22.5.18 General Consensus in Jerez for Unfortified Wines to join DO

The commission set up by the Consejo to look into all the contentious matters which would require changes to the rules has been busy. There is consensus in Jerez for allowing the new wave of white unfortified wines the DO seal so long as they will add to the prestige of Sherry. It is not about volumes, but about adding value, with the revival of old winemaking practices and grape varieties in use before the DO was established in 1935. The new wines could really be said to be the old wines, whose exceptional quality and personality relates to the soil, far beyond the standard fare of the industrialised wines.

When the DO was created (only 40 years after Phylloxera arrived) it took into account the current practices of the time and not what had already been abandoned, often as a result of Phylloxera. Thus the new DO opted for the solera system rather than that of añadas and for fortification rather than sunning the grapes, both perfectly valid production methods nonetheless.

The historic pagos of Jerez with all their different characteristics are beginning to regain their prominence after many years of uniformity when Sherry was made in the bodega and the laboratory, and the vineyard origin didn’t matter. Until recently almost taboo, the new wines have met with remarkable success despite being outside the DO and selling at higher prices than much Sherry.

Members of Manifiesto 119 (foto:diariodejerez)

To set out the guidelines as to what could qualify for the DO, the commission organised a technical working group consisting of representatives of bodegas already in the DO and members of Manifiesto 119, the association of new wave winemakers who stress the vital importance of the land, grape cultivation and ancestral production methods. The name derives from the number of grape varieties growing in Andalucía at the beginning of the XIX century.

At the first meeting of the working group last Thursday, the basic criteria for a starting point were laid out. It was agreed to limit a potential DO to white wines and to indigenous grape varieties which had been ousted by Palomino Fino, such as Perruno, Cañocazo, Mantúa or Rey, all described by Parada y Barreto at the end of the XIX century in his book on the viticulture and wine trade of Jerez, which they are using as a reference. The author also mentioned Tintilla, the only widespread red variety, though he only referred to it as a producer of traditional sweet Tintilla de Rota, but this too has a chance of being incorporated into the DO.

It is still early days, and the Consejo stresses that the objective is to find a high market position for the products which, depending on the wine, could get the DO and that might imply certain controls like yield limits, the need or otherwise for minimum ageing periods, use of overripe grapes, vintages etc. A while ago the Consejo asked for EU permission for the inclusion in the DO of unfortified wines but the debate is now much wider and more open. And they point out that they need to tread carefully as not all the wines made from indigenous varieties, including Palomino, would have a place in the DO, there is no carte blanche. However the intention, within certain limits naturally, is not to be over restrictive as that can be taken care of by technical measures like yield control or minimum alcohol content.

This consensus on the possibility of including the unfortified wines into the DO is already considered a significant advance, and although expression of the terroir is nothing new, there is much new wisdom behind this movement which is beginning to catch on in the traditional bodegas and which is being closely watched from outside the Sherry region, as much for the rediscovery of these wines as for the winemaking practices which made Sherry world famous in the first place.

This article by Ángel Espejo appeared in yesterday’s Diario de Jerez

The Sherry of Royalty

This lovely and very interesting article by Ángel Espejo and video by Miguel Ángel González appeared in yesterday’s Diario de Jerez. The video is in Spanish but is well worth watching nonetheless.

*His wine has a privileged place in the royal household and also refreshes the criaderas of Tio Pepe.

*Curro of La Blanquita is the creator of this Fino without a name from the historic pago of Balbaína.

El Kubala used to enter the royal Zarzuela Palace* just like Pedro did his house. He always went well provided with a few arrobas of Fino wine from La Blanquita to refresh the butt which Pedro Pacheco* had gifted to King Juan Carlos* during his time as mayor. Rafael García González - better known as El Kubala or Kubalita for his resemblance to a Hungarian footballer and his skill with the ball when he competed in the lower divisions – looked after the royal barrel with the same care he put into the maintenance of the small solera in the little private bodega of the ex-mayor of Jerez, which was also refreshed with the wine of La Blanquita, the 50 hectare vineyard in the historic pago Balbaína which belonged to the Barba family.

The connection with royalty was interrupted by the sudden death of El Kubala. The monarch ceased to reign and the ex-mayor was deprived of his liberty. But that is another story. By one of life’s many coincidences, the La Blanquita Fino regained its connection with royalty, but by another route, brought about by the friendship between the elder son of Francisco Barba González, “Curro de la Blanquita”, and José Manuel Zuleta, Duke of Abrantes and equerry to Queen Letizia, childhood classmate of the vine-grower’s son, and by which the despatch of Balbaína Fino to the palace for the annual refreshing of the royal barrel was re-established.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXn6otR1LVg

News came directly to the ears of Curro de la Blanquita about the refusal of the King Emeritus* to accept any wine which did not originate from his vines after Pacheco was relieved of the mayorship. “So they say” said the veteran Sanluqueño vine-grower, who was more worried about the quality and prestige of his wines, which also refreshed the criaderas of Tio Pepe at González Byass.

Curro Barba invested the money he had managed to save in Barcelona as a painter, the first place he went after completing his military service at the La Parra base*, in the purchase of the vineyard on the last day of the year back in 1969. Four million of the old pesetas which they gave him to pay half the asking price for La Blanquita, a parcel located on the left of the Jerez-Rota road in the first few kilometres, in the municipality of El Puerto, and which then consisted of 15 hectares of vineyard presided over by the casa de viña La Blanquita whose whitewash shone brightly in the sun giving the vineyard its name.

Barba had only seen the vineyard as a young man working as a day labourer in Sanlúcar, but he quickly adapted to the new role of vine-grower where he soon saw the need to make the change to wine maker because of the slim margins provided by the sale of grapes to the bodegas.

“I had no idea about wine but it couldn’t be too difficult and I knew something about vineyards”, explains the official provider of wine to the royal household, who continues “I had a rough time of it at the start since grapes offer very low returns, but after much hard work I completed the payments for the vineyard for which they gave me a reduction for early payments, then I grubbed up the very old vines and re-planted it”.

In the mid-1970s, with his financial affairs in order, Curro assumed another debt to build a press house, and years later, in his tireless search for stability, he again re-mortgaged the family home in Sanlúcar to construct another building to house the necessary tanks as he became a wine producer. “From selling grapes I went to making mostos which I sold straight from the butt to González Byass, and later installed the tanks from which I could sell wine which had been racked for a higher price.

