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Our History
The most reliable and documented historical account of wine growing in the region of Huelva known as “El Condado” can be dated back to the 14th Century; though, there have been legendary references of trading carried out between the Tartessuses and the Greeks, of shipments sent to Rome, and of a Muslim tolerance of wine growing and production. |
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After the Reconquest, the repopulation in Andalusia led to the cultivation of vineyards in the Condado de Niebla in the 14 th Century. The grand master of the Order of Calatrava, Mr. Juan Mestre, was the one who repopulated the area of Villalba del Alcor in 1327. Eight years later the grand master donated almost 100 acres of hilly lands to Mr. Romero Díaz so that in one years time he could uproot and clear the land, and plant grapevines. Due to the excessive work this entailed, Romero was granted new terms and authorisations so that the lands could be worked by tenant farmers. This marked the beginning of the progress and current wealth of the Condado. |
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Throughout the 14 th Century, the social and economic significance of the villages in this region grew considerably. So great was the quality and volume of the wine production that the city of Seville, which extended to the municipality of Manzanilla, was forced to pass new protectionist ordinances of wine to safeguard its market. However, given the prestige and boost of wines from Villalba, Bollullos, Almonte and La Palma , these continued to be marketed in Seville.
The 15 th Century brought more splendour. The cultivated areas spread, the vintage techniques improved, and the fino-manzanilla sherry was exported in its youngest phase. It was from the ports of Palos and Moguer that the highly sought after wines of “ romania ” and the sherries from Manzanilla were shipped to England and to the Netherlands . Undoubtedly, these wines and later their stocks set sail to the New World due to the fact that many of the discoverers who accompanied Columbus in his adventures were from this area. |
The Discovery Wines
Documents dating back to January 1502 attest the first shipment of wines from this area to the Indies . This shipment totalling 1,422 maravedís (an old Spanish coin) left Seville in the same fleet in which Friar Nicolás de Ovando set sail for La Española. This export tradition in the region carried on for several centuries reaching its peak of splendour in the 16 th century.
The second half of the 18 th Century marked the beginning of the decline of wine commerce from the port of Seville to the Indies due to the transfer of the House of Contracts to Cádiz. The wines of the region were moved to the ports of Cádiz, Puerto Real, Puerto de Santa María, and Sanlúcar where they set off to America . Sanlúcar received mostly manzanilla wines .
The end of this century marks the beginning of the influx and settling of families from the Rioja wine region into the county. Among them came the family of Juan Ramón Jiménez, who restored splendour to this region during the 19 th Century. However, at the end of this century, a phylloxera plague brought decadence once again, and this lasted until the 1920s.
The introduction of a resistant plant graft brought on some recovery, but the wines from this region lost their prestige from the centuries before and they began supplying the whole of the Spanish territory and this lasted well into the 20 th Century.
Nevertheless, out of necessity to produce under high quality standards and to try to restore the splendour of years before, the Denomination of Origin “Huelva” was created on May 10 th , 1962, and by ordinance of the Agricultural Ministry, the Regulations of the Denomination of Origin “Condado de Huelva” was passed in 1963, which united all sectors involved to take on the task of helping the world rediscover the excellence of the Discovery Wines.
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