Buelan Compañia de Sacas is a bottling project of barrel-selected sherries created by Nick Africano, musician and founder of En Rama Sherry Co. Nick works with the wines of Ramiro Ibañez of Cota 45 and Willy Perez of Bodegas Luis Perez through his work with Spanish wine in New York City and with his experience working with José Pastor Selections. He was thrilled when he learned of Ramiro and Willy’s joint project, M. Ant. De La Riva, imported by José Pastor. After meeting Ramiro and Willy a few times in Spain, Nick immediately connected with their ethos, and knew he wanted to work with them in some capacity beyond selling their wine in NYC. They are true modern masters, and will one day be legends of the category. For Nick, it felt like a dream come true to work with them for his first release: an idea Nick had to bottle a sherry to be co-released alongside a new song of the same name.
Buelan aims to bottle sherries that capture a depth of meaning and place, of metaphor and artistry, and, most importantly, they aim to capture the stories of the people who make the wines. Each bottling expresses a particular theme, be that a song, an idea, or just a certain style of sherry Nick wants to highlight.
The Wines
Las Canciones No. 1 'Mirador' Manzanilla is a bottling of manzanilla selected with the help of Willy Perez and Ramiro Ibañez of M. Ant. De La Riva from the almacenista Bodegas del Río, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, led by 3rd generation capatáz, Luís del Río. Saca I is a single barrel bottling of 500 bottles from bota #18, while Saca II comes from three botas and consists of 1500 bottles.
"Las Canciones” is to be a series of barrel-selected sherries named after songs. “Mirador” Manzanilla is named after Nick’s song of the same title, released in December 2020, inspired by Mirador de San Nicolás in Granada, Spain, a church and lookout or watchtower overlooking the city and the Alhambra. Both Saca I and Saca II are young, lively expressions of manzanilla with an average of 3yrs in solera with intense notes of citrus, sea shells, and salt. Literally a stone’s throw from the sandy, brackish delta of the Guadalquivir River, just a short drive north past the very end of the Bajo de Guía, it truly captures the terroir of Barrio Bajo in Sanlúcar. The botas were selected from a row of barrels along the warmer wall of the bodega leading to a fresher, more playful character.
Las Canciones No. 2 'Cap and Bells' Oloroso is a bottling of Oloroso selected from the criaderas of Jaime González García Mier of Bodegas Faustino González. A blend of Palomino Fino and Pedro Xímenez from 7 hectares in La Viña El Carmen, a single vineyard planted in 1972 in the Pago Montealegre. The Pago is a part of the Jerez Superior subregion, east of the city of Jerez. Jaime González García Mier, the owner of the parcel and proprietor of Bodegas Faustino Gonzàlez, converted to Organic farming starting in 2019. This Oloroso is selected from barrels that average over 10 years old. Expressed simply, it is a blend of the house Oloroso bottling (which averages over 20 years of age) with a younger criadera, intended to make a more youthful, approachable, and drinkable Oloroso.
Nevado is a bottling of unfortified Palido from the Gomez Nevado estate, in the Sierra Morena mountains of northern Andalucía. This super traditional, long-time organically-certified estate is the last of its kind, bottling flor-aged and biologically aged wines from vines of Palomino, Arís (Airén) and Pedro Ximénez. Nick worked with Carmen Gómez Cabello to bottle a younger expression of their Palido, aged only about 3-4 years, that has previously only been available at local restaurants and bars. Fresh, bright, and complex, Nevado was bottled En Rama and will gain in complexity with bottle age.
