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Buy Wine from Bodegas Tradición
Bodegas Tradición is not just any winery. It is not because of its location - in the historic centre of Jerez de la Frontera, between white lime courtyards and centuries-old vaults - nor because of its production volume, which is rather token. What makes it a unique case within the Jerez region is its radical commitment to time. While many houses turned to younger, more immediate, easier styles, Tradición did just the opposite: it focused exclusively on old wines. Not "long oxidative ageing", not "with mature character". No: really old. In many cases, wines with more than 30, 40, 50 years of ageing, rescued from oblivion, brought back to life.
Preserving rather than innovating - A 17th century heritage
Founded in 1998 but with family roots going back to the 17th century, Tradición was not born to innovate, but to preserve. It was Joaquín Rivero, businessman and collector, who rescued the legacy of his lineage - the old CZ winery, founded in 1650 - and reinvented it with one objective: to demonstrate that old sherry was not just a sacristy heritage or a museum rarity, but a living, direct expression, just as current as a great Bordeaux or a mature Montrachet. He did not want to compete in volume or in supermarket brands. He preferred to make less, but to make it eternal.
Long-lived wines as the only speciality
In his catalogue there is hardly any room for finos or manzanillas, with the sole exception of the very scarce Fino Tradición, a rarity within the house and produced in very limited quantities. Not out of contempt, but by definition: Tradición is dedicated exclusively to wines with prolonged oxidative ageing and natural sweet wines of extreme ageing. Its core range includes an Amontillado VORS, an Oloroso VORS, a Palo Cortado VORS and a Pedro Ximénez VORS. Four styles, four vertices of an architecture in ruins that here becomes a palace. All with VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry) certification, which implies a minimum average of 30 years of ageing, but in practice they usually comfortably exceed that figure: the Amontillado is close to 45 years old; the Oloroso, 50.
Tasting as liturgy - A unique sensory experience
The tasting experience at Tradición is almost liturgical. The Amontillado hits with a dry, pungent energy, where salinity mingles with notes of toasted hazelnut, meat stock and noble woods. The Oloroso is deeper, darker, with hints of black tobacco, old leather, nutmeg and that almost animal background that only time can give. Palo Cortado, that elusive category that seems to play hide-and-seek between Amontillado and Oloroso, is here a prodigious balance of tension and depth. And the Pedro Ximénez, far from the usual cloying sweetness, offers here a more sober, more bitter, more adult profile, with notes of coffee, liquorice, dried figs and 90% dark chocolate.
Absolute coherence, also in brandy and bottling
One of the most surprising things about Tradición is its ability to make wines with soul without falling into nostalgia. It is not a winery that idealises the past, but one that preserves it with the severity of a monk and the precision of a watchmaker. That is why, when in 2008 they decided to incorporate a small production of brandy de Jerez, they did it under the same principles: old soleras, noble alcohols, long oak ageing. No make-up, no added sugar, no concessions.
Even their bottling policy reveals this extreme fidelity to the original character of the wine. Bottled only on request, in limited batches, to prevent the wines from ageing outside their natural ecosystem. No harsh filtering, no cold stabilisation, and much less colouring or last-minute blending. The result is dense, punchy wines, long as an echo.
Buy Wine from Bodegas Tradición
Bodegas Tradición is not just any winery. It is not because of its location - in the historic centre of Jerez de la Frontera, between white lime courtyards and centuries-old vaults - nor because of its production volume, which is rather token. What makes it a unique case within the Jerez region is its radical commitment to time. While many houses turned to younger, more immediate, easier styles, Tradición did just the opposite: it focused exclusively on old wines. Not "long oxidative ageing", not "with mature character". No: really old. In many cases, wines with more than 30, 40, 50 years of ageing, rescued from oblivion, brought back to life.
Preserving rather than innovating - A 17th century heritage
Founded in 1998 but with family roots going back to the 17th century, Tradición was not born to innovate, but to preserve. It was Joaquín Rivero, businessman and collector, who rescued the legacy of his lineage - the old CZ winery, founded in 1650 - and reinvented it with one objective: to demonstrate that old sherry was not just a sacristy heritage or a museum rarity, but a living, direct expression, just as current as a great Bordeaux or a mature Montrachet. He did not want to compete in volume or in supermarket brands. He preferred to make less, but to make it eternal.
Long-lived wines as the only speciality
In his catalogue there is hardly any room for finos or manzanillas, with the sole exception of the very scarce Fino Tradición, a rarity within the house and produced in very limited quantities. Not out of contempt, but by definition: Tradición is dedicated exclusively to wines with prolonged oxidative ageing and natural sweet wines of extreme ageing. Its core range includes an Amontillado VORS, an Oloroso VORS, a Palo Cortado VORS and a Pedro Ximénez VORS. Four styles, four vertices of an architecture in ruins that here becomes a palace. All with VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry) certification, which implies a minimum average of 30 years of ageing, but in practice they usually comfortably exceed that figure: the Amontillado is close to 45 years old; the Oloroso, 50.
Tasting as liturgy - A unique sensory experience
The tasting experience at Tradición is almost liturgical. The Amontillado hits with a dry, pungent energy, where salinity mingles with notes of toasted hazelnut, meat stock and noble woods. The Oloroso is deeper, darker, with hints of black tobacco, old leather, nutmeg and that almost animal background that only time can give. Palo Cortado, that elusive category that seems to play hide-and-seek between Amontillado and Oloroso, is here a prodigious balance of tension and depth. And the Pedro Ximénez, far from the usual cloying sweetness, offers here a more sober, more bitter, more adult profile, with notes of coffee, liquorice, dried figs and 90% dark chocolate.
Absolute coherence, also in brandy and bottling
One of the most surprising things about Tradición is its ability to make wines with soul without falling into nostalgia. It is not a winery that idealises the past, but one that preserves it with the severity of a monk and the precision of a watchmaker. That is why, when in 2008 they decided to incorporate a small production of brandy de Jerez, they did it under the same principles: old soleras, noble alcohols, long oak ageing. No make-up, no added sugar, no concessions.
Even their bottling policy reveals this extreme fidelity to the original character of the wine. Bottled only on request, in limited batches, to prevent the wines from ageing outside their natural ecosystem. No harsh filtering, no cold stabilisation, and much less colouring or last-minute blending. The result is dense, punchy wines, long as an echo.