3.11.18 High Court Bans Bag in Box

The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andalucía has pronounced that BIB will be prohibited as a container for Sherry or Manzanilla thus ending the long running dispute on the matter. Fedejerez, the association of bodegas (nearly all bodegas in Jerez) which has consistently argued against BIB, took the matter to court in an appeal against the Junta de Andalucía which had permitted the use of the container for hotel, restaurant and catering (horeca) use contrary to the position agreed at a plenary meeting of the Consejo Regulador and contrary to a previous suspension of its use by the same court.

The Junta had granted the appeal of the “rebel” Sanlúcar bodegas Sánchez Ayala, Herederos de Argüeso, Hidalgo La Gitana and Francisco Yuste, who were joined by the Association of Artisan Bodegas of Sanlúcar to use BIB in horeca, but the TSJA has firmly rejected this along with a technical report justifying its use. It also criticised the Junta for imposing its will over various legitimate decisions made by the Consejo between 2002 and 2015 banning BIB.

No mention of the words "Sherry" or "Manzanilla" but they are implied.

 Naturally Fedejerez was delighted with the ruling, describing it as “logical and clear” and saying that it should ”serve as an example to respect the decisions adopted by a majority at the Consejo”. It said that rules are there to be obeyed and this affair has led to expense which should not have been necessary. For its part, the Junta says it will respect the ruling, though it doesn´t agree with it, and take the necessary steps to implement it. Meanwhile, the Sanlúcar bodegas, who have been using BIB more or less legally, are studying the ruling in depth before making any comment. As from now Sherry can only be sold in glass containers and any sold in any other material will not be protected by the DO or be able to carry any DO seal.