Description

El Maestro Sierra only began bottling in the last 20 years, but its history dates back to 1832. It was founded by Jos Antonio Sierra, a master carpenter responsible for building barrels for all the major sherry houses. Recognised as one of the top coopers of his time, in 1832 he set about building a small winery with the aim of making the best sherries possible. The industryat the time was dominated by nobility and an upstart tradie like Jos was quite unwelcome. Despite his hostile neighbours, Jos established himself as one of the top stockholders (almacenistas) of high quality Jerez sherry.

The previous owner of El Maestro Sierra was Doa Pilar Pla Pechovierto, whose husband was a direct descendent of the Sierra family. Pilar respected her husbands wishes when he passed away that the labelremain in operation and over the past 30 years, she has ensured it thrived. Pilar recently passed away at the age of 99, leaving their daughter Dr Carmen Borrego Pla in charge of one of the few bodegas owned and run by women.

Pilar initially sold wine to a number of other bodegas; she began bottling underthe El Maestro Sierra label in 1992. The stocks at winery now are some of the oldest in Jerez, with soleras between 60 and 100 years of age. These biologically aged wines are strongly marked by rich notes of flor. The bodegas unique location on a high plateau in the centre of town exposes it to the sea breezes from El Puerto, creating an ideal environment for flor to thrive.