With great effort and sacrifice the business began to finance itself and allowed him to triple the size of the vineyard to 45 hectares with the purchase of another two parcels in the area and establish a modest solera of 180 butts of Fino “as my little treat”, that is to say for personal consumption or with friends – now limited in number by the ailments of age – and for sale in bulk. No Amontillado or Oloroso or any other types of wine, just Fino, but Curro takes care not to allow the wine to get fat, by what he calls “false sales” or withdrawing part of the wine and refreshing it with younger wine so it doesn’t end up losing the flor and becoming Amontillado.

Curro of La Blanquita misses the excitement and hope of those years, despite the hard daily work in the vineyard, but at almost 83 years old his main worry is that he doesn’t see his legacy go beyond his son Francisco Barba “Currito”, the only one of his three children interested in being a grower.

With 52 springs on his shoulders, Currito runs the business in which he began working 13 years ago and he doesn’t want any of his four children anywhere near it. Curro and Currito agree that it “provides a living given hard work, but not much more. It is very demanding and you have to be on top of things all day, every day”.

With a considerable production of some 600 butts per year – between 250,000 and 300,000 litres – La Blanquita remains a small family business far from the winds of change blowing through the area, and this distance doesn’t hold out much hope, in the short term at least, of resulting in increased grape and must prices for the growers.

Curro father and son don’t understand new Sherries or new grape varieties. Theirs is the Palomino, from which they make their Fino, and “the more the merrier”, because according to Curro “Jerez is still one of the few DOs which still pays by the kilo, so how can they ask a grower for more if they don’t pay for it”.

Although this family of cosecheros lives beyond the new airs blowing through the area, they agree on the vital importance of looking after the vineyards and also that of the pago from which the grapes come, in their case, Balbaína “whose wines are famous for their finesse” affirms Francisco Barba senior, who insists that “this provides a living given hard work, and if you don’t have the capacity for such work you would be better trying something else, because only with constant work and attention will the vineyard succeed”.

La Blanquita has other attributes however; the vineyard has beautiful views looking towards Jerez, though they have changed in recent years with the uprooting of vineyards “where we reached 22,000 hectares and now only have 6,000”. The abandoned appearance of some of the nearby slopes resulting from the uprooting saddens Curro, though while there are still some plots dedicated to producing Sherry there are others, like the neighbouring Viña del Caballo, bought by a bodega to plant other, non-Palomino, grape varieties to make Vinos de la Tierra de Cádiz. “At least it is still a vineyard”, he observes.

While he is still physically able, Curro de la Blanquita will keep on going every day to his vineyard, in winter only in the mornings and in summer, mornings and afternoons “to attend to everything that happens here”. And he will continue to do it with an amiable smile, a reflection of his good-natured character to which the inscription on a plaque presented to him by his friends for his 80^th birthday refers. It hangs on the main door of the bodega and reads: “We will always be able to count on you because you are a person with a good heart”.

*In 2014 King Juan Carlos I abdicated in favour of his son, now King Felipe VI, married to Queen Letizia, and now holds the title of King Emeritus.

*The Zarzuela Palace in Madrid is the residence of the King/Queen and the royal household.

*Pedro Pacheco was mayor of Jerez between 1979 and 2003. He was imprisoned for municipal irregularities in 2014 and is now nearing the end of his sentence.

*La Parra was an air base built close to Jerez in 1936 and is now the city’s La Parra Airport. Parra means “vine”.

25.9.16 A New Era for Sherry

This is an optimistic article by Á Espejo published in yesterday’s Diario de Jerez

The bodegas are leaving behind long decades of crisis marked by high volumes and low prices, and a new cycle of growth is underway with a return to the origins and with the premise of not repeating the mistakes of the past.

It can be felt in the atmosphere. The bodegas are getting back into their stride and looking forward eagerly and hopefully to a new era for the wine of Jerez which looks like being one of expansion. But unlike the boom of the 1970s, which was a period of massive production and unsustainably low prices, they are now focusing on quality and added value, boosted by wine tourism and gastronomy which are helping the renaissance of a wine which looks back proudly to the origins which gave it its unique identity.

This hopeful new dawn full of opportunity is also catching on in the areas of public administration and finance which are committed to the common cause of repositioning Sherry to the highest ranking after a long period lost in the desert, a prolonged crisis from which at last light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. However, great care must be taken to show that lessons have been learned for the avoidance of the mistakes of the past of which there only too many examples.

These are the general conclusions reached at the “Editor’s Breakfast”, a debate held this week at the offices of the Diario de Jerez titled “A New Era for Sherry” sponsored by Banco Sabadell. The highly qualified people present were the director of the Consejo Regulador, César Saldaña, two oenologists: Antonio Flores of González Byass and Manuel Valcárcel of Fundador, the Junta’s director general for industry and the agro-alimentary chain Rosa Ríos, the director of business banking at Sabadell, Mauricio González, and of course the director of Diario de Jerez, Rafael Navas.

During the debate it was pointed out that Sherry has reached a point where the increase in value has compensated for the fall in sales volume. This loss corresponds to the cheap buyers’ own brands (BOB) which do nothing for the reputation of Sherry, and which are being dropped in order to focus on the high quality bodega brands.

According to César Saldaña there is now a proper balance in production, fruit of the painful restructuring of the trade, and he stressed the need to understand the position Sherry is now in so as to make the right decisions and reinvest in the future. The oenologists agreed on the importance of the land, the various historic pagos, which are coming back into fashion but, as César Saldaña said, the trade had abandoned the quality they offered for the standard fare offered by the solera system. “Sherry is made in the vineyard, but for too long we have been selling wine made in the bodega”, he said, pointing out the fundamental role the vineyard plays on the stage of quality winemaking.

The winemakers agreed, but Antonio Flores made the point that while a return to focusing on the pagos is vital, the bodega also has a role: Sherry IS made in the vineyard, but it is made great in the bodega. Manuel Valcárcel agreed, saying that Sherry is really two wines: the one made in the vineyard like everywhere else, but also the one produced in a bodega over very many years.

The bodegas are well aware that BOBs will be scrapped, and in fact González Byass, later followed by some others such as Fundador, stopped producing them a while back. But some will keep on producing them until demand finally drops, when new, younger, better off consumers who can be courted in the social networks and are prepared to travel to the region overtake the traditional consumers. The latter are still quite numerous, usually aged over 75 and to whom Sherry is more of a drink than a wine, but their numbers are naturally in decline. There is a third type of consumer: the occasional one, usually linked to the ferias and pilgrimages. They are quite stable consumers and can be grouped with the younger ones, whose numbers are growing unceasingly and to whom the Consejo is directing all its generic promotional efforts.

