A year has now passed since the “Emperor of
Brandy”, Filipino Andrew Tan who owns the brandy empire Emperador, bought the
remains of Domecq including its flagship brand Fundador. This was the first
commercial Spanish brandy and it has saved the company twice. Launched in 1874,
this new product provided profitability at a difficult time for Sherry, and it
was the key reason for Emperador’s purchase - indeed rescue - of the ailing
firm which had been languishing for twenty years in the hands of the
multinationals Allied, Beam and Suntory.
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| Andrew Tan among his brandy soleras |
A great deal has happened in the year since
Andrew Tan announced the start of a new era and gave many positive signs of
putting the bodega, which also produces Harveys and Terry Sherries, back to its
rightful position at the top and giving one of its prestige bodegas back to
Jerez. According to Rafael Rendón, the firm’s managing director, signs of
change appeared in the first few days with the opening of the gates at the
Puerta de Rota to the public. Fundador has signed up to the brandy research and
development project Bestbrandy. The brands have been repositioned in the
marketplace and brand names have been bought back from Pernod Ricard. A new
range of Harveys Sherry has been launched and the excellent Tapería de Fundador
has opened in a refurbished bodega in Calle San Ildefonso. The firm has also
begun restoration work to the Torre de Riquelme, an old watchtower on the city
walls at the now lost Puerta de Rota. Another project is the refurbishment of
the Castillo de Macharnudo in the finca El Majuelo for wine tourism. All this
and he has also bought Bodegas Garvey and Zoilo Ruiz Mateos.
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| Castillo de Macharnudo |
Meanwhile sales of Sherries, which have
recently won prestigious awards, are growing, and so are sales of brandy for
which solera capacity is being increased to meet predicted demand. There will
be new product launches too, such as Tres Cepas Light which has just been
launched in the Phillippines. Rafael Rendón believes that brandy’s time has
come, but it lacks support from the trade because individual companies don’t
have enough clout. “We need to develop a strategic plan, challenging and risky
though it may be, and Fundador will support any generic action in support of
brandy and Sherry, even if it implies some detriment to our interests”.
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