1.12.15 César Saldaña on the Sherry Symposium

César Saldaña director of the Consejo Regulador is interviewed by JP Lobato of the Diario de Jerez.

“The Scientific Symposium held over last weekend in Jerez to celebrate the 80^th anniversary of the DO has served above all to fill a gap in the recent recorded history of Sherry. Today we know much more about the last 80 years than we did before, which is very gratifying to the trade,” commented César on behalf of the organising committee and the Consejo.

When we began organising the symposium, the committee said that if 60 people attended it would be a success, but it ended up with 100, and we are sure that if there had been more room more would have come. It was a great success, not just in terms of the number of people coming but also in the level of attendance at each and every event. The Consejo is very pleased that each sector of the trade was represented. There must be a reason for so much interest and now we have to analyse this response, because the presence of young people gives us hope for the future and justifies optimism that the trade is being seen through different perspectives. The committee will soon publish the minutes of each event which will later be reflected in a book.

Cesar Saldaña, Consejo director

Does this mean that this will be the first of other conferences on Sherry? “Of course, but we’ll need to look into which aspects. This event was multidisciplinary, and from now on we want to be more specific, questions such as image, pricing, profitability of the wine, which is the daily task of those in the trade. Research needs to be done into many aspects.”

On top of covering the last not particularly well recorded 80 years of the history of the Consejo and its wines, the final day covered the very important matter of the future of Sherry and was a “real exercise in full, deep reflection.”  Many of those who attended the symposium were delighted that the issue was squarely addressed and referred clearly to the delicate position in which the industry finds itself; why and how people have turned away from Sherry both at home and abroad. César referred to his own lecture saying that his analysis of the markets offered an opportunity: now we know where we are and that is essential in deciding where we want to go. This is our challenge now: taking into account the complexity of the markets and paying attention to the growing numbers of young experts and people who are interested in wine, who are leading us to predict a change in fashion.