The professionals in the Sherry trade also point out the essential role played by education, and both the bodegas and the Consejo are heavily involved with this, as well as wine tourism and gastronomy, the fundamental pillars of the resurrection of Sherry. And it is working: the Sherry and Brandy Route of Jerez is the second most popular in Spain receiving over 400,000 visitors annually.

Rosa Ríos mentioned that the Junta de Andalucía is working with the Sherry trade by sharing out up to 4.2 million euros of EU funds from the Integrated Territories Initiative in support of wine tourism, and underlined the Junta’s support for the trade, which also has some 2 million euros in aid for promotion in third countries. She made the important point that “there is room to increase value, but we must commercialise better”. She said “the Junta is here to help, because the trade is dynamic, unique and a leading exporter, a road which started here centuries ago.”

The topic of Vinoble was discussed. The biennial wine fair has rather lost its way in recent years for lack of political and public support, but Rosa Ríos is prepared to wipe the slate clean and start again. Also discussed was the dynamic young breed of grower-winemakers who are producing such interesting wines from classic soils in the area but for regulatory reasons cannot get the support of the Consejo. The Consejo is not ruling out their future incorporation, however. Rosa Ríos expressed her willingness to collaborate in eliminating obstacles saying “if the current law isn’t working, then it should be changed.”

An Interview with Antonio Flores, IWC Fortified Winemaker of the Year

Translated from an article by Á Espejo in today’s Diario de Jerez

AE – First of all, congratulations!

AF – Thank you!

AE – How did you receive the news?

AF – Well, in these International Wine Challenge awards which are considered the Oscars of the wine world, and work in much the same way as those in Hollywood, they make a shortlist of three which consisted this time of Manuel Lozano of Lustau, who died recently and won the award seven times consecutively, a Portuguese winemaker and myself. The names of the winners of the main awards are revealed at the Gala dinner at London’s Hilton Hotel, and it was there I heard my name announced as Best Fortified Winemaker in the World. It is a spectacular event, and was a super-emotional moment.

AE – A lot of emotion and I imagine a lot of nerves also?

AF – Tremendous nerves. I had already been nominated three times for Best Winemaker, but Manolo won, and whoever says they are not nervous at these moments is lying. You get very nervous and the heart beats faster. It has been a very special year for me.

AE - Was Manuel Lozano remembered?

AF – Definitely. I had – or rather still have - a great friendship with Manolo as I believe it continues from Heaven - where they now have a top oenologist. I would have loved it if he could have been present at the Gala, yet I felt his presence and even cried a few tears. I think the organisers did a fantastic thing, naming the award for Best Fortified Wine in the World after Manolo, and if my bodega wins this award, for the Cuatro Palmas for example, it couldn’t be more emotional. It was a full evening and definitely one to remember; all that was missing was Manolo.

AE – To whom do they actually award the prize?

AF – It was awarded to me, but it also belongs to the entire team at González Byass. We always say we are a family of wines and it’s true, we are a family of wines, so the prize is for all of the family, for those who are there now and those who went before. It is a prize for my father, for the capataces and members of the different generations of the González family who have managed to preserve a style and lineage in their wines – and it is also a prize for Jerez itself.

AE – As they say in Jerez you’ve been immersed in it since childhood.

AF – I was lucky enough to be born right above the foundational solera of Tio Pepe, the Tio Pepe Rebollo solera, and as I always say, it is not blood running through my veins, but Tio Pepe. These great awards for Manolo, for me, are very important for Jerez because they recognise the value of one of the world’s finest wines which is reclaiming its rightful place.

AE – Why did people lose interest in Sherry for so long?

AF – There were many factors in play. One is fashion, but also Jerez and certain bodegueros bear much of the blame. Making a great wine cheap means reducing its quality; and its recuperation means going back to its origins. I often say that there will be no future if we don’t take strength from the past; our predecessors did things well basing things on quality, the vineyard, the wine’s provenance. Now there is a move to return to the origins and doing so is allowing Sherry to recuperate its place in the world, something extremely important.

AE – The prizes are won, when will Sherry get the price it deserves?

AF - Little by little. What we call the Sherry Revolution is not the work of a day, a week or even a year. We cannot go back to the days of large volumes, days we must forget. We need to go for wines of quality and in reduced quantity, and the results will be apparent with the passing of time. It is unarguable that right now the consumer has a great opportunity with Sherry and is able to drink great wines at super competitive prices, and we ourselves need to believe it.

AE – This Sherry Revolution which everyone is talking about has an interesting mix of acclaimed winemakers and other young talents who are really pushing the boundaries.

AF – That’s the future. For me, one of the most interesting tastings at Vinoble was that of Pedro Ballesteros, Spain’s Master of Wine, about the “new avenues for Sherry” in which he sought to unite the present and future of Sherry. That there are highly educated oenologists who are well organised, have a vision for Sherry and are opening new avenues is very important, as is the way the Consejo Regulador positioned itself at this tasting in a very positive manner toward these new avenues. We winemakers in Jerez have always been very discreet people. In Jerez we don’t make “winemaker wines” like other regions; instead we have a much more important responsibility which is to be given wines of a particular style – and each bodega has a style – preserve these wines and above all, hand them over to the next generation in at least the same condition as we received them.

AE – Some of these new avenues include grape varieties which were cast aside for having lower production levels than Palomino Fino. Do you think the Consejo should authorise them once again?

AF – Here we chose the varieties which were most suitable and we should remember that a bodega is a business which has to operate profitably. But the diversity these varieties offer could be profitable with higher prices. At the moment we use three varieties: Palomino, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel, but why not open the door to other varieties? But before that there is an easier job which is to recuperate the relationship with the vineyards, the pagos of Jerez, something which is already happening. Jerez forgot about the vineyards, but now they are being given much greater importance. I believe this is fundamental. People think that in the world of wine anything old is good, but I say it is not like that; I mean if an old wine is good it must have been a good wine when it was young, back when there was more care in the vineyards, respectful winemaking, and these virtues were able to be preserved. Now we can’t forget the bodegas either: Sherry is made great in the vineyards, and made inimitable in the bodega. These are the two great strengths of Sherry which must be preserved.

AE – González Byass is obviously investing in vineyards.

