Fernando de Castilla
- Jerez, Spain
Widely recognized as one of the most exceptional of the small, independent sherry houses, Rey Fernando de Castilla was founded in 1837 by a family named Andrada-Vanderwilde. Fernando Andrada was the owner. They started producing brandy in 1956 (they are very famous for their brandy in Spain and Europe) and trademarked the name Rey Fernando de Castilla in 1969.
In 1999, the house was purchased by Jan Pettersen, a Norwegian with a passion for top quality sherry and 15 years experience at Osborne. After taking over the cellars of the sherry shipper José Bustamante, located next door to the main facilities of Fernando de Castilla, Jan quickly revitalized this winery, and today they are once again known as masters of the production and aging of fine, unblended, untreated sherries.
They produce two lines: the Classic and the Antique. The wines in the Classic line have lower alcohol, and are styled to be more, well, classic, meaning that these are wines that are textbook representations of their kind. However, this house’s reputation is based on the excellence of the Antiques, a series of intensely pure and complex single solera sherries that undergo extended aging in the cellar (the Antique PX is a 30-year-old system, while the Fino is 8 years) which results in sherries of great complexity and depth.