HISTORY AND CULTURE
MARCO DE JEREZ WINE ROUTE
The Wine and Brandy Routes of the Marco de Jerez involve the eight municipalities that make up the Marco de Jerez region: Chiclana, Chipiona, El Puerto de Santa María, Jerez, Puerto Real, Rota, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Trebujena, offering a marvellous variety of landscapes and wine tourism resources that enable new and unforgettable experiences.
The region in which the wines are produced under the Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Vinagre de Jerez Designations of Origin and the Brandy de Jerez Specific Designation, known as “Marco del Jerez”, is located in the extreme south-west of Andalusia: the province of Cadiz, bordered by the mouth of the River Guadalquivir, Doñana National Park, the Atlantic Ocean and the countryside of Jerez irrigated by the River Guadalete.
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THE WINE
A wide range of colours, aromas, sensations and possibilities.
Sherry and Manzanilla are among the jewels in the crown of universal oenology. They originate from Marco de Jerez, a region in southern Andalusia with more than 7,000 hectares of vineyard that boasts 3,000 years of wine-making tradition, during which it developed its own special production methods.
Its privileged climate particularly favours the growth of three grape varieties: Palomino, from which the dry wines are obtained, and Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel that provide its sweet wines.
A surprising range of wine types is obtained from these white grapes with their characteristic colour palate. Such diversity is the result of the type of ageing applied to the wine: biological ageing under a velum formed by flor yeasts, or oxidative ageing. Also the sherries are aged using a unique method: the solera system. This dynamic ageing allows an exceptionally long ageing period, giving them great subtlety.
One of the greatest qualities of Marco de Jerez wines is their potent versatility, from the palest to the darkest, from the driest to the sweetest, meaning that there is a different sherry for every time of day, every meal and every taste. Running the gamut from pale dry sherries like Fino and Manzanilla, to the darkest and sweetest like Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel, including a whole range of colours, aromas and flavours in between: Amontillado, Oloroso, Medium, Pale Cream and Cream complete a range that makes sherry the perfect wine for the most diverse tastes and occasions.
RESOURCES
Cultural heritage and winegrowing customs
Discover the world of sherry, an age-old wine-growing culture, with over 10,300 hectares of vineyards in a territory bound to the sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
The Marco de Jerez Wine and Brandy Routes offer an attractive alternative tourism option in a territory with incomparable climatic conditions which mean that all year round, you can enjoy open air activities and the delights of the countryside, the mountains, the marshes of the Guadalquivir and the Costa de la Luz, with its endless beaches of fine sand.
Visit the largest wineries in Europe, known as “Cathedrals of Wine” or craft wineries tucked away in historic city centres. Tour vineyards whose boundaries get lost beyond the horizon, attend wine tastings where reality beats your wildest dreams, enjoy the region’s rich cuisine, a blend of traditional dishes and innovative signature cuisine, and to which the sherries and brandies of Jerez add that special touch of distinction; sip a glass of sherry on a sunny terrace accompanied by a “tapa”; breathe in and enjoy the ambience of a “tabanco” (food stall); stay in themed hotels or converted wineries; be present at the birth of the new must and join the parties organised in its honour in the local towns and all the gastronomic delights deployed in the musts, handed down from generation to generation, like the typical “ajo de viña” (garlic in wine), a typical dish of harvest workers, “berza” (cabbage), “callos” (tripe), all washed down with the new wine: so many unforgettable experiences!
These wine tourism experiences are accompanied by a whirlwind of options and sensations: Do you want to know how Andalusian horses dance? Would you like to stroll through the neighbourhoods that witnessed the birth of flamenco? Or relish the finest seafood and fish while the sun goes down over the estuary of the River Guadalquivir and the pinewoods of Doñana? Or visit a winery and in no time be walking along beautiful Atlantic beaches, with white sand and going on for kilometres?
All this is possible if you come to Marco de Jerez.
HERITAGE
Wine-growing lands with historic buildings and mediaeval castles
Any reference to Marco de Jerez would be incomplete without mentioning its wines, which have impregnated its entire culture, arts and customs since 1.100 B.C.
The triangle formed by Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda is the epicentre of the Jerez wine-growing culture, and extends to its other cities: Chiclana, Chipiona, Puerto Real, Rota and Trebujena.
Marco de Jerez is a mosaic of attractions. Going on any of the Marco de Jerez Wine and Brandy Routes reveals the perfect symbiosis of the traditional and the modern in this privileged territory with its strategic geographical location and excellent climate.