AF – The entire solera Tio Pepe Rebollo, which supplies Tio Pepe en rama, is from the pago Macharnudo, the Constancia solera is from Macharnudo and Carrascal, the two Jerez Superior pagos where we have our vineyards. And what’s more the Tio Pepe soleras consist of 20,000 butts comprising 21 soleras among which are the emblematic solera Macharnudo, solera Carrascal and solera Balbína, though we no longer own vineyard in the latter.

AE – It is noticeable that the oenologists are turning into the great Sherry communicators.

AF – It is one step further. The wine consumer wants direct contact with the winemaker and I believe that the communication course which Cádiz University is already doing in the oenology degree is very important in communicating what we do. We are in an area which has everything: tradition, history, quality, and we need to communicate this. I have conducted many tastings in the USA and Canada, and it gives me great pride to say that my bodega has a longer history than their city. The winemaker needs to get up from the table and get the wine across with passion and  belief in what he is communicating.

AE – Do you have new projects in mind that you can tell us about now?

AF – We have a wonderful project which few bodegas in Jerez could do. It is a big project, and like so many others, stems from the magnificent historic archive of González Byass. It consists of three grape varieties vinified sweet: Palomino – of which there are very few – Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez. We are one of the few bodegas in Jerez which has Pedro Ximénez and we hope to be self-sufficient in the future, without the need to buy in wine from Montilla. I hope these wines will be available to enjoy next year, but we are also working on new projects with old and young vintage wines, but they are still secret.

AE – Will the bodega continue using historic labels?

AF – We have been using these for the last seven years for Tio pepe en rama and for five years for the Palmas. The archive also provided a label for the new vermouth, and the majority of them are beautiful.

AE – What is the González Byass secret for staying at the fore-front for almost 200 years?

AF – The secret is that the family has invested a lot of love and dedication into the bodega. Capital which could have been invested elsewhere has been invested in Jerez and in quality. We never entered the buyer’s own brand market and suffered difficult times when everyone else opted to cut prices, but in the end we reaped the fruit. The González family is now into its seventh generation, and that brings complications. Having over 100 shareholders in a business in which not everyone can participate is very difficult but so far our president Mauricio González Gordon and our vice-president Pedro Rebuelta are managing to unite the family in the common project which is González Byass.

AE – A united family which maintains its links to Jerez.

AF – Absolutely. Jerez can’t complain about lack of support from González Byass and vice-versa.

AE - González Byass is also taking great advantage of wine tourism, so in vogue right now.

AF – We are pioneers in many things and we pioneered wine tourism when nobody else thought of it, and it is of great value to us now. We are the most-visited bodega in Europe and one of the most-visited in the world. Over 200,000 people visit every year and that’s very important as each one takes away a little of our history and culture and we’re putting Jerez on the map. It is one of the most visited monuments in Europe – well, I consider it a monument – and that is a source of economic wealth which is sowing the seeds for the future.

AE – It was inevitable that I would ask you about Bag in Box since the Junta has authorised its use.

AF – I don’t believe that is good for Sherry, and not because it has any oenological problem. It is a question of image. None of the world’s fine wines are packed in BIB. It is not good and González Byass will not be using it.

AE – What do you think about the resurrection of the old Domecq bodegas?

AF – It is very good for Jerez. The recuperation of Fundador, previously Domecq, is fundamental because it is one of the great bastions of Jerez. I Domecq disappeared from the wine map of Jerez it would be like Barcelona or Madrid disappearing from football.  That someone goes for Jerez, and not just for the brandy but also for the Sherry is a hopeful sign for Jerez.

22.4.16 Yuste Responds to Consejo Denouncement Report

Bodegas Yuste has released a statement seeking a rectification of the article published in the Diario de Jerez the other day (see post 20/4/16) which said the BIB which won a medal in Toulouse had been denounced by the Consejo. Yuste feel that the article was tendentious and did nothing but harm to the image of Jerez, the bodegas and their wines. The article seems to have reignited the controversy which the Junta wanted to resolve with the issue of a report in January, and which in Yuste’s view is absolutely clear that BIB is legal in horeca, until such time as the regulations are changed by the Consejo, approved by the Junta and published using established channels.

He condemned the Consejo for repeatedly refusing to issue precintas (DO strips) for the BIB formats which in his judgement provides evidence of constant and flagrant breach of current regulations which the Junta should have sorted out. He went on to say that the Junta is effectively superior and should exercise its power over the Consejo which is in breach of both the interpretation and explanation of the regulations covering packaging and labelling in the said report. He accused the Consejo of having a belligerent attitude which is damaging to the trade and finished by calling for dialogue and the fulfilment of the law.

An Interview with Manuel Lozano of Lustau

Juan P Simó talks to Lustau’s chief Oenologist in today's Diario de Jerez

Wine as it used to be. No noise, no fuss. He collected his seventh “Oscar” at the Park Lane Hilton hotel in London at midnight on Thursday in front of over a thousand world wine experts. Then he flew back to Jerez bearing his seventh consecutive World’s Best Fortified Winemaker award from the International Wine & Spirit Challenge. Manuel Lozano Salado (Jerez 1954) is calm, straightforward, serene, unchanging. He is not one for razzmatazz, just the day to day work in the bodega, as always. We are talking with a wine lover, mad about Sherry who has dedicated 40 years of his life to it.

Have you never changed?

I live in a regulated sort of way; I have the same friends as always, I buy the same medicine in the same pharmacy as always; I have a drink in the same bar as always however good it is, because life’s like that.

How did it all start?

I grew up in a restaurant environment. My parents had bars, restaurants, beaches, clay pigeon shooting and the Hotel Comercio in Calle Doña Blanca. Through all that I came into contact with the world of wine. I got to know all sorts of wines especially the “medio tapón” (younger Finos sold cheaply in bars). There was no television and the hours were short and in December there were the afternoon drinks, occasions where I learned a lot from comments at the bar or from the more knowledgeable people who worked in bodegas. Also my father had contacts with the wine salesmen who would sit down and discuss wines and prices.

And you paid attention?

I loved it but it wasn’t studied then. It was a case of mouth to mouth or visiting a bodega as a child and taking in the sights and sounds and slowly becoming a wine professional. There were no degrees and I had to do some training in Madrid going on to professional education. You came out as a technician in viticulture and oenology which later got me into a bodega.

Nobody mentored you, you had to be self-taught?

I had no mentor. My father, who knew various bodega representatives, used to take me to visit the bodegas. I was only ten but it was the only way to find out what one could never know.

What must the good oenologist know?

