CLARK: The story of Sanlucar de Barrameda is the story of a wine, but no ordinary wine its something different, something special. Its called manzanilla and here in Sanlucar, they drink crate loads of it every day.
MAN IN RESTAURANT: Its a unique wine. Its the only wine in the world that has a salty flavour. And its slightly bitter. Its a feminine wine. All wines have masculine names except la manzanilla.
CLARK: Manzanilla might be the daily tipple but that doesnt mean its taken for granted.
MAN IN BAR: Ive been coming here since I was very small. My grandfather had a cellar and he used to come to Sanlucar to buy manzanilla. It goes very well with seafood, or anything thats light to eat.
CLARK: Manzanilla belongs to the family of wines we call sherry. The word sherry is the anglicised name for the region the Spanish call Jerez. And Ive come to Sanlucar because, like millions before me, I have the sherry bug.
For sherry lovers the worlds divided into two those who think that sherry is quite simply among the most extraordinary of all human creations and those of you who just dont get it. But were not here to sneer, we sympathise and were here to help.
Theres no better introduction to the wines of this region than manzanilla a name that can only be used for a wine made here Sanlucar.
What makes sherry so very different from other wines is the layer of yeast that grows on the top of the liquid while its actually in the barrel and you can see it here in this little bucket of leftovers, growing on the top again. Now here in Sanlucar de Barrameda it grows all year round and thats why the wine from this place is unique.
This layer of yeast is called the flor and its critical.
JAVIER HIDALGO: [Manzanilla maker] This flor is very choosy in terms of environmental conditions and they need this especial micro-climatic conditions that only happens in Sanlucar. That is what makes manzanilla different from the others, the flor of Sanlucar, the micro-climate of Sanlucar.
CLARK: Sanlucar sits near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, Spains largest navigable river and sprinkled throughout Sanlucar are famous names whove prospered over the centuries.
JAVIER HIDALGO: The way we make manzanilla now I think is started only 300 years ago by 1700 something like that.
CLARK: Javier Hidalgo is part of the sixth generation of Hidalgos to run the family company.
JAVIER HIDALGO: He came in 1750 from Santander to establish here.
CLARK: And through thick and thin including war and peace its been good business.
JAVIER HIDALGO: The British troops commanded by Wellington, General Wellington, came to join the Spanish Army and the Portuguese Army to stop the Napoleonic invasion so my family was supplying the two sides of the conflict in those days and the casks were marked with either Wellington or Napoleon depending in which side of the conflict they were going to.
CLARK: So theyve been making manzanilla here for a long while and they have a very definite view about what manzanilla should be like.
JAVIER HIDALGO: If you put it on your mouth, you find a little bit of half way between bitterness or saltiness and they attack the sides of your tongue right here. This is what a true manzanilla should be.
CLARK: And have it with food thats the way they drink it in Sanlucar.
WOMAN #1 IN RESTAURANT: Manzanilla goes with seafood, salad, king prawns, fried fish
WOMAN #2 IN RESTAURANT: And good company.
CLARK: But yes there is trouble in paradise, after all if manzanilla is so good, why doesnt the whole world drink nothing else? Part of the answer lies in manzanillas membership of that group of wines we call sherry.
JAVIER HIDALGO: The terrible thing these days is that the word sherry has terrible connotation in the United Kingdom because the young people think of granny and the priest after the Sunday service when they listen to that word sherry.
CLARK: That manzanilla should suffer by association is an insult and it has to stop.
MAN IN RESTAURANT: Its a very special wine, it goes with nearly everything. You can have it any time of the day fish seafood its very special.
CLARK: So the next time someone offers you a sherry tell them not to come the raw prawn insist on manzanilla.
Reporter: Chris Clark
MAN IN RESTAURANT: Its a unique wine. Its the only wine in the world that has a salty flavour. And its slightly bitter. Its a feminine wine. All wines have masculine names except la manzanilla.
CLARK: Manzanilla might be the daily tipple but that doesnt mean its taken for granted.
MAN IN BAR: Ive been coming here since I was very small. My grandfather had a cellar and he used to come to Sanlucar to buy manzanilla. It goes very well with seafood, or anything thats light to eat.
CLARK: Manzanilla belongs to the family of wines we call sherry. The word sherry is the anglicised name for the region the Spanish call Jerez. And Ive come to Sanlucar because, like millions before me, I have the sherry bug.
For sherry lovers the worlds divided into two those who think that sherry is quite simply among the most extraordinary of all human creations and those of you who just dont get it. But were not here to sneer, we sympathise and were here to help.
Theres no better introduction to the wines of this region than manzanilla a name that can only be used for a wine made here Sanlucar.
What makes sherry so very different from other wines is the layer of yeast that grows on the top of the liquid while its actually in the barrel and you can see it here in this little bucket of leftovers, growing on the top again. Now here in Sanlucar de Barrameda it grows all year round and thats why the wine from this place is unique.
This layer of yeast is called the flor and its critical.
JAVIER HIDALGO: [Manzanilla maker] This flor is very choosy in terms of environmental conditions and they need this especial micro-climatic conditions that only happens in Sanlucar. That is what makes manzanilla different from the others, the flor of Sanlucar, the micro-climate of Sanlucar.
CLARK: Sanlucar sits near the mouth of the Guadalquivir, Spains largest navigable river and sprinkled throughout Sanlucar are famous names whove prospered over the centuries.
JAVIER HIDALGO: The way we make manzanilla now I think is started only 300 years ago by 1700 something like that.
CLARK: Javier Hidalgo is part of the sixth generation of Hidalgos to run the family company.
JAVIER HIDALGO: He came in 1750 from Santander to establish here.
CLARK: And through thick and thin including war and peace its been good business.
JAVIER HIDALGO: The British troops commanded by Wellington, General Wellington, came to join the Spanish Army and the Portuguese Army to stop the Napoleonic invasion so my family was supplying the two sides of the conflict in those days and the casks were marked with either Wellington or Napoleon depending in which side of the conflict they were going to.
CLARK: So theyve been making manzanilla here for a long while and they have a very definite view about what manzanilla should be like.
JAVIER HIDALGO: If you put it on your mouth, you find a little bit of half way between bitterness or saltiness and they attack the sides of your tongue right here. This is what a true manzanilla should be.
CLARK: And have it with food thats the way they drink it in Sanlucar.
WOMAN #1 IN RESTAURANT: Manzanilla goes with seafood, salad, king prawns, fried fish
WOMAN #2 IN RESTAURANT: And good company.
CLARK: But yes there is trouble in paradise, after all if manzanilla is so good, why doesnt the whole world drink nothing else? Part of the answer lies in manzanillas membership of that group of wines we call sherry.
JAVIER HIDALGO: The terrible thing these days is that the word sherry has terrible connotation in the United Kingdom because the young people think of granny and the priest after the Sunday service when they listen to that word sherry.
CLARK: That manzanilla should suffer by association is an insult and it has to stop.
MAN IN RESTAURANT: Its a very special wine, it goes with nearly everything. You can have it any time of the day fish seafood its very special.
CLARK: So the next time someone offers you a sherry tell them not to come the raw prawn insist on manzanilla.
Reporter: Chris Clark