Bodegas CZ by Pedro Alonso Cabeza de Aranda y Zarco was founded in 1650 and by 1771 it became a supplier to the British Royal Household. The business was very successful in the nineteenth century and by 1855 had 3,188 casks, or butts, of wine, with internationally recognised brands such as Solera Cabeza 1770, Tixera 1783, Trafalgar 1805, Viejo Oloroso CZ and many others. The tradition of exporting Bodega CZ Rivero sherry continued throughout the first half of the twentieth century. In 1998, Mr. JoaquÃn Rivero establishes Bodegas Tradición. In his quest to recover the family’s historical bond with wine and the winemaking world, he buys an old winery in the heart of the historical centre of Jerez and begins to select wines from old and exceptional, but nearly forgotten, soleras. The winery initially comprises 500 barrels of oloroso and amontillado. In 2018, Bodegas Tradición celebrated their twentieth anniversary of the foundation; they currently sell its products in 25 countries and receives 6,000 visitors a year.
This wine, whose long ageing, initially as fino under a film of yeast and subsequently without it, is an exponent of elegance, complexity and centuries-old tradition. For this lord of wines, the exquisite selection of musts and their settlement in solerajes with multiple American oak criaderas that allow them to be bottled in limited series is essential. This Amontillado is a benchmark for good winemaking practice. Made from a single variety Palomino grape, it uses an ageing process in American oak barrels, soaked in wine by the soleras system, firstly as fino under flor a veil of yeast and then, and for a longer time, without it. Due to the large number of scales, this step results in a subtle evolution of its organoleptic properties. Amber in colour with iodised tones, it has an elegant, complex and highly evolved nose, notes of hazelnut and a very powerful, dry and lasting persistence. Its forty-plus years of ageing and limited production guarantee an exclusive quality.
