Natural wine tasting at... Simplesmente Vinho

Marijke van der Ploeg lives with her husband in Portugal, where they transform a ruin into a little palace. She prefers to sit in her chaotic writing office, on the terrace or in the car - in search of unusual, natural wines. For the column Natural Wine Tasting at...she visits natural wineries in Europe and takes you into the world of natural wine.

Simplesmente Vinho

Every February, as soon as everything in Portugal starts blossoming again, Simplesmente Vinho takes place: a wine fair in the heart of Porto where natural wine is in the spotlight. Portuguese winemakers in particular showcase their creations, but there is also a corner reserved for a foreign region.

This year, the small sherry region in southern Spain's Andalusia is the chosen one. This is where the famous fortified wine is made, named after the sherry capital Jerez. Among winemakers, however, it is mainly unamplified wines on the table and I am curious about the story behind it.

Logical wines

I immediately fall head over heels. The first winemaker I speak to is an inspired storyteller: Juan Jurado Gómez of Agricola Calcárea, a joker with plenty of foreign experience who knows perfectly well what he is doing. 'My mother thought I should just buy a house and then in 2022 I bought an old bodega with 1.2 hectares of land and ancient vines,' he says. 'Since then, I have been making unfortified wines with minimal intervention: as a tribute to the history and character of the area.'

He mainly uses forgotten indigenous grape varieties, such as white beba and cañocazo and red tintilla de rota, and works as naturally as possible. He does not necessarily call this ecological, but mostly logical. 'Have you ever smelt herbicides? You really don't want to work with those,' he says, laughing. 'Also, I don't think it makes sense to use chemistry to remove the special terroir of the region from the wine, such a waste.'

One glass unstrengthened please.

I love his wines: wonderfully intense, briny and mineral, due in part to the snow-white, chalky albariza soil. Even the wines I try from other natural winemakers from the sherry region often possess that fresh flair and remarkable intensity.

While tasting, I increasingly understand that more and more winemakers are producing unfortified wines, regularly made from forgotten grape varieties, as well as the well-known palomino. The wines have a unique identity and an increasing number of curious consumers love them.

Progressive legislation

The Supervisory Council of the D.O. Jerez recognised this potential of unfortified wine earlier, of course: the rules for the D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry were therefore amended in 2022. Now unfortified wines are also allowed to carry the quality label and, in addition, the group of permitted grape varieties has been expanded, so that indigenous varieties are reinstated. This makes the sherry region more attractive to (young) winemakers and in addition, the diverse range attracts more customers.

This is confirmed by brothers José and Miguel of Bodega Vinifícate. They say innovative newcomers are gradually carving out their place in the Andalusian wine scene, with a focus on natural production methods: 'The terroir offers so many possibilities. For example, we are specialising in sparkling natural wine. We dare to do that because there is a demand for it now.' By the way, sparkling wine does not fall under the D.O. Jerez - but who knows what else this region has in store!