WINE MUSEUM

The  is set inside an old winery that belonged to “Hermanos Escolar”. It dates back to the end of the 19th century and it has been recently renovated, a renovation that has managed to recover respectfully one of the most emblematic architectural spaces in the city of  Almonte,  through a project combining tradition and modernity.

The visit to    provides the option of taking a route through the old winery and discovering its hidden secrets.

Once you enter the CENTRAL PATIO, the smell of must will carry you to the history of wine in Almonte, where you´ll discover “the journey of the grape”. 
The guided tour starts at the winery, which is the main room of the museum. Its walls are decorated with pictures showing the harvest and transportation of the vine. Here you can see a scale that can weigh up to 2,000 kgs at once. The scale is made of solid iron by Talleres Sanz from Valencia. There is also a screw press, known as cage or basket, where the grapes are placed to be manually pressed. 

Hermanos Escolar were pioneers concerning other winemakers in the area and thanks to their interest in the latest modern machinery, the manual force soon disappeared. 

THE STOREROOM
In the past, there were 18 barrels, nowadays there are only 3 with a capacity of 10,000 liters. They were made by artisans from Castilla La Mancha. The wine barrels are placed on concrete layers which are good for the wine fermentation. 

VINE GROWING
Our vines have some unique features due to several causes. First, the soil where they are planted is sandy, ventilated and loose. Secondly, we are near the Atlantic coast where the weather conditions are helpful for the growth of the vines.  Another important factor is “the man’s hand” since all the growing process, like the shaping of the plant or removal of the branches, is made using manual force. 
All these advantageous conditions mentioned before help each vine to produce around 5-8 kg of grapes per harvest.
It’s important to mention that in wintertime the vine seems to be “dead” however it´s not; it´s dormant. The maturation process starts in warmer months and it finishes in August, when the grapes wait for their harvest. 

WINE AGEING
Many are the factors that determine the different types of wines; for example, the production process, the grape variety, the region where they are produced, and so on and so forth. As for the production process, we can talk about biological ageing vs. oxidative ageing. On the first, the wine is aged under a layer of yeast known as “flor” whereas on the second process, the wine ages in contact with the air.

 TYPES OF WINE.

FINO wine. It´s a dry white wine made with biological ageing. Its alcohol content is around 15º-17º.

AMONTILLADO wine. Its base is Fino wine, so after biological ageing this wine is aged again by oxidation, two or three years depending on the winery. Its alcohol content is 18º-19º degrees.

OLOROSO wine. It’s usually placed on top of the cellar. It’s fermented using the solera system and it ages by oxidation. It captures the smell of casks and has a high concentration of sugars. Its alcohol content is 17º degrees.

MISTELA AND SWEET wine. It’s not fermented, it’s aged by oxidation. Its alcohol content is around 20º-23º degrees. 

ORANGE wine. It´s a white wine flavoured with macerated orange peel followed by a process of aging of at least six months by the solera system. Its alcohol content is 20º-22º degrees.

Wine is widely known according to two main characteristics, smell and colour. Looking at its colour, we can find white, deep gold, mahogany or amber. And concerning the smell, there are three types of wine: primary, side and tertiary, influenced by the processing, transformation and ageing of the wine.

The first one is identified according to the area where the grape is grown, soil type or vintage. Some examples are flower, vegetation and fruit aromas.

We can identify the side type through the fermentation and yeast employed in its ageing process. They are nut and dairy aromas.

And finally, through the vintage the wine has experienced, we find "bouquet" wine, which is balsamic or wood aromas.

NEW WINES AND MARKETS.
The wine produced in Almonte is finding its way into the wine market; young white fruity, sweet wine and sparkling Raigal are having a "warm welcome" at the local and international market. For example, the USA is the most demanding country of a type of wine unique in our land, the county of Huelva, which is orange wine produced from the white wine and flavoured with bitter orange. It is left to macerate for six months and is aged for two years.

In our land, we also produce four types of vinegar:
-Young Country, it must have one year of aging.
-Old Solera, from six to twelve months of aging.
-Reserve, at least one year of aging and enriched with fragrant wine.
-Old vinegar, at least three years of the aging process.

THE CELLAR
A small winery has been kept where the visitors will find a selection of several wines from the region of Almonte, among them: sweet wine, orange wine, oloroso, etc. At the cellar, we have recreated a room where you can see a winemaker and the tools and machinery that are still used today.