Wednesday 6 January 2016

6.1.16 Manzanilla Rebels Publish Manifesto

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.”

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.”

Therefore they ask that the proposals of the bodegas in the DO Manzanilla be “heard, listened to and respected” in their own Consejo Regulador.

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