The Director General of the Consejo Regulador, César
Saldaña led a debate on the evolution of the traditional markets over the last
80 years in the Scientific Symosium marking the 80th anniversary of
the Denimonación de Origen at the Consejo’s bodega San Ginés yesterday. He was
joined by representatives of those markets: the UK, Holland and Germany.
In the mid XX century these three markets took
79% of exports between them. Fluctuations in these markets took place in three
key periods over the last 80 years: the period of warfare between 1935 and
1960, the golden age of expansion between 1960 and 1986 during which time Spain
joined the EU and Nato, and the period from 1986 till the present day when sales
slumped and EU grants dried up.
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| Cesar Saldana (centre) at the debate (foto:diariodejerez) |
The crises of the mid and late 1980s brought
desperate measures including the lowering of costs and the reduction of advertising
due to the lack of external grants, and the image of Sherry collapsed. The
period between 1993 and 2008 saw things improve until the world banking crisis
put a stop to that with exports and consumption falling dramatically, and young
people turned away from wine which they saw as an alcoholic drink for old
people at Christmas.
Despite it all, César confesses to seeing “signs
of change” thanks to the growth in “experts and people interested in wine,”
protagonists of “an aspiration towards a future of growth, not only in volume
but also in image, prestige, price and profitability. I don’t know when, but I’m
sure improvement will only come if we continue to sell Sherry for what it is, a
great wine.”
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