4.6.16 Vinoble 2016; New Consejo Labels; Estévez Award, Copa Jerez

Jerez City Council regards this year’s event as a success given its difficult financial position. The final budget was some 100,000 euros and income was around 200,000 with the profit to be invested in the 2018 event for which a specific website and improved infrastructure are planned as well as more parallel activities. This year 8,000 people visited, 90% being wine trade professionals, including about 100 important importers/exporters. Local hotels had occupation figures of 80-100%. There were 49 stands showing some 800 wines and 150,000 samples were tasted. Press coverage was good with 170 members of the international media present. Six restaurants from the province put on successful show-cooking stands.

Not everyone was so upbeat about the event. There were fewer non-Spanish stands this year, and there is an obvious need to attract more to give a more international feel. There were long queues for places at the special tasting events which could not be pre-booked and many wasted a good hour of tasting time standing around. This is due to lack of sufficient capacity where these tastings take place, and definitely needs improvement. All in all however, the event was very enjoyable with many interesting high quality wines, some of them new, on offer and the usual friendly enthusiastic atmosphere.

The Consejo Regulador has decided to polish up the image of its generic Sherry labels. In order to be impartial, the Consejo has its own label applied to Sherries used for promotional purposes, and it has announced a competition for the design of new labels. The prize for the winning design will be 1,000 euros, a diploma, and a selection of Sherries, and the deadline is 15^th July. Anyone interested should go to: http://jobs.designcrowd.com/job.aspx?id=1984598

Grupo Estévez has received the Agro-alimentary Excellence Award from the College of Agricultural Engineers ofAndalucía. In recent years Estévez has been focussing on the vineyard and using fortification spirit distilled from Jerez produced wine in its crianza biológica Sherries. The policy aims to provide more wealth for the Jerez area and improve traceability. José Ramón Estévez Puerto, the company president was awarded the prize in a ceremony held at their Viña Bristol vineyard in recognition of their successful international business, their respect for sustainability, skilful management and their contribution to the image of Andalusian agro-alimentary business.

The VII Copa Jerez Spanish heat is now open for entries. The international food and Sherry pairing competition has had great success over the years in attracting attention to Sherry and how well it marries with food.  There are heats in eight countries, and the winners of each will eventually reach the Final in Madrid. Chef and sommelier teams compete for the best match in three courses. Anyone interested should contact: www.copajerez.com by the first of July.