The oenologist must have an in depth knowledge of what is in the bodega. It is not just working with wine but managing a bodega. One has to enter the world of cost competitivity as wines of the same quality at a lower price give the bodega a better margin. The romance of the past has gone, what matters now is management and results.

Manuel and some of his awards (foto:Pascual/diariodejerez)

In Jerez we have always had very good oenologists.

José Ignacio Domecq, “La Nariz” (the “nose”), is a clear example. With him people could count on ways to study abroad and get a good training. Those who studied at his side like senior bodega foremen learned the day to day work and managed everything related to the business side of the wine. They were fine tasters classifying wine from butt to butt. There was the language of the chalk, marking each butt carefully and watching its evolution. It used to be done solely with the nose, a venencia and a glass.

You started from the bottom.

I started working my first vintages with González Byass. You need to do it that way, from the bottom.  Even just hosing the bodega has to be well done. Things were done traditionally then and you even had to know which wind was blowing so you could close the windows against the Levante and open them at night to let in the Poniente or the moisture, which would blow away the heat of the day.

And then you entered a bodega?

When I finished my studies I started in the laboratory at Fernando A deTerry. I worked there for 22 years. I began as an analyst of wine, brandy and vinegar. I started in 1983. Those were the years of merging of bodegas and companies after the collapse and expropriation of Rumasa. Terry went to Harveys where I continued in bodega production.

Are you one of those who think these prizes have less value here than in other countries?

I move around the world a lot and they have different values in different countries. In fact the oenologist goes out on the streets a lot to help the salesmen. That wasn’t done before, but it is now. He does tastings, food matching… Have you ever seen so many chefs on television? Before, we didn’t even know them, but it has worked, now people drink less but know more about wine.

But these things are not easy to achieve.

Absolutely. Five thousand fortified wines might enter the competition and be analysed and tasted by a jury of specialists who award marks. We can bring some 50 blends, usually not well known around here but certainly internationally. Since Lustau exports over 90% these things sell a lot of it. And if you go around doing tastings, explaining how the wine is made, you meet the customer who is going to drink it. This is added value which didn’t exist before.

I have read that you are optimistic for Sherry.

I love Sherry. It should be remembered that it was once the biggest selling wine in the world. It will come back. It has certainly gone through some bad times and the multinationals have done it no favours, but most bodegas are now back in family hands. I am optimistic, I see the bottle half full. I used to be worried about the average age of Sherry drinkers, but I am now seeing young people drinking it in tabancos with interest. A lot has changed and quickly.

But the majority of young people still drink long drinks.

That’s certainly true; I think we are lacking something here which is the culture of Sherry.

That has been a great mistake, to allow the loss of Sherry culture.

There are actually schools which visit bodegas who give them a glass of grape juice after they have seen what a butt is and the different types of Sherry. They are told that this is what once supported the economy of Jerez along with lots of related businesses like label printers, bottle makers and bottle cap makers, an enormous industry related to Sherry, but it has all gone.

We are hearing about new formulas to re-launch the wine. What do you think of 100% Jerez?

I think it is meaningless. The key to Sherry is the solera system and there the alcohol is mixed in over many years until a homogeneous wine of whatever type comes out. It can't be 100% Jerez. Maybe this idea comes from people who have more grapes than they need. And it is good marketing. The fortifying spirit is rectified to 96%/vol and about 18-20 litres of it goes into a butt containing about 500 litres to bring the wine up to 15%/vol, but it gives no noticeable organoleptic character whether the grapes were Airén or Palomino.

Another matter is Bag-in-Box (BIB)…

BIB is the same as wines sold in tetrabrik with lower quality and price, while wines with a bottle and cork are better quality at a higher price, they are not the same. And another thing: like it or not, the Cionsejo has its rules and we have to respect them. If you want to sell BIB then leave the Consejo. And it is not a substitute for the garrafa as the mayor of Sanlúcar says.

So the usual problems look like dragging on forever?

Sherry’s trajectory is still to be resolved. It sells for less than it is worth, it has a great capital value some of which evaporates because it must be in the solera for a minimum of 2 years. Also nobody knows how to sell it nor even lay the foundations to keep building. What wine with crianza bialogica can cost €5 in a supermarket? What do the label and bottle cost?

Or what does the time cost?

Nobody pays for that… but we need to know how to sell it. We have lost time messing about and not investing more so that Sherry is not seen as a wine past its sell-by date, a wine for old people. And why are we not investing more time and money in educating people about Sherry? People in shops don’t know the difference between a Palo Cortado and an Amontillado.

What is your favourite Sherry?

That depends on the circumstances and the moment, how it is served, what temperature and how well it has been looked after.

Excuse me, we’re suffering from the heat. Can you give us a full bodied wine - cold?

That’s not the usual way to serve it. Best to drink an Oloroso or Amontillado at the bodega temperature, 14-15 degrees.

Never cold despite the temperature?

When taken cold it concentrates the aromas but the colder it gets the less the aromas expand.

Something to eat alongside it? A tapa or something perhaps?

Here in Jerez it is neither the custom nor the tradition to serve a tapa with a drink, but if so, it is probably the bar trying to promote the tapas. However the glass should be appropriate-those new, more open ones which don’t concentrate the aromas but open them.

This is a Unique Time to ‘Take a Risk’ in the Sherry Business

Juan P Simó of Diario de Jerez interviews Jose Luis Torres Rodriguez de Torres, ex Osborne executive, now vine grower, about the Sherry district and its situation.

Jose Luis has been cultivating vines for the last five years in the vineyard “Las Conchas” in the Las Tablas area of albariza in Jerez Superior. His vineyard house, once owned by Rumasa, is called “El Paraiso” (paradise) and is surrounded by luxuriant garden and orchard.

JPS: How did you get into wine?

JLT: My grandfather had some bodegas in La Algaba, which my mother inherited. My father was a doctor who used to think – and I do too – that natural alcohol in moderate doses is healthy.

JPS: That’s been proved…

JLT: There’s a tradition that Sherry is a most agreeable wine which promotes conviviality, does not produce aggressiveness, forges friendship, and which seems to exercise us when talking about such an extraordinary and unique product. It hurts me deeply to see people linked to the Sherry trade drinking products from other regions.

Jose Luis Torres (foto:Diario jerez)

JPS: And do our politicians know this and spread the word?

JLT: Well, what do we need to do to get them to promote our product? I would tell them to stop taxing a healthy product, to stop considering it as a drug, and not to remove it from the Health Ministry’s list of alimentary products. They should be explaining how to drink it since we are talking about a healthy product, and promote Spanish produce, including wine.

