16.11.12 Jerez has done it! European City of Wine 2014!

At the XVII general asembly of RECEVIN (network of European Wine cities), Jerez beat off competition from Cambados (Galicia) to winn the coveted award European City of Wine 2014. The competition took place in Marsala (Sicily), 2013 European City of Wine, and was attended by representatives from both cities, including their mayors and various officials.

Maria Jose Garcia Pelayo, mayoress of Jerez, pointed out the huge potential benefits to wine tourism, promotion and sales, and gave thanks to the many who had contributed so much to the Jerez bid. According to the mayoress of Marsala, her city saw a 27% increase in wine tourism, and the year is not over yet.

Garcia Pelayo (centre) with Marsala Mayoress on her left (Imagen Andaluciainfo)

This award comes at a historic time for Jerez, which is celebrating the 750th anniversary of its accession to Christian Spain, and has a huge list of wine-related activities scheduled for next year.

Things are really looking up for Jerez, so let's all support it!!

15.11.13 Sherry and Tweets; New GB Palmas Release

There is a great new way to promote Sherry, based in El Puerto de Santa Maria. Sherry and Tweets is aimed at promoting our favourite wine to the younger generation by making use of the social media of which they are so fond. Sherry & Tweets HQ is a charming family hotel in El Puerto called La Casa Huespedes de Santa Maria, owned by Carlos and Myriam.

The idea is that every month there is a Sherry event, about which there will be a lot of tweeting, (internet messages restricted to 140 characters) which will hopefully be picked up by young people who might feel inclined to get involved. The events will take place in interesting places, and feature not only Sherry but its marriage with foods to demonstrate its versatility. In this way, anyone participating can buy the goods physical or online to try at home or meet other fans through the “twittersphere”.

There is a website (www.sherryandtweets.es) with more information on the “catas 2.0” as they are known. The initiative has the full support of El Puerto town council and the Consejo Regulador. And me!

Gonzalez Byass  will make the 2013 release (the third release) of the Finos Palmas on the 21^st of this month. For the first time they will be doing a live master tasting of the “Ages of Tio Pepe”, which can be followed in real time via streaming on any computer, tablet or suitable mobile phone, at 7.00 pm (Spanish time one presumes – 6.00pm in UK). Just log onto www.finospalmas.com and participate via Twitter with the hashtag #finospalmas. The tasting will be led by the firm’s chief oenologist Antonio Flores from the bodegas in Jerez.

Vote for Tio Pepe Roundabout!

Just a reminder. You have till the 30th November to cast a vote for the best Tio Pepe statue to be placed on the roundabout. Here is a picture of the roundabout itself, and you can see the candidates on my post of 25th October. You can vote on www.rotondatiopepe.com

Old Canal Project at Jerez

Shortly after the Spanish Civil War, there was a project to build a 5 km canal from Jerez to the river Guadalete, which would have connected the city by water to the sea at El Puerto de Santa Maria.

According to a study by the Ministry of Public Works in 1946, the canal would have started in the south of Jerez in an area known as Playas de San Telmo, and joined the Guadalete near El Portal. It was proposed to take advantage of the long straight stretches, but the river should be widened or straightened at tight curves. This would shorten the distance by 2 km.

This project, along with many before it, never reached fruition. It would have taken at least 6 years, and cost 91 million pesetas. It might have taken huge amounts of Sherry to market.

Manzanilla Piconera 15%, Bodegas J Ferris

Appearance
Very pale strawy gold, light legs.
Nose
Gentle flor influence: hints of camomile, almond and traces of palomino fruit with a definite saline tinge and a fine trace of yeast autolysis.
Palate
Light and fresh, very clean with notes of bread dough, almond, and flor and marine salinity. Young fresh, gentle and refreshing with a decent tang - a "session" Manzanilla ( perfect for a good few glasses with a long, unhurried lunch of seafood on the Bajo de Guia in Sanlucar....)
Comments
Young, inexpensive and uncomplicated, but has a certain charm. Palomino y Vergara had a Manzanilla some time ago called "La Piconera", but whose label sported a dandy with a glass of Sherry, rather than a woman. A piconera is a woman who sells coal (or was once). Remember, Manzanilla is always feminine, so what a male dandy had to do with a female coal seller, goodness knows. Nevertheless the P&V Manzanilla was certainly more complex. But, alas, not any longer available.
Price
Around 5 euros in Spain. Ferris has a good export business, but I've never heard of it in Britain. Try winesearcher.com

11.11.13 Sherry Exports

Wine exports from the province of Cadiz have touched 48 million Euros up to August, and nearly all of that is Sherry. Spain may now be officially out of recession (tell that to the unemployed of Andalucia!) but the economy depends on exports, as the domestic market is still in decline. If there is one thing that characterises the Sherry business, however, it is exports – 4 out of every 5 bottles sold are exported.

Sherry prices have risen recently in line with trade policy, allowing revenues to rise, though volumes have slipped a bit. This is also in line with policy: to sell better wine in smaller quantities, concentrate on bodegas’ own brands and try to cut down on the unprofitable BOB (buyers own brand – supermarket) trade, although it is still very important.

The main export markets spent: UK 15.6 m Euros (down 8%), Holland 6.8m (up 0.6%), Germany 5.4 m (up 1.4%), USA 5.3 m (up 41%!), France, Belgium, Mexico and Canada @1.5m, and Denmark and Japan @ 1m.

9.11.13 XVIII Fino Days in El Puerto

This Monday, at the bodegas Obregon in El Puerto, the programme for the events will be unveiled at 1.00, which this year will be celebrated on the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th of this month. The programme is as follows:

Friday 15^th at 8.30 at the Hotel Monasterio San Miguel: The presentation of the programme followed by a round table on single vineyard Fino. There will be a glass of Fino served afterwards in the Hotel’s Cloister.

Saturday 16^th at 12.00 at Bodegas Caballero (entrance by the Castle). There will be a grand tasting starring Fino Pavon and a homage to Caballero and Lustau oenologist Manuel Lozano, winner five times consecutively of the IWC “Best fortified Wine Maker in the World”.

Sunday 17^th at 12.30 at Viña del Carmen (meet at Venta el Cepo) Visit to the vineyard and talk about the soils and the single vineyards by historian Javier Maldonado Rosso. New wine and country food will be served.

There’s just time to get a flight booked!