Fernando de Castilla

The Andrada-Vanderwilde family founded Bodega Fernando III (later renamed Fernando de Castilla) in Jerez in 1837. The family had been supplying grapes and base wine to the Jerez sherry trade for around two centuries before deciding to bottle and market under their own name. The Andrada-Vanderwilde aristocratic line provided the bodega with both vineyard depth and the social network needed for the heavily relationship-driven sherry export trade. In 1956 the house added Brandy de Jerez to its production line; the Rey Fernando de Castilla trademark was registered in 1969.

In 1972 Fernando Andrada-Vanderwilde took over old sherry cellars and brandy soleras from neighbouring bodegas, consolidating the house's production base. In 1999 the bodega was sold to Jan Pettersen, a Norwegian sherry specialist who had spent fifteen years at Osborne. Pettersen took over the adjacent cellars of sherry shipper José Bustamante and revitalised the house. The current range covers the full sherry style spectrum — Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, Palo Cortado, Pedro Ximénez — plus the Brandy de Jerez Solera and Solera Gran Reserva expressions.