The Professional Association of Artisan Bodegas
of Sanlúcar has produced a manifesto “in defence of Manzanilla and the wine
producing traditions of Sanlúcar” in which they demand “greater power of
decision making” for the Manzanilla DO within the Consejo Regulador, and “respect
for its traditions looking toward the future” which would imply the protection
of the open sale of BIB wine.
In a note, the Association which was recently
constituted to promote, preserve, improve and defend the wine producers of Sanlúcar,
calls on the support of citizens in the face of a “situation of continual
defencelessness against the persecution and harassment they have been suffering
in recent months.” The objective is “to permit the sale of BIB wines as the principal
means of supply to despachos (shops selling draft wine) bars, restaurants and
tabancos.”
They are also seeking from the Junta, the body
which regulates and oversees the Consejo, “legislation which provides the DO Manzanilla
with the equality they should have with DO Jerez at the Consejo,” even, if that
could be achieved, “the creation of an independent Manzanilla committee where
those with no interest in Sanlúcar would no longer have control in decision
making.”
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| Typical BIBs (foto:diariodejerez) |
To spread awareness among the citizens of the “gravity”
the elimination of BIB wines by Fedejerez, a body which comprises mainly Jerez
bodegas, would have, they will initiate a campaign collecting signatures of
support for their manifesto. It declares that the wine producers of Sanlúcar
form an “integral part of the Marco de Jerez and are the only people
responsible for the production of Manzanilla,” and that they have been “losing
bodegas and vineyard at an unsustainable rate over the last 30 years.”
The “politics of resistance to change” which “cling
to the prestige of the past without recognising the complications of the
present and resist looking to the future” bring, in their opinion, “an ever
more obvious concentration in the wine producing sector, and with it the loss
of producers and of jobs.” They say that the bodegas of Sanlúcar, “always
watchful of the quality” of the product and “never forgetting our roots and
traditions” must adapt to the demand of the markets, both at home and abroad.
They point out that the Fedejerez proposal of “banning BIB” would bring with it
“the disappearance of a deeply rooted and traditional means of selling wine in
the city of Manzanilla.”
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