Although the brand has barely been 20 years in the market, the Gutiérrez Colosía family has been working with sherry wines for over 100 years. The bodega in El Puerto de Santa María, built in 1838 and purchased by the family from the second Marquis of Comillas in the early part of the 20th century, are the only aging cellars left on the banks of the river Guadalete. This waterfront location helps the wines to have that fine, saline character that Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Colosía ably manages to bring out.
He recalls his first days as a bodega workman, learning all kinds of chores from his father —be it moving barrels, refreshing casks or blending wines. These teachings served him well; after the death of his father in 1966, when Juan Carlos was 20 years old, he had to take charge of the business.
Until 1997 he operated as an almacenista (wholesaler) selling his wines to well-known bodegas such as Barbadillo, Williams & Humbert or González Byass, but from that year onwards Juan Carlos decided to set up his own brand, admired by renowned sommeliers like Pitu Roca (El Celler de Can Roca) or Nico Boise (formerly at Mugaritz and now at Elkano in Getaria) whose autographs adorn some of the casks that conform the Solera Familiar, a collection of old wines which are the jewels of the house.
The winery, built in the traditional cathedral-like style, is one of the last family bodegas in the region and now employs Carmen, a Mallorcan who married Juan Carlos 30 years ago, and their daughters Carlota and Carmen.
Its special location means it stands in the way of the dry levant winds and the cool westerly poniente from the Atlantic Ocean helping to create a unique environment for the development of the layer of yeast or flor on the wines. Many wineries in the Sherry Triangle are forced to water their sand floors to keep up the humidity levels needed to obtain saline finos and manzanillas —it is not the case at Gutiérrez Colosía, where the stone floors naturally store humidity.
Aside from several vinegars and two brandies (Elcano and Américo Vespucio), Juan Carlos makes a dozen different wines which start with the Colosía range and includes all the styles of fortified wine, from its fino, which shows a pronounced salinity and yeast character and is their top-selling sherry (€7 in Spain) and fino en rama —made only upon demand— to their Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel Soleado (€18).
Oloroso Sangre y Trabajadero (10,000 bottle, €13) is sold in 37.5cl bottles and comes from an old solera purchased from the now defunct Bodega Cuvillo. Its old-fashioned label —surely a hit amongst the hipster crowd— has remained unchanged in the US and Japan, its main markets. Solera Familiar is the name of Colosía’s old wines, with average ages between 30 and over 50 years and include an amontillado, an oloroso, a palo cortado and a very old PX. They are all bottled in tiny amounts and in half-litre bottles (around €50-€60 in Spain).
The winery is open to visitors from Monday to Saturday with flamenco shows arranged for large groups. The winery also houses a traditional store or despacho de vinos, where the house’s wines are sold in bulk or by the bottle at really attractive prices.