JPS: Tell me, is trade healthy?

JLT: Better than ever in terms of product quality, thanks to technological advances in the production of grapes and in the ageing process. In commercial terms, however, things have been difficult, perhaps there has been a lack of confidence in the product from the commercial perspective, but I believe that this is a time of opportunity.

JPS: Is this a good time to invest in wine?

JLT: A great time, but not many have this faith. We need to take a risk – like a bullfighter!

JPS: Where have we gone wrong?

JLT: I think that historically, we arrived somewhat later than other areas with respect to professionalization. It is also true that we have lacked innovation. Those bodegas who have succeeded have done so by perseverance, good management and suitable strategic planning for the long term.

JPS: Tell me something about those euphoric nineteen-sixties, before the great crash.

JLT: That was somewhat illusory. In those days credit facilities were very important, there was a different financial culture, and we worked by imitation and improvisation. There was also that fraudulent demand: the “wine lake” in England, and production was in a few hands who allowed prices to collapse. That did great harm to the image of Sherry, and those same bodegas began producing non-traditional alcoholic drinks. Furthermore, strategic plans, if there were any, were managed rather than led, two different but complementary concepts. Management meant keeping history going where leadership looked towards the future. We were always looking to the past, not the future.

JPS: Go on.

JLT: There was money… so we planted. We had some 23,000 hectares of vineyard. Later distribution channels changed so they were in fewer hands distributing much larger quantities. Now only a few firms distribute some 80%. Sales teams were dismantled as buyers’ own brands (BOB) appeared. It saved us money, but we found ourselves in the hands of the distributors.

JPS: Later Rumasa burst onto the scene, one which was traditionally calm and friendly.

JLT: There were positive sides to Rumasa because they forced us to professionalise, but they brought down prices, bottled a lot of BOB, made well thought out strategic plans but implemented them in an improvised way in a difficult economic climate and employed people who did not understand the Sherry trade. This trade needs understanding, it is difficult and complicated.

Jose Luis Torres at his vineyard (foto:diario jerez)

JPS: What was Sercovisa?

JLT: Servicios Comerciales Vitivinicolas. It was a company born of the professional union of bodegas with the idea of rationalising the sector. It was established in the nineteen-eighties in a period of success and prosperity. This was Evaristo Babe’s (now president of CRDO Brandy de Jerez and Fedejerez) first contact with Jerez. Its president was Luis Ortiz, ex UCD minister, and its purpose was to unite professionals and facilitate intercommunication between managers and buyers, stock balancing, commercialisation, the protection of Sherry etc. Sercovisa organised the establishment of the Consejo Regulador for Brandy.

JPS: Later on, the big drinks groups enter the picture, de-localising the trade.

JLT: That’s what did it. We lost everything; multinationals are more interested in conquering the Spanish consumer than the expansion of their products. This did a lot of damage, but luckily there were bodegas who were prepared to diversify.

JPS: Where did that leave the producer?

JLT: In a difficult position the trade had everything to lose. Speculative manoeuvres left the growers in the hands of the bodegas. Growers had to invest 55-60 pesetas per kilo of grapes, but the bodegas were only paying 25 pesetas. Many were ruined. There was much indiscriminate grubbing-up of vineyard with little consideration of the consequences. I believe the bodegas and growers should stop speculating, get production and demand into balance, and that the bodegas should stop squeezing the growers, who should in turn stop trying to speculate with their principal customer. With these factors in balance, the trade could recover, and there should be inter-professional agreement between growers, bodegas - and why not distribution as well? Let’s not see ourselves as enemies, but as a continuity.

In a further interview, they discuss how to promote Sherry:

JPS: Tell me about the Consejo Regulador.

JLT: Well, the Sherry Consejo is the oldest in Spain, though I think that it is not really suitable for the actual circumstances because it is still an organ of control, which it does perfectly, and which watches over quality, but not so well. Just one example: In its organisational chart there is a section on the growers’ production, integrated in the Consejo itself, which is managed by the exporters. But where are the producers of the raw material, those who must guarantee quality? And where are the marketing professionals, those who should be dealing with these matters? I for one wouldn’t dare to be in charge of production quality. Do they have people in the trade who are truly specialised, with the capacity for this activity? In my judgement, not enough.

JPS: Where else are there failings?

JLT: I think there is a lack of communication. Jerez is important enough to have a media presence. I was following a leading radio programme in the mornings about the countryside which every year analyses every detail of the harvests throughout Spain, but Jerez wasn’t included, and was never even mentioned!

JPS: So they don’t do adequate promotion?

JLT: There has been promotion and it is still done, but I think it is very limited. It is fine at local level, much more than at the level of the Junta de Andalucia.

JPS: Then there is advertising.

JLT: When talking about this matter, many say: “It’s because there is no money”. But we must look after the media. If not, will they look after us? Look, the corporate promotional budget represents between a third and a quarter of that spent by a single bodega on its brands only a few years ago… There’s money here for lots of things! But when money is tight, the first thing they cut back is communication. Communication is as important as the voice itself! If I let the media understand the economic problems which I am experiencing, but I make an effort to invest, I’ll surely get a response.

JPS: What is needed?

JLT: I think that the organ of promotional structure needs further development along with vigilance and the regulation of quality. Grapes are still paid for by weight and not for quality. I’ve never seen this in any other product. Nowadays we need to love our product and not be mean with its production.

The Health Benefits of Moderate Sherry Consumption

(From an article by Juan P Simo in the Diario de Jerez)

The Spanish Government’s minister of health, Ana Mato, is drafting a new “Ley de alcohol” (Alcohol Law) which contemplates the restriction of alcohol to minors even with permission from parents or guardians, the restriction of alcohol consumed by adults in the streets, and its promotion. If it proceeds through negotiations without dilution it will be pioneering legislation in Europe by integrating under the same legal umbrella all the laws concerning consumption, labelling and advertising. There will be serious fines for any infringement. The implications are very worrying as the similar “Loi Evin” in France has had profound detrimental effects.

The intention of the law is to curb under-age drinking and the annoying "botellones" or street drinking parties the young so love. As usual with politicians, they can see no difference between people drunk on beer and spirits and civilised wine drinking, so there will be no exceptions in the law for wine.

The Spanish bodegas will fight this tooth and nail as it ignores the positive benefits of drinking moderate amounts of wine and demonises its consumption, a part of the culture, as mere alcohol. Besides, alcohol consumption in Spain is steadily falling anyway. So now would be a good time to show the positive side of alcohol. The wines of Jerez have a long anecdotal - and almost certainly genuine - history of health-giving properties, and perhaps the following will convince any sceptic.

