Wines
Summary
La Cigarrera started as an almacenista operation in 1758, owned by Joseph Colóm Darbó. Together with his son, he managed Colom & Compañia, in buildings leased from the monastery. The current bodega housing their solera of 500 barrels was started in 1891 in a former convent by Manuel Hidalgo Colom, the great grandfather of Ignacio Hidalgo, who runs the house today.
Ignacio Hidalgo is a ninth-generation cellar master who was one of the very first almacenista producers to begin bottling manzanilla under his own label, which was allowed by law in 1997. Previously, the wines were sold to other famous manzanilla houses, including the negociant house Lustau, for bottling under their labels. La Cigarrera is a tribute to the cigarette/tobacco women who used to sell on the sidewalks of Sanlúcar de Barrameda. It is a tribute to the pride, beauty, and history of this incredible Andalusian port town.
The key to the quality of La Cigarrera is the exceptional raw materials and the location of the winery. La Cigarrera Manzanilla is produced exclusively from vineyards in the Jerez Superior Denomination of Origin. The unique microclimate of Sanlúcar de Barrameda creates a very special “flor”, or yeast, that grows year round on the wines, protecting them from the atmosphere. The growth of flor is affected by subtle differences in location within the town of Sanlúcar and La Cigarrera is located in the ideal center in Barrio Bajo (lower part), giving the wine its distinctive character, due to the higher humidity.