In 1906, a group of hare hunters in Jerez tasted their first sherry on the spot of an 8th Century Moorish battle, on the southern bank of the Guatalete river. The battle was remembered as the battle of ‘La Ina’ after the war cry of the Moorish: “A’Hina”. This historic event also gave its name to the delicious bone-dry sherry: Fino La Ina. In 1919 Juan P. de Domecq, member of the Domecq wine family, names their most famous Fino after the lands where he usually went hunting, (fun fact: Fino was the style of wine generally consumed during hunting).
The La Ina solera was acquired by the Caballero Group in 2008, through its flagship quality sherry company, Bodegas Lustau, one of the most prestigious sherry houses in the ‘sherry triangle’. The agreement included the purchase of all 4,200 ‘botas’ of the soleras, alongside six other bodegas, and while Lustau moved most of the Domecq soleras to their own premises, the La Ina solera still resides in its historic La Mezquita bodega, in order to preserve its unique and precious terroir.
A small portion of the wine is held back for second fortification and further aging, this time in contact with the oxygen, to make the outstanding 8-12 years average age ‘Tabanco’ Amontillado.
The ‘Río Viejo’ Oloroso is aged at one of Lustau's bodegas and averages 12-years. The only exception is the ‘Macarena’ Manzanilla, which is deliberately bottled young (3 years average age) to maintain freshness of the wine. As is obligatory for all Manzanillas, Macarena is aged in a bodega at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where the close proximity to the sea moderates the climate and increases ‘flor’ activity.
Grapes for the ‘sobretablas’ base wines of all these sherries are sourced from Lustau's own vineyard holdings, and from partner growers working to Lustau's quality criteria, planted on the classic Albariza chalky soil.