful Palo Cortado Nº 7 (€27) comes from one of the family's oldest soleras. Oloroso Catón (€25) is aged in the Bodega del Trabajadero and is the base to which a sweet old PX wine is added to produce the Solera Cream Tía Sabina (€28) -the blend is rounded off with three years’ additional ageing. Unless specified otherwise, all prices are for Spain and for 75 cl. bottles.
Wines exceeding 30 years of ageing include Amontillado Carlos VII, sourced from the Amontillado Solera, and Oloroso Asunción, from the Old Oloroso Solera, both in 37.5 cl. bottles. Alvear has also released occasional bottlings of extremely old wines like the legendary PX Solera 1830 that shows what a wonderfully old PX is capable of in terms of complexity and finesse. Similar releases include Amontillado Solera Fundación from ancient family soleras and the rare and extremely concentrated Abuelo Diego Palo Cortado. These extremely limited wines cost around €300.
In contrast with the traditional solera system, Alvear started in 1998 a project of vintage sweet PX. The range goes from a syrupy, mellow young PX de Añada (€15) to statically aged wines. In this case, the process starts in half butts and continues in bottle resulting in a very different profile of PX. These vintages are labelled as ‘sacristías’ and half bottles cost around €50.
Beyond wine, there is a Gran Reserva brandy aged for over 25 years, 10-year-old vinegars made both dry and with the addition of must from grapes dried in the sun, and a vermouth (€15) made from a 10-year-old cream infused with aromatic extracts of mugwort, rosemary or sage, spices such as cinnamon and orange peel.
There are daily tours of the winery in three languages (Spanish, English and French). Tasting experiences for Montilla-Moriles wine beginners are also on offer as well as Las Llares, the estate restaurant where visitors can try some tapas and wines.
The family also makes red wines in Extremadura (Palacio Quemado) since the late 1990s.
All the wines can be bought at Alvear’s online store.