There was the miracle of Manuel Maria Gonzalez Gordon (1886-1980), author of the book known as the “Sherry Bible” ("Sherry" in the English edition) and director of Gonzalez Byass. As a child he was sick and the doctors gave him little chance of survival, but regular doses of Sherry saw him through and he lived a long, productive and healthy life to the ripe old age of 94. 

Another miracle was that of the King Alfonso XIII, who at only four years of age proved to be a sickly child with weakness and fever. Various things were administered to him at all hours: soups, milk and even Sherry, but the latter ensured his health and survival. Yet another was a soldier of the second squadron of the cavalry of Santiago who was in 1854 a wreck of a man, suffering from pneumonia. They tried everything till his doctor prescribed a biscuit steeped in dry Sherry to be taken every three hours. In three months he was fit enough to leave the clinic.

So, what are the benefits of drinking Sherry which are not already well known? Well, for example, does our minister know of the home remedy of “candie” (from the English “candy eggs”), a glass of sweet Sherry with an egg yolk which is infallible against the flu or a cold? Or “chiribitas” (from the English Sherry and Bitters)? Or a small glass of Sherry with two eggs to ward off anaemia? Or that Oloroso Rio Viejo kills flu bugs?

If all the foregoing were not enough, there are millions of reasons confirmed by educated people such as historians, doctors, researchers and health organisations, who over many centuries have come to the simple conclusion that moderate drinking of wine is beneficial to the health.  From the long-lived Noah onwards, everyone praised the virtues of wine. Saint Matthew advised his disciple Timothy to drink a little wine instead of water for the sake of his stomach ailments. Hipocrates recommended wine as the ideal remedy for “the fever of the combatant”, while Homer reckoned it gave one strength.

In the classical pharmacopoeia Sherry was known as “Vinum Xericum”, recognising its tonic and therapeutic properties. One of the great surgeons and politicians, Fermin Aranda, from Jerez, who performed the first open heart surgery in the world, and whose daughter Pilar ran an outstanding almacenista business, was quite right when he said that Sherry is life-giving wine as it contains iron, nitrogen and vitamins, and sufficient alcohol to cool any fever.

Louis Pasteur called wine the most healthy and hygienic drink, while Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of Penicillin reckoned that while his discovery could cure the sick, Sherry could resuscitate the dead. Another doctor, Jose Luis Ruiz Badanelli, put to bed the notion that Sherry, drunk even moderately, could cause cirrhosis of the liver. He was quite clear: “Sherry has surprising qualities: it doesn’t irritate the stomach with acidic compounds like tannins and tartrates as happens in other wines. It is a nourishing and powerful remedy which, when administered at the right time to the patient, strengthens the cardiac muscle and speeds up the metabolism.” Sherry was regarded as wholesome enough by the bodega workers that it occasionally made up for the lack of lunch. Columbus drank more Sherry than he ate food on his journey to the Americas.

The great bibliophile Jose de Soto Molina described Sherry as a “vivifying tonic par excellence”, while the great XIX century novelist Benito Perez Galdos also described it as “vivifying”, and many of his works are impregnated with his preoccupation for exalting the medicinal virtues of Sherry. In the more recent past, the Nobel prizewinning author Martin Rodall came to Jerez to support the work of the Estevez family in reducing the histamine content in Sherry, and praised the wine as a “healthy drink”. Severo Ochoa, another Nobel Laureate and one of Spain’s most distinguished scientists, never stopped praising the health-giving virtues of Sherry.

Another great protagonist of Sherry was Gregorio Marañon, a famous doctor and scientist from Madrid, who in his lecture to the Fiesta de la Vendimia in 1955, defended moderate consumption of Sherry. “Let us reject the supposed dangers of wine to health. My colleagues and I have seen some hundred thousand patients with all sorts of complaints, and very few of them were caused by excess of wine.” He maintained that wine- in moderation - is inoffensive and often useful, as long as we stay within our limits.

Sherry is a powerful anti-oxidant which combats cancer and ageing. The anti-oxidant properties of Sherry are 100 times more effective than vitamin C, and 25 times more effective than vitamin E. These anti-oxidants are known as polyphenols, and attack free radicals and the effects of ageing.

Longevity is a well-established trait in Jerez. Remember Manuel Maria Gonzalez Gordon who lived to 94 after the doctors had given up hope. His father Pedro Nolasco reached 97, and his father, GB founder Manuel Maria, recognised the role of Sherry in his recovery from childhood tuberculosis, dying at 75, an advanced age for his time. His great grandson, Mauricio died quite recently at the age of 90.

As a final point, let’s remember Manuel Salido de la Cal from Jaen, a businessman in the graphic arts, father of Antonio Salido Paz, founder of the Jerez football team, Jerez Industrial, who, in various interviews explained how he reached his centenary. “Every day I had a glass of wine before lunch: a glass of Oloroso to set myself up, and maybe one or two glasses of Fino. I feel terrific.”

So there we are; in Jerez someone who doesn’t recommend Sherry either doesn’t like it – or they are mad. You are probably convinced by now – or always were – but just in case, there follow some even more convincing footnotes:

*30-50% reduction of risk of death by heart attack with moderate consumption as against abstention.

*Reduces arterial pressure and thereby arterial sclerosis.

*Stimulates concentration, reduces stress and is helpful against Alzheimers.

*Moderate consumption has no effect on the digestive and nervous systems.

*Facilitates digestion and stimulates appetite without causing weight increase.

*Fights osteoporosis.

*Delays ageing.

*Lowers cholesterol.

*Acts as a mineral supplement.

*Reduces allergic reactions.

(Legal disclaimer: Please remember that while moderate consumption of wine/Sherry does have positive physical effects, not all doctors see things that way. This is not intended to persuade you to drink anything other than moderate quantities of Sherry.)

The "Garvey Question"; British or Spanish?

An article published in El Diario de Jerez in February 2014 by Juan P Simo

Throughout its history, Sherry has had immense power, and the Sherry business has moved all kinds of mountains, has built entire cities, has controlled the lives of its people for centuries, ruined and swallowed up whole families, and brought prosperity to generations of others. For that alone, the history of Jerez could never be understood without its wine. And if many of those first captains of industry, the first Sherry barons, went bust in the attempt, many others built up fortunes enough to keep the next three or four generations going.

