Tuesday 21 May 2013

Some Interesting Snippets

1. Forty percent of annual sales of Sherry (mainly fino and manzanilla) take place in April and May, mainly due to the two big Ferias: Sevilla and the Feria del Caballo in Jerez. Some 6,500,000 bottles!

2. The Agriculture Ministry of the Junta de Andalucia is to be congratulated for its decision to reduce the minimum number of butts required to sell Sherry from 500 to 50. This will benefit many small bodegas.

3. In 1936, a Jerez businessman celebrated 50 years in business at a happy get-together with 20 employees. In a photograph of the celebration, many bottles are to be seen, and they are all Sherry - no beer, soft drinks or anything else. Now that's how it should be!

4. In his work "Las Tierras de Jerez", Isisdro Garcia del Barrio included 12 interesting rules for the construction of bodegas. From the white exterior and great thickness of the walls to the two-sided roofs and the high windows, all look magnificent - especially now, as we see the demolition of so many...

5. According to an old advertisement for Lustau brandies, King Alfonso X "El Sabio" (the wise) loved the brandy which was distilled by the arabs even in his times, the VIII century. The origin of this fact is obscure...

6. Bar/Taberna Los Gabrieles in Madrid had walls covered by amazing ceramic murals, many of them adverts for Sherry bodegas, and painted by well known artists like Jerezano Carlos Gonzalez Ragel, with his skeletal figures. Like a museum, the bar was known as the "Sistine Chapel of ceramics" and was awarded maximum protection by the Community of Madrid. It has been closed for a few years now, however, and it is feared that the tiles could be in a poor state for lack of treatment. It would be appropriate if someone from Jerez could do something to help...

7. The Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits by Alexis Lichine and William Fifield published in 1981 says on repeated occasions that "Fino Sherry is considered the best and most perfect aperitif." All Sherry aficionados should bear this in mind and put it into practice. Of course they already know this, and practise regularly!

8. Enjoy a glass of Sherry every day and you will live to be 100.

Isn't that tempting?!



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