Actor and director Miguel Ángel Muñoz hosted an emotional day filled with tastings and tributes, where wine industry professionals gathered to reflect on the future of albariza white wines.
Sanlúcar de Barrameda, July 28, 2025 – With a full day of activities, Bodegas Barbadillo commemorated last Saturday the 50th anniversary of the launch of its iconic white wine, known for decades as Castillo de San Diego. This pioneering white wine from the Jerez region, now renamed Barbadillo Blanco de Albariza, remains a true benchmark of albariza wines. Half a century after that revolutionary gamble, the Sanlúcar-based winery brought together professionals, communicators, and wine lovers to pay tribute to a category that has transformed the winemaking landscape of the region.
Actor and director Miguel Ángel Muñoz, the anniversary’s honorary ambassador, was the guest of honor at a day filled with reflection, emotion, and celebration. The event culminated with the Toto Barbadillo Awards, named in tribute to Antonio Pedro “Toto” Barbadillo, former chairman of the winery and creator, in 1975, of the first white wine of the Jerez region. Inspired by European and American wines he discovered on his travels, Toto began experimenting by fermenting grape juice in his home refrigerator, seeking to preserve the fresh, fruity character of the Palomino Fino grape. Thus was born Castillo de San Diego, a pioneering wine that marked a turning point in the region’s winemaking history.
The day began with a round table titled “The Potential of White Wines from the Jerez Region”, moderated by journalist José Ferrer Morato and featuring key figures from the sector: Borja Matoses (Cuaderno Matoses), Alberto Orte (Compañía de Vinos del Atlántico), Montserrat Molina (Barbadillo’s winemaker), and Julián Hermoso (Sorbito a Sorbito). The discussion addressed the challenges, opportunities, and future of a category that, after decades of evolution, now demands recognition with strength and diversity.
This was followed by a historic tasting session titled “50 Years of Soulful Whites,” bringing together a select group of professionals to taste ten wines representative of five decades of oenological innovation. Expert tasters included Jonas Tofterup (Master of Wine), Bernardo Lucena (Alvear), Javier Blanco (Barbadillo), Pepe Ferrer (Sherry and Manzanilla Regulatory Council), Jesús González (La Tana), as well as previously mentioned Hermoso, Matoses, Orte, and Molina.
In the afternoon, the clandestine Cuarto Atamán hosted a concert by The Rusty Boys, featuring music and vermouth-based cocktails made with Atamán, showcasing once again the versatility of Barbadillo’s wines, vermouths, and spirits.
The day concluded with the Toto Barbadillo Awards ceremony in an emotional event hosted by Pepe Ferrer, accompanied by a flamenco guitar recital by Nono García. Miguel Ángel Muñoz presented the awards to Casa Bigote and Paco Vázquez.
Manuel Barbadillo, current chairman of the winery, gave the welcome speech on behalf of the family, sharing that the winery’s former winepress was located opposite the Castle of Santiago: “We have always called the must ‘wine from the castle’; the first accounting entry as ‘wine from the castle’ dates back to 1885.”
The celebration came to a close in the Jardín de San Guillermo with an electronic music set by Music Komité and a concert by Sanlúcar artist Pakuki, wrapping up an unforgettable day that reaffirms the vitality, legacy, and future of white wines from the Jerez region.
