Bodegas Hidalgo – La Gitana is one of the great houses of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a name synonymous with the soul of Manzanilla. Founded in 1792 and still family-owned, Hidalgo is now in its seventh generation — making it one of the oldest continuously operating Sherry bodegas in the region. From the beginning, the bodega has been defined by place: not just the broader Sherry Triangle, but the coastal, sea-breezed microclimate of Sanlúcar, where flor grows thickest and Manzanilla finds its most delicate, saline expression.

The estate owns vineyards in the prized Balbaina and Miraflores pagos — albariza-rich soils of bright, chalky clay that reflect sunlight and store water deep below the surface. Grapes are harvested by hand, with yields kept modest to ensure structure and finesse. Palomino Fino, the signature white grape of Jerez, forms the backbone of all dry styles, and is cultivated with minimal intervention to let the soil and sea air shape the fruit’s quiet tension.

Winemaking is traditional and unhurried. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel before wines enter the solera system, maturing slowly under flor in coastal bodegas open to the Atlantic breeze. La Gitana, the house’s flagship Manzanilla, is aged for six years in American oak casks in Sanlúcar’s humid atmosphere, allowing it to retain freshness while developing subtle complexity. Hidalgo also produces exceptional Amontillado, Oloroso, Palo Cortado, and Pedro Ximénez, with ageing ranging from a decade to over 30 years for their VORS bottlings.

The wines are luminous, layered, and textural. La Gitana Manzanilla is dry, floral, and intensely saline — chamomile, almond skin, and sea spray with a nervy, elegant finish. Napoleón Amontillado brings walnut, caramelised citrus, and dry grip, while El Tresillo Oloroso is deep, smoky, and warm. Across the range, Hidalgo’s wines show clarity, length, and a seamless harmony between air, time, and salt.

What defines Hidalgo – La Gitana is its fluency in place — a house that doesn’t just make Manzanilla, but lives by the rhythms of Sanlúcar: its wind, its flor, and its slow unfolding of flavour through silence and age.

These are wines built not for immediacy, but for presence — composed, briny, and carried by the quiet intensity of the ocean’s edge.