A winemaker driven by a passion to learn more about the history of the vineyard and wines of the Sherry Triangle, Ramiro Ibáñez is one of the leading voices in the recovery of the region’s wine memory and a highly respected and admired producer among wine lovers and connoisseurs of the wines of southern Spain.

The different albariza soils are both the starting point and the backbone of Ibáñez’s wines. In them, he seeks to capture the essence of the terroir as well as the character of the land and the vintage. 

After working in Australia and Bordeaux, he settled in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where he conducted extensive research into the soils, the local Palomino (Listán Blanco) biotypes, traditional vine-growing practices (the vara y pulgar pruning system originated here) and the locals’ valuable know-how about biological ageing.  

He launched his own project in 2012 and called it Cota 45, a reference to the meters above sea level that Ibáñez considers the best albariza soils. For a time, he made his wines in a former boat workshop, a modest space with fabulous views of Doñana Natural Park, a special place for him, as it is where he grew up. The current winery is in Sanlúcar’s Barrio Alto, close to Santiago Castle.

In the early years, his approach was educational, designed to showcase the distinct characteristics of different vineyards (pagos) and the textures associated with the various types of albariza soil. All of this was done with the utmost respect for the region's history, producing artisan wines in the style of those made in the 19th century, when, as Ramiro notes, people relied on empirical wisdom. 

"I didn't come from a winemaking family, so I had great respect for the region and adopted a conceptual approach,” he explains. “The idea was to understand the sites without excessive intervention. All the wines had similar ageing and biological character, enabling different realities to be presented evenly." However, since the 2023 vintage, his work has become much more personal. "Now I’m trying to create something that reflects my own taste," he says. Accordingly, the Cota 45 brand has been replaced by his own name.

Ramiro divides his wines into three different ranges, each under its own brand: biological (UBE), oxidative (Agostado) and sweet (Pandorga). In total, he produces some 35,000 bottles.

Biological wines

The biological range are unfortified vintage white wines, made in the style of the old, easy to drink unfortified manzanillas. All aim to reflect the land they come from, which are different pagos or vineyards in Sanlúcar, some on the coast, cooler and with a mixture of soils, and others inland, with more homogeneous albarizas. The inland climate feels more like Jerez —grapes develop thicker skins and are two or three degrees baumé higher than on the coast.

According to Ramiro, flor develops more easily on coastal Listán than inland. "When the plant grows in a benign environment, with fragile albariza structure, and little stress because its roots can easily penetrate the soil, the grape skin is thinner and the veil of flor does not suffer. These vines produce wines with citrus and pastry notes, very different from the flor profile of inland vineyards, where you find more acetaldehyde, and a sharp, spicy character", adds Ramiro, who points out that yeast strains producing citrus and pastry notes generate little acetaldehyde (80-100) while those inland, which evoke curry and a rose nuances, can reach up to a gram.

UBE Miraflores (€23) is a 100% Palomino Fino from several plots of varying ages in Miraflores Alta and Baja (coastal areas) with a mix of albarizas: lentejuelas, polvillejos and lustrillos, and tosca cerrada. Bottled after around eight months in butts under a light veil of flor, it is probably the most immediate and direct expression in Ibáñez’s range. Since the 2023 vintage, he has also produced UBE Caserío de Miraflores Alta (€35), from a vineyard he considers among Sanlúcar’s finest for its extremely chalky and sapid character, combined with great delicacy. Linked to Barbiana Manzanilla since the late 19th century, the Miraflores Alta estate belonged to the Rodríguez La Cave family until 1967, when it was divided among more than 15 smaller owners.

A notch up in terms of minerality and verticality is UBE Las Vegas Carrascal (just over 1,000 bottles, €53), a blend of Palomino Fino (73%), Palomino de Jerez (16%) and Palomino Pelusón (11%) from a plot called Las Vegas planted in 1903 in the Carrascal vineyard, also on the coast and facing the Atlantic. It was Ramiro’s first UBE, back when he made only one wine under this brand. 

UBE Paganilla (€23) is a Palomino Fino from the vineyard of the same name, located two kilometres inland from Miraflores Alta. The barajuela type of albariza lends it remarkable intensity. By contrast, UBE El Reventón (€23) comes from further inland, 12 kilometres from the ocean. It is characterised by its steep gradient and alternating layers of barajuelas and dense, compact tosca cerrada. 

Finally, UBE La Charanga Maína (just over 1,000 bottles, €53) comes from a single vineyard rich in marine fossils at the northern end of La Charanga in Maína, an inland site in Sanlúcar, which produces vibrant wines with sapidity and muscle.

Oxidative wines

Ramiro also makes an oxidative vintage wine called Agostado (formerly Encrucijado, 1,600 bottles, €53) produced in equal parts from Uva Rey and Perruno, the same grape varieties used for this style in the 19th century. It is made the old-fashioned way, with the grapes left on the sun for asoleo (dehydration), spontaneous fermentation in 500-litre barrels and two years of static ageing, just as the old wines did when they would develop a fine veil of flor for a few months before losing it. The best examples would then be classified as Cortado, the predecessor of Palo Cortado.

Sweet wines

Pandorga is the brand for two sweet, limited-production wines, bottled in 37.5 cl format, with just a few hundred units each. The first on the market was a Pedro Ximénez (€46) from the Carrascal vineyard in Jerez. The grapes are sun-dried longer in warm vintages such as 2017 (10 days, 327g/l of residual sugar) to maintain acidity, and shorter periods in cooler years such as 2014, his first vintage (270g/l). Pandorga Pedro Ximénez changes with each vintage —one of Ramiro Ibáñez’s guiding principles is to respect the identity of the vintage— but it is always surprising and balanced.

The second Pandorga is made from Tintilla de Rota (€46). Grapes are also sun-dried before fermenting in barrels for a couple of months without temperature control until fermentation stops naturally. The 2017 vintage, the first he made, reached 9.5% abv and 300g residual sugar.