Our History

The story of Bodegas Barbadillo began in the 19th century, when Benigno Barbadillo y Ortigüela and his cousin Manuel López Barbadillo moved from Mexico, where Benigno had made his fortune, to Sanlúcar de Barrameda in the south of Spain. In 1821, they purchased their first winery, called El Toro and a paradigm of Andalusian architecture that still bears witness to the origins of Bodegas Barbadillo.

Benigno died in 1837, but his legacy and the firm’s reputation were by then unstoppable. His eldest son, Manuel, took over the running of the business and formally incorporated the company now known as Bodegas Barbadillo in 1954.

Castillo de San Diego was the dream of one man: Toto Barbadillo. Its story began long before it came into being. At the end of the 1960s, on his travels abroad, Antonio Pedro Barbadillo Romero (Toto) discovered some white wines that paired perfectly with seafood, due to their milder, fruitier flavour. Upon his return, he decided to start experimenting and finally managed to create the wine he had always wanted, calling it a ‘white table wine’. 1975 saw the first edition of a pioneer wine that would open up a category of its own and that we all know today as #Barbadillo, but that is really called Castillo de San Diego after the street where the winery was located, next to the castle in Sanlúcar. From the very beginning, the wine was imitated, admired and a best seller.

Vega Real is born, the fruit of a partnership between Bodegas Barbadillo and José María Vegas, a member of one of the most important wine groups in Castilla y León. Bodegas Vega Real is born with José María Vegas, an important wine maker in the area of Castilla y León, as a shareholder. He later sells his holding to Barbadillo, which is then the sole proprietor.

The prestigious magazine Wine Spectator included Manzanilla Solear in its Top 100 Best Wines of The Year, which are like recommendations of the highest influence for wine consumers and experts around the world. Bodegas Barbadillo is the only representative of wines from the Sherry Region on that list, which includes another seven wines from other areas of Spain.

An amontillado from a single cask gifted, in 1891, by Antonio Barbadillo Ambrossy to his son Manuel Barbadillo Rodríguez – the poet winemaker connected to Spain’s Generation of 1927.
A unique and exceptional amontillado from a single cask that was dedicated in 1891 to Manuel Barbadillo, who would later become a poet and friend to many writers from the Generation of 1927, such as Manuel Machado, who wrote the prologue to some of his books. Versos 1891—already classified as an aged amontillado in the 19th century—began as a christening gift for Manuel Barbadillo from his father. An intense wine with a complex aroma achieved through ageing in the peace and darkness of the Barbadillo wineries in Sanlúcar de Barrameda for more than a century. Only 100 bottles of the historic amontillado were put on the market, at a price of €10,000 each.

Barbadillo’s sitcom ‘Cosas de Mar’ – one of the 100 best ideas of the year.
Cosas del Mar (which translates as either things from the sea or Mar’s things) is a series of comedy videos that recount the adventures of a young girl from Seville who comes into contact with the world of wine for the first time. In each episode, the spectator discovers the company’s different wines through the eyes of the heroine (Mar) and understands how each one is the perfect match for different situations. The spectators vote on their favourite ending for the series.

Barbadillo is 200 years old.