Just as almacenistas have all but ceased to
exist, independent growers in the Sherry zone are in danger of extinction.
Apathy and discontent are rife among the growers who are not cooperative
members. They number around 60 and control some 2,000 hectares, nearly a third
of the total under vine, vineyards which the trade cannot allow to be lost. But
these vines are ageing quickly because of the impoverished state of their
owners, who are unable to make the slightest investment. Asevi-Asaja, the
association of independent growers, estimates that at least half are less than
10 years old, and the vines have a commercial life of up to 30 years. Francisco
Guerrero, the association president, says the problem is that the vineyards
have been unprofitable for years because the price of grapes is too low. There
is no spare cash to repair machinery, tractors are literally falling to bits
and in small vineyards it doesn’t pay to contract outside help.
After a long period of distance between the
growers and the bodegas association, Fedejerez, Asevi has spent the last year
trying to renew contact and succeeded in arranging a day of talks between the
two parties just before last week’s Feria. According to Guerrero another
meeting is expected at the end of June or the start of July to improve the
exchange of ideas and seek solutions, the main one being that the grape price
has to be fair and reasonable.
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| One way to earn more from vineyards (foto:Pascual/diariodejerez) |
After a small and not particularly good harvest
which endured heavy rain in May followed by mildew, the growers are facing
another year of uncertainty because of more Levante wind than usual. Last year they
suffered its drying and crop-reducing effects for more than a month in July and
August, and they fear it will return this year.
After the massive uprooting of excess vineyard
subsidised by Brussels which reduced the area of vineyard from 1,050 hectares
to the current 6,500, the area managed to reach a balance between supply and
demand. But if this year also produces a small crop there will be a supply problem.
Naturally the bodegas need to replace their stocks but, as there is currently
no overstock, the grape price will shoot up, and nobody wants that. Guerrero explains
that in the late 1980s and early 1990s the price shot up from 82 pesetas to 100
(from 50 to 60 céntimos) and that was bad for the trade.
“We want a reasonable price, ideally 40-45 céntimos
instead of the current 34-36 céntimos”, says Guerrero, who insists that “after
achieving a balance of supply and demand, the trade cannot allow the loss of a
further 2,000 hectares. Fedejerez understands the situation and has raised the
price for the coming harvest, but it is still not enough”. Meanwhile the
bodegas argue that they can’t offer more as the wine itself is not profitable
either.
Although Sherry and Manzanilla are enjoying
better times, in which little by little prices and sales values are recovering,
BOB (buyer’s own brand) is still selling in large volumes and at very low margins, which is chipping away at profitability. The recent growth of Sherry
corresponds to the leading brands and the VOS and VORS wines, but the turning
point has not yet been reached because of the scale of the BOB trade. It seems
that Bodegas and growers alike are condemned to put up with it.
“This year there has been a bit more movement
in purchasing by the big bodegas, but only four of them are buying grapes”,
says Guerrero, adding that “although the bodegas own some vineyard, it is the
minimum possible as they are not interested in large tracts of it either. As
they say here “La viña y el potro, que los críe otro” (vineyards and colts –
let someone else raise them).
The situation in the vineyards has been bad for
years. Six or seven years ago the grape price was the lowest in Spain – a mere 15
céntimos. The current situation is different; along with the Sherry “boom” the
growers see other possibilities such as cask seasoning for whisky which is in
great demand, or Jerez Vinegar, demand for which seems unstoppable.
Asevi believes there is a lack of motivation to
seek other markets for their production, such as concentrated must or alcohol
for Solera Gran Reserva brandies, the superior category, made from Palomino grapes.
“We need to apply more pressure because to produce concentrated must and
alcohol for brandy we would need at least 15,000 hectares more vineyard, a
considerable figure when one takes into account that not a single hectare of
vines has been planted for four years.
Guerrero says that now is the time to really
back the vineyards. The average age of the growers is over 50 years, and they
will not be replaced by their children, as the few who do choose to work
vineyards do so through the more profitable Vinos de la Tierra de Cádiz rather
than Sherry.
OLIVES AND ALMONDS ARE TAKING OVER FROM VINES
Of the alternatives to unprofitable vines available
to the growers, the olive is currently the most attractive, partly for the
rising price of olive oil and partly because they grow well in the area.
Francisco Guerrero recalls that the olive was the natural substitute for the
vine after Phylloxera at the end of the XIX century. Cultivation of the olive
is undergoing considerable expansion in the Jerez countryside, and vine growers
are looking at it seriously, since there are certain similarities with the vine
in terms of cultivation. Guerrero cites the case of a 25 hectare vineyard on
the Trebujena road which was converted to olives and is now about to double in
size due to the high profitability of olives. And that is not the only
alternative; almonds now proliferate in the Trebujena area in soils which bore vines
until recently.
This interview by Á Espejo was published in
today’s Diario de Jerez
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