Monday Tasting Notes
Albariza en las Venas
We walked out of the train station in Jerez onto white, wide, modern sidewalks distinguished by indentation secured by engineers for which purpose I do not know. The sky darkened, and I could feel it was going to rain. We walked faster, hoping we would get to an apartment we’d never seen before. But we had been deceived. Not by the sky but by the sidewalks. They turned into narrow gray concrete ribbons on which we could not walk side by side without impeding the path of others. Soon, those sidewalks would turn into cobblestones that do not allow you to look anywhere but down. The unevenness, the elevation change, the feel of the rounded stones through the soles of your shoes. Narrower still the streets become, and you must watch for the side mirrors of the cars coming down the street. There is no mindless wandering on the streets of Jerez, where cobblestones can trip you up and car mirrors can give you tennis elbow.
In Jerez, there is deception around every corner. A narrow street will lead to a plaza. We were surprised to find a Mercadona supermarket inside an old sherry cathedral. There is an interior life to Jerez that takes time to discover.
I learned about Albariza en las Venas from an importer. Albariza en las Venas translates to “albariza in the veins”. Albariza, a type of chalky soil, is famous in the region for growing many types of wines, including its most famous, sherry. Colloquially, it means that the wine, the history, the culture, and yes—the soil, is in my bloodstream.
If you walked by Albariza you would probably not go in. It doesn’t announce itself as a wine bar or a bar at all. Is it even a bar? I would call it a bookstore, but instead of books, there are bottles, and instead of tables, there are stools.
Rocio and Juan Carlos, the proprietors of Albariza, welcomed us as though we were friends they had not seen in a long time. Juan Carlos asked what we wanted to drink, and I left it up to him. He said they had done a tasting that day, and did I want to do it. Yeah. Of course I did.
Like the city of Jerez, there is so much to discover at Albariza. Jerez years ago may have been synonymous with sherry but today it is so much more. It is about non-sherry wine, it is about wines that have been done lightly under veil, it is about vermut, and it is certainly about food.
There are no notes for the wines I tasted but here are photos because sometimes you can’t stop to process, you have to be in it. You have to taste and talk, and all that goes fast—really fast.
Jerez deserves more than just a quick stop. It deserves more than a visit to a bodega. It deserves to be walked. The orange trees outside the cathedral, the flamenco lessons through an open door are things you might expect. There is a younger generation in Jerez that is making the city feel very welcoming.
