The "bodegas" in the Jerez Region are always beautiful and often very impressive buildings. But beyond their beauty, when we analyse them in terms of the requirements for the production of Sherry wines, we must also conclude that they are extremely functional buildings. The climate of the region, southern and warm but with a strong cooling influence from the Atlantic Ocean, is not particularly ideal for making quality wines. This fact has challenged the wine growers of Jerez to adapting their cellars so that the negative factors are compensated while making the most of the positive ones.

The one-storey cellars are usually located close to the sea or on relatively high sites exposed to the Ocean, so that the wines in the barrels can benefit from the morning sea breezes and westerly winds. Moreover, the Jerez winegrowers build their cellars along a northeast-southwest axis that provides for the minimum hours of direct sunlight and the maximum humidity. The yeasts in the flor thrives on darkness and silence and for that reason the windows are set high up in the walls and are rectangular, to prevent the sunlight from falling on the butts.

Moreover the windows are covered with lattices or blinds made of esparto grass, enabling the sea breezes to enter while keeping out the light. The bodegas in the Jerez Region have a greater height than those in other wine Regions, their central arch reaching heights of up to 14.5 m. The winegrowers use this model of cellar in order to ensure a large volume of air for each butt since good ventilation is a prerequisite of the biological ageing process.

The buildings' side walls are never less than 60 cm thick in order to support the high outer walls and to provide good thermal insulation. The walls are made of highly hygroscopic materials so that the cellars maintain a high level of humidity. For the same reason the floors are of sand, lime and iron oxide which are sprinkled with water twice a week during Summer in order to keep the cellars cool.

Throughout its long and chequered history, the winegrowers of the Sherry Region have continuously adapted their buildings and perfecting their bodegas, always seeking a perfect harmony between beauty and function.

Moorish Cellars

In 1264, when Alfonse X the Wise's troops captured Jerez's Alcázar fortress, there were already twenty-one cellars in the Moorish town and two of the town's seven mosque's were also converted into cellars. The Moorish cellars were quite small and covered by a short-beamed pent roof covered with Arab tiles, their capacity limited to less than twenty butts. Moorish cellars can still be seen in Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Trebujena, towns in the Jerez Region.

Mosques

When the Christian troops entered Jerez in 1264, its four large mosques were converted into the city's four main parish churches each, dedicated to one of the four Evangelists, San Mateo, San Marco, San Lucas, and San Juan. The main mosque became the Main Church dedicated to El Salvador, and the two smallest mosques became wine cellars.
There is also a mosque which was used as a bodega in La Almona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda The wines that reposed in these cellars were sweet caramelised reds or arropados, sweet reds with added must concentrate, and sweet raisin wines with added honey.

The Low Middle Ages and the Renaissance
During this period the wood used for construction was, thanks to the trade agreements of the time, imported fir from Sweden, Latvia and even Russia. The elastic and resistant properties of this long-fibred wood, which is practically knot-free, meant that the vanes in buildings could be made larger and consequently larger cellars could be built. Several of such buildings are still to be seen in the Region.
During this period, the great majority of wines produced were still arropados, wines with added must concentrate, and liqueur wines.

Convent Bodegas

Following the Discovery of America, the great majority of the Religious Orders founded convents and monasteries in Seville, Cádiz, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in order to house and prepare the missionaries bound for the Indies. In these convents, the missionaries would learn indigenous languages, medicine, etc.
All of the convents and monasteries had their own small, vaulted, brick-built cellars on the ground floor, the building's principal rooms occupying the first floor. These cellars were illventilated and thus biological ageing with "flor" was impossible and the wines, mainly Olorosos for use at Mass, were simply cask-aged.
After Mendizábal's Disentailment, some of these monasteries and convents passed into private hands, and were converted into cellars.

The Mansions of the Merchants

Throughout the 16th Century, Genoese and German Merchants settled in Seville in order to trade with the Indies. In the late 17th Century, when the town of Cadiz won the privilege of being the home port for the Indies fleet (1680), previously in Seville and above all, when the Casa de Contratación (which regulated trade with the Indies) moved to Cádiz in 1717, the merchants
also moved to Cádiz, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, building splendid mansions. These mansions boasted beams of precious woods such as mahogany, ebony etc. which were brought back as ballast by the returning ships.
The Mansion of the "Indies Merchants" boasted well-insulated ground floor cellars where they kept their vintage Olorosos.
Luxury Bodegas These buildings' characteristics are unique and bear little relationship to the Region's construction techniques.
A good example of this group of cellars is the Bertemati cellar, a luxurious construction in Jerez's calle Porvenir built using rich materials and architectural elements such as vaults and domes.
Also worthy of mention is the la Concha cellar built by Gustave Eiffel to mark the visit of Queen Isabel II to Jerez in 1862.

Cathedral-like Bodegas

The cathedral-bodegas, thus termed by the British writer and traveller Richard Ford, are buildings exclusively used for the ageing of wines previously obtained and fermented in other buildings (usually in far-houses located the vineyards). The cathedral-cellars have very high, steep, double-pitched roofs supported by tall pillars and rows of arches where the butts are
lined up in rows three or four butts high, one on top of the other. Although the construction of this type of cellar goes back to the end of the 18th Century, it became widespread when Finos and Manzanillas began to be made, at the beginning of the 19th Century. This particular ageing process requires very tall buildings, capable of producing a special microclimate through thermal insulation. In many cases, their construction was financed by the "returning capital" of the Spanish businessmen who came back from Latin America after the colonies gained their independence.

Las Bodegas Catedrales

Las bodegas-catedrales, así descritas por el escritor y viajero británico Richard Ford, son bodegas de añejamiento y crianza de vinos que no disponen de lagares y reciben el vino para su crianza, una vez fermentado, es decir convertido de mosto en vino. Tienen tejado a dos aguas y una cubierta muy alta soportada por altos pilares y arquerías donde se almacenan las
botas asentadas en tres o cuatros hiladas superpuestas. Aunque la construcción de este tipo de bodegas se inició a finales del siglo XVIII, su generalización se produjo con el inicio de la crianza de los Finos y Manzanillas bajo velo de flor a finales del primer cuarto del siglo XIX, porque esta crianza exige edificios muy altos que provoquen condiciones microclimáticas especiales, en particular un gran aislamiento térmico. Su financiación corrió a cargo en muchos casos de los "capitales de regreso" de los empresarios españoles que volvían de América tras la independencia de las Colonias.