In Jerez there have been incalculable fortunes. Imagine the legacy of Manuel Maria Gonzalez Angel, founder and patriarch of Gonzalez Byass, or of his son, Pedro Nolasco Gonzalez y Soto and of many other legendary names. Pedro Domecq Lembeye, the first of the Domecqs to come to Jerez, left the “trifling” sum of one million pounds to his brother Juan Pedro, not having any masculine heirs. {How things have changed, thank goodness!} Or Juan Pedro Aladro, Pedro Domecq’s adopted son, who died leaving a legacy of more than two million escudos.  We could get lost in a sea of unbelievable figures for the period.

William Garvey Power already came from a line of aristocrats when he came from county Waterford in Ireland to the bay of Cadiz in 1776. He set out with the idea of acquiring some merino sheep for his father, when his ship was wrecked and he was rescued by Captain Rafael Gomez, whose daughter he later married. Here he spotted the enormous possibilities of the Bay of Cadiz, and changed his plans to dedicate himself wholly to the wine business.

William Garvey, who started it all

The “Garvey Question” arose with his son Patrick (Patricio) Garvey Gomez, who married in 1826 Maria de los Angeles Capdepon y Lacoste, a young girl from a French family with a large fortune, who would bear him eleven children. Only seven survived; three boys and four girls. The sons were Guillermo, Patricio and Jose. Patricio went on to marry Consolacion de la Mota Velasquez-Gaztelu, but Guillermo and Jose remained bachelors.

Little is known about Jose Garvey, who was born in Jerez and dedicated much of his work to the family firm. On his death in 1912, and given his state of bachelorhood, he made his will in favour of his nephews and nieces, Luis, Angeles and Blanca Medina Garvey as well as to Angeles and Dolores San Juan Garvey, and on the other side to Jose Lopez de Carrizosa, Marques del Merito, another of his nephews.

What he bequeathed amounted to a fortune of 42,152,777.37 pesetas {have you noticed how the currency keeps changing?} which he possessed in English and Swiss banks, an almost unimaginable fortune, but there was more; his deposits in Spanish banks amounted to some 3,942,480.37 pesetas, a most respectable amount for those days.

The problem arose when Hacienda Española – the Spanish tax authority – opposed the legacy being governed by English law as opposed to Spanish law. The case was complex and certainly long drawn out, being published in El Parlamentario, which followed it step by step during 1916 in the book “The Garvey Question: A Case in Law”. Over three years, two hundred and fifty pages were filled, covering the ins and outs of judicial hearings until the case ended up at the Supreme Tribunal. Here, the Garvey case was corroborated, Jose Garvey was deemed to be a British subject.

This was not so much a fiscal case, but one of volition: the volition of a Jerezano, Jose Garvey, who felt that he was a British subject, not a Spanish one. The Spanish case was not unreasonable in that, unlike his father Patrick and his grandfather William, he was a Jerezano by birth, and by dint of that he had felt obliged to obey certain Spanish laws, including doing military service, and later, being included in the electoral roll, casting votes.

It might be concluded that these two matters would constitute overwhelming proof of his being Spanish, but the Spanish authorities had never precluded anyone of British nationality from serving in the army. The same authorities made a big mistake, however, by including him, as a British subject, in the electoral roll, meaning his votes were illegal.

Jose, just like his father and grandfather, were British subjects, and were registered as such at the British Consulate in Cadiz, the British Vice-Consulate in Jerez and also at the Civil Government in Cadiz. Furthermore, the three of them travelled on passports issued by British Consular agents, passports which had been authorised by Spanish diplomats who had recognised them as British subjects. At the same time, none of the Garveys had made any effort to become Spanish subjects, so three generations of Garveys scrupulously held on to their British nationality. They never renounced it nor made any effort to take Spanish nationality.

The court’s ruling was clear. The socialist MP Pablo Iglesias took it himself to the Spanish Parliament. There was no reason for Hacienda to tax the inheritance of a British subject. The Inland Revenue of Britain, however, was the winner, having received annual income tax from Jose Garvey, seen by them too, as a British subject. The Garvey legacy was paid out in England. Interestingly, the Garvey family came from Ireland, not really Britain.

Cartoon

This cartoon was published in today's Diario de Jerez, and shows that, even in Jerez, while people are immensely proud of it, not enough people are drinking their own product. Remember, a glass of Sherry every day will help you live till 100!

"Tito, let's have a couple of rum and cokes to celebrate Jerez becoming European City of Wine!"
"All that work, and they still don't get it!"

A Sherry Called BOB !

This was the cleverly named title of the following article in today's Diario de Jerez

The IDEA agency of the Junta de Andalucia has published a report into the situation of Sherry, its market and its future possibilities, and presented it to the last plenary session of the Consejo Regulador in January.

Alongside recommendations for opening new markets and making Sherry more accessible to younger consumers, the report revives the debate about the difficult co-existence of buyers’ own brands (BOB) and the bodegas’ own brands on one side, and on the other side the complexity of the plethora of styles of Sherry.

Much has been said about the BOB business to which bodegas have traditionally resorted to boost turnover as sales fell, but which had grave consequences for both the price and the image of Sherry. Despite the abandonment of BOB by one of the leading bodegas in recent years, it is BOB which provides the vast majority of exports to the traditional markets of the UK, Holland and Germany, at a price often of below one euro a bottle, and that damages the bodega brands.

BOB was the main reason for the massive fine of seven million euros imposed by the National Competition Commission on some Sherry shippers for an alleged cartel to assure dominant positions in the export markets.

In line with the report, sources in the Sherry sector agree that it is time the debate resurfaced, in order to avoid confusion. One suggestion is to mark bodega brands with the words “Jerez Superior”. While the report recommends simplification of the different styles of Sherry, this would not be easy, and in some cases would run against the Consejo’s own Reglamento.

The report notes that another thing holding back Sherry is the concentration on just a few markets which are not evolving and which generally prefer one style of wine, and recommends diversifying the range on offer. Spain drinks little else but Manzanilla; Britain little else but Cream and Medium, for example, but some bodegas have been trying to diversify.

Other recommendations are pretty obvious, such as creating and promoting brands; increasing public knowledge of the wines; concentrating more on the pouring trade; working on enotourism.

To sum up, the report, rather than coming up with new ideas, points up some questions which have never been resolved, mainly because of the tense and confrontational atmosphere between the bodegas and the producers over the many years of crisis. Now that there is interest again in Sherry, it is up to them to do the right thing.