Bodegas Lustau — Attraction in Jerez

This was one of the strangest tastings I have ever been to. Before visiting the winery, I had already tasted almost all the Lustau wines that are exported to other countries, and this visit was just a matter of seeing the cathedrals live and getting some first-hand information. That's why the cheapest tasting was chosen (20€ pro person). The tasting started with our group being called from the waiting room into the large hall as if it was an order... OK, that may have been a personal perception, it happens. However, it simply became the first item on the list of things not to do at a winery tasting. As the first wine we received was an amontillado... If you are familiar with the classification of sherry wines, the lightest sherry on offer is fino or manzanilla, but obviously not amontillado, which is much more complex and aromatic than either of the above. We did try the fino and manzanilla immediately afterwards, but they were overshadowed by the flavours of amontillado that remained in the glass... The guide herself (I'm afraid I can't remember her name) gave us information about the winery from a sheet of paper that she had memorised down to the last word, which I found a little depressing. The feeling of affection or humanity that you usually get at tastings in other wineries was absent here. As part of the tasting, we and a few other people asked a few technical (not tough) questions, such as the difference between Palo Cortado and amontillado, and how exactly Lustau decides which wine will become what in the end. Instead, the woman switched to an aggressive tone, suggesting that we should have listened to what she had said earlier about amontillado in the first place... After another question from a member of the group, the guide took the liberty of saying that technical questions could be answered in another tasting 'for which you should have paid more'. I find such phrases completely unprofessional and show that a person needs at least a break from work to understand whether or not she enjoys the wine industry and working with customers. In the current reality of overproduction and a stagnant market for liqueur wines such a sherry, the one thing you should not do as a winery representative is be unfriendly to people who come to your winery and want to know more about you, your history and what you produce.

in overview: good wines reflecting the region and style, and not the most competent and professional winery...

We had a very disappointing tour around this bodega. I was looking forward to it, because lustau is one of the PX we can find back home. We booked the English tour, and I think we were with a total of around 12 people. The one that gave us the tour tried her best, but her English wasn't that good. She could tell her story more or less, but didn't understand all of the questions and her answers didn't seem right or were just incomprehensible. We got to taste 4 sherry's and 1 vermouth, walking from one room to another, which was nice. The bodega is beautiful. At the end of the tour we ended up in the store and had a couple of sherry's we wanted to buy. We wanted to buy some more vermouths, as they had different ones. We asked if we could taste them, and we're willing to pay extra. This was not possible, the tour and tasting were over. We ended up buying nothing.

The next day we went to bodega Diez Merito, not far from Lustau but less known. This was also a beautiful bodega. We had a private tour, because we were the only ones there. Her English (Maria!) was very good, both while explaining as while answering any questions. We could taste 5 sherry's, all 12 years old, but without asking she offered us two brandy's to try as well. Upon our request we could try the vermouth and the 5 year old PX to see the difference. At no extra charge. We ended up buying sherry's, brandy's, vermouth and vinaigre for ourselves and friends. And we're very glad we didn't already buy...

Lustau seems to be a higher class of Sherry with only 1 English-tour/day; perhaps even only 1 tour/day during the Fall season.

Starts: 11am (45-minute tour)

Walk-ins are welcome, but reservation is highly recommended and available on their website. From my observation, it seemed that they pair the basic tour (€15) and the full tasting tour (€25) together. You'll receive the same snacks with the exception of 4 extra tasting for the full tasting tour. Is it worth it, nah....

The guide today seemed frazzled and overwhelmed with our group of tweny, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my tasting of sherry. We started with light Finos and ended up with sweet Pedro Jimenez. The tasting included 8 various types of Sherry that Lustau offers.

If you intend to buy anything, pay for your tasting and purchase as soon as possible. The credit card machine is super slow at Lustau, so you might be waiting awhile before making your purchases. You've...