Marco de Jerez Wine and Brandy Routes help visitors understand the rich wine-growing culture and the traditions of Jerez in very diverse natural settings: countryside, beaches, marshes and dunes and rich architectural legacy, with all the unforgettable experiences that these spaces can bring.
Take a quiet stroll through their historical centres and enjoy the rich heritage of these cities. Or visit one of the wine cathedrals, among which are the biggest and most-visited wineries in Europe, or small craft wineries; call in at vineyards whose boundaries are lost beyond the horizon, attend wine tastings where reality beats your wildest dreams; enjoy the region’s rich cuisine to which the sherries and brandies of Jerez add that special touch of distinction; relax with friends over a glass of sherry, soaking up the atmosphere of these unique environments; stay in themed hotels or converted wineries; enjoy the festivals that form part of a crowded festive calendar, some of which will be celebrations of the birth of the new must; walk along the beach or take in a flamenco performance or equestrian show.
FESTIVALS
Manzanilla Wine Fair, the Fino Wine Fair and the Horse Fair
The region of Jerez has many popular festivals, expressions of the customs and cultural wealth of the territory. Some of these festivals have been declared of National and International Tourism Interest, like Easter Week and the Jerez Horse Fair, or the Horse Racing at Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
But the festive calendar includes far more, and includes all seasons of the year, running from the Sanlúcar Manzanilla Fair, the Spring Fair and the Fino Wine Festival in El Puerto de Santa María, the Moscatel Festival in Chipiona, and many more.
For wine sector professionals the most important event is VINOBLE, the international fair of special quality fortified, liqueur and dessert wines, held in Jerez every two years.
GASTRONOMY
A combination of seafood and fried pescadito, with produce from the fields around Cádiz
The influence of the many cultures that have come and gone in Marco de Jerez and the excellent fresh produce of the region, marinated in these universal wines, brandies and vinegars of Jerez, fuse together in a surprising and varied cuisine.
The most famous are the fish and seafood of the Bay of Cádiz, which every year attract thousands of visitors to the restaurants along its rivers and coasts, from Rota to Chiclana, and including Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Puerto de Santa María. Jerez cuisine lies halfway between Campiña de Jerez and the Bay, alternating deeply traditional fare with avant-garde and designer dishes, the market garden produce of Chipiona, Trebujena, and Campiña de Jerez and the meats, cheeses and oils of the Sierra de Cádiz mountains.
Cuisine you can find in the magnificent restaurants, seafood taverns, food stalls, tapas bars, roadside bars and mostos (rural restaurants) that offer a fine selection of dishes: snapper Rota style, Sanlúcar lobsters, fish from the estuary, garlic from the vineyards, cabbage, bull’s tail, pescaíto frito – a traditional but innovative cuisine, linked to the Mediterranean diet.
ACTIVITIES
Choice of nautical sports and golf and fine equestrian facilities
There are more than a hundred ways to become familiar with the culture of wine. The Marco de Jerez Wine and Brandy Routes give you the opportunity of an in-depth approach to the rich culture of sherry in the municipalities of: Chiclana, Chipiona, El Puerto de Santa María, Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto Real, Rota, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Trebujena, with the wine and brandy of Jerez as the point of reference.
From coastal locations to more inland settings there is a huge range of characters, architectural styles, types of cuisine and urban and natural landscapes, all within a limited geographical area that makes everything easy to get to.
One moment you can be on the beaches with their white sand and the next in the Jerez countryside, or the marshes of Guadalquivir in Trebujena, or the mountains of Cadiz, all in a single day.
Strolling through the streets of the region’s cities you are drawn into the deeply-rooted culture of wine present in the architecture, urban fabric and atmosphere. You can visit the famous sherry bodegas, known as “cathedrals of wine”, savour the finest wines and brandies accompanied by the rich cuisine, visit the vineyards that produce the grapes behind these marvellous wines, admire the collections and museums that are the legacy of their past, enjoy the numerous horse-riding activities, nautical sports, flamenco art, in a host of activities that will introduce you to the region’s culture, festivals and people.
HOW TO GET THERE
Strategic location and excellent connections
Marco de Jerez has a strategic location and excellent connections with the rest of Andalusia, Spain and Europe.
There are international airports of Jerez, Seville, Málaga and Gibraltar and marine transport, as well as a magnificent road network, so you can comfortably link up with all the main Spanish and international destinations.
The main railway stations in Marco de Jerez are at Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Puerto Real.
Once you arrive in the region you can get from Marco de Jerez to coastal locations and the interior in just a few minutes.
CONTACT:
Telephone: 620 055 771
Email:info@rutadelvinojerez.es
