To talk of DO Manzanilla is to talk of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the coastal town located on the mouth of the River Guadalquivir, and to also include the Sherry Triangle and DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, as both appellations share the same production region and are under the guidance of the same Regulating Council. But most of all, it is to talk of the special uniqueness of the ‘flor’ cap of yeast which grows on the surface of the maturing wines, and of a historic appellation which exports almost three quarters of its total production, and whose wines are making a comeback with consumers, especially among younger generations abroad.

Consequently, although both the grape as well as the vinification procedures used are very similar to those employed for making Sherry, (both use an ageing process which allows wines to mature under a cap of ‘flor’ yeast); the special microclimate belonging to the town of Sanlúcar bestows a unique personality on its wines and determines the special organoleptic characteristics of the biologically aged wines in its cellars. There are three factors which determine this rather special climate: the River Guadalquivir, which represents a natural boundary to the north of Sanlúcar, the Atlantic Ocean, where the river ends its journey, which surrounds the town to the west; and the marshlands, the huge stretch of flat plain covering the former delta, which epitomizes a total lack of relief. These three features generate milder temperatures and a higher relative humidity ratio than those prevailing in the rest of the Sherry Triangle production region.

As to its history, it is known that wine was already being made in Sanlúcar, as well as in the rest of the Sherry Triangle, centuries before the advent of Christ and that trade with wine flourished in ancient Mediterranean civilizations; a practice which continued throughout the Visigoth era and even during the period of Islamic rule. However, there is no record of the exact date of when the British first started to ship Sherry and Manzanilla from the region, although it is a well-known fact that toward the end if the 15th century a group of well-versed British merchants had settled in Sanlúcar, and were shipping wine from its port bound for the British Isles. And with the discovery of America, shipping began uninterruptedly to the new continent, becoming hugely popular from the 18th century on.

Neither are there any exact records documenting the transition from the first primitive, millennial wines, which were made in the region from various grape varieties, to the wines we know today as Manzanilla. In this mysterious evolution through time, some isolated information appears, such as the habit of fortifying wine with alcohol to preserve it and ensure its stability during transportation, which was introduced by the Arabs, or the spontaneous rise of the ‘criaderas and soleras’ system used to age Manzanilla, where the wine from one vintage is mixed with wine from a previous vintage which has not yet been sold.

Manzanilla was first sold under DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry in 1933. However, in 1964 the appellation’s statues were changed to create DO Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in official recognition of its special character; both appellations remaining under the same Regulating Council, together with Vinagre de Jerez.