Pepe Blanco

Born and raised in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Pepe Blanco has spent his entire life among the vineyards of the Marco de Jerez. He began making wine at the age of fifteen, following the tradition of his grandfather and father, and today proudly describes himself first and foremost as a winegrower and winemaker.

For many years, Pepe worked alongside his brother Paco under the family name Callejuela, tending vineyards in some of the most important pagos of the region, including Callejuela, Añina and Macharnudo. Together, they produced a broad range of traditional wines — from fresh mostos and Manzanillas to Amontillados and Olorosos — while developing a reputation for wines deeply connected to their vineyards and the albariza soils of the Marco de Jerez. For those who have followed Callejuela, Pepe’s name will therefore be familiar. But in 2024, he began something entirely new.

Pepe Blanco is the name of his new project, created together with his daughter Marta. Rather than simply continuing along the same path, father and daughter set out to explore vineyards and pagos that Pepe had never previously worked with. They began experimenting with new grape varieties and searching for old Sherry casks with particular seasoning, intended specifically for the fermentation and ageing of their wines.

The philosophy remains firmly rooted in the vineyard, but the project is deliberately open to discovery. The first vintage, 2024, produced two wines: El Caserón de Mahina and Campiz Viejo. Both are dry, unfortified white wines, but they express two very different sides of the region.

What makes Pepe and Marta’s project particularly exciting is the combination of experience and curiosity behind it. Pepe brings decades of intimate knowledge of the vineyards of Sanlúcar and the wider Marco de Jerez. He has worked with Palomino and the traditional wines of the region since he was a teenager. He knows the role of flor, the behaviour of old Sherry casks and the character of the albariza soils from years of direct experience. Together with Marta, he is deliberately exploring new vineyards, new varieties and different vessels. The old Sherry casks remain part of the story, but they are now tools for discovering something different. The wines are therefore deeply connected to the traditions of Jerez while being distinctly contemporary in their approach.

At the heart of Pepe Blanco is a simple idea: wine begins in the vineyard. This has always been central to Pepe’s work, and it remains so today. But the new project gives him the freedom to explore the vineyards of the Marco de Jerez from a different perspective.

For those who know the wines of Callejuela, there will be a familiar feeling here: the precision, the saline character and the deep connection to the land. But Pepe Blanco is not simply Callejuela under a new name. It is a new chapter — one that Pepe is writing together with his daughter Marta, one vineyard and one wine at a time.