Sara SotoManrique Mahína 2024

The unfortified white 2024 Sara, named after the youngest of their three daughters, was produced with Palomino grapes from very white soils in the Pago Mahína, the most inland of the vineyards in Sanlúcar de Barrameda some 14 kilometers from the sea, where the marine influence is milder. The soils are "tosca de barajuelas," laminar, albariza, very white. They purchased the vineyard quite late, so they didn't work much in the vineyards, and the grapes were picked in mid-September, quite late, to pick fully ripe grapes. The juice from the direct pressing of the bunches fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and went through full malolactic, and the wine matured in 750- and 2,000-liter oak foudres—for now, they don't plan to use any Sherry botas. The wine created a thin layer of flor in some of the containers, because they didn't top them up until the summer. The wine is super young, despite the golden color (perhaps from the concentration of the grapes; Mahína develops thicker skins), and it's undeveloped, a little neutral, with faint floral notes, hints of white fruit and some smoky spiciness from the oak. It's a clean and modern wine. Right now, the nose is quite shy, and you have to pay attention to the palate, where the wine shows its character. It's vibrant and stony, with a strong saline influence, very tasty, vibrant and fresh with good acidity. It's tasty and sapid and makes you salivate, something they told me was already noticeable in the must, and it finishes dry with a chalky palate. As I've seen in these kind of wines, the nose is quite neutral when young and should develop with time in bottle. Right now, the nose is the one that shows the way... Wait a few months. It comes in at 12.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.1 and six grams of acidity. 7,200 bottles and some magnums produced. It was bottled unfiltered in August 2025.