A NEW GENERATION OF WINEMAKERS IS PROMOTING TERROIR
AS THEIR WAY OF UNDERSTANDING WINE
Guillermo (Willy) Pérez’ surname not only shows
his ancestry, but also the continuity of a family business forged by the drive
of its founder, a visionary who wanted to change things but to do it in the origins
of the world he loved, the very heart of viticulture: the vineyard. Luis Pérez,
father and son, are the soul of the business, established in 2002 and located
not far from Jerez.
“The project stemmed from my father’s
enthusiasm for trying to change things and doing it from the vineyard in a way
which has been lost in the area in recent years. Starting out was hard; we are
a wine family and we invest everything into wine, so we had to give 100%. We
did everything, from the vineyard to the bodega. Let’s not deceive ourselves, they
were hard years, going off with a bottle under one’s arm to try and convince
the world that Andalucía could produce red wines of quality. At the start
nobody wanted to know. They said to us “how are we going to sell a red wine
from Jerez which is more expensive than a Rioja?”
How did the idea come
about of making red wine in Jerez?
Not many people know that in Andalucía, and
particularly in Jerez, a great diversity of wine was produced in the past,
including red wine. All we had to do was recuperate that tradition, doing it as
well as possible and searching out the land most suitable for each grape variety.
Oddly, acceptance first came from tourists who wanted to try the various wines
produced in the area. So little by little the restaurants began to feel more
comfortable with these new wines. Some even began to put Andalucía at the top
of their wine lists, while they put other DOs like Rioja or Ribera del Duero in
second and third place. What seems normal now was pretty risky 15 years ago,
and we should be grateful to those pioneers.
Do you have some
particular secret?
We don’t have any particular formula. Our methods
of winemaking are simply to try and obtain the best possible quality. Every
plot has its own requirements so we need to do things slightly differently.
There are many thousands of wines in the world but the great majority are much
the same due to globalisation of winemaking. The difference comes from the
vineyard, whether it is better or worse than the others, it is different, and
that needs to show through the wine to give it its own style, recognisable and
inimitable because the vineyards are too.
What are your next projects?
Fifteen years ago we started out with no limits.
We were very keen to try different styles with internationally recognised grape
varieties, and it worked out well, making wine with no barriers. Later, as the
years went by, we were developing better knowledge of the individual terroirs
and how the grapes were adapting to each plot, and also a sense of
responsibility to recuperate traditional local grapes. In 2011 we finally made
a red from the Cádiz variety Tintilla, and this year we are launching two new
wines: El Triángulo, another red from Tintilla, and El Muelle de Olaso, a white
made from palomino.
Is the Tintilla a
better grape for being Andaluz?
It is not so much whether it is better or
worse, it is different. But there is no doubt that it is very suitable for
making fresh elegant reds. That is the current fashion in red wines around the
world; it has changed from concentration and structure to a lighter style with
a lower strength. There has always been fashion, even in wines.
And the Palomino? Can great
whites be made from this variety?
Palomino is a very versatile variety. We know
it is capable of making excellent fortified wines, but it is often said that it
is less suitable for making expressive white wines, although we think this is
due to high yields, and returning to yields more like those of the XIX century
and using classic techniques it is perfectly possible to make more than
interesting white wines.
Was everything done
better in the past?
No, not at all. But curiously Jerez reached a
point where wine production became so advanced it was breath-taking. Looking
back and seeing how highly trained people created such an important legacy
gives you an extra responsibility with your land. They innovated and now we
have to do so as well, but we are the first generation which has to know the
history of it all so we can retain the good ideas and not repeat the mistakes.
Is it true that Jerez
is undergoing a minor revolution?
Well, I’m not sure if it is a revolution or
not, but good some very good things are certainly happening which will affect
us all in the future, one way or another for sure. New wines have begun to
appear which only five years ago would have seemed impossible. People like
Forlong, Cota 45, Callejuela, Primitivo Collantes, Armando Guerra, Vinifícate,
Alba and many others are setting up projects based on the vineyard, and so are the
most traditional bodegas who are doing important work for quality. You get the
impression that the cycle of the previous crisis of a century ago is repeating
itself when an explosion of creativity and commitment managed to take Jerez
forward once again. History does repeat itself.
How do you see the
future?
I like to be positive. I would like to see a
future where the big bodegas labelled their wines with the name of their best
vineyards, but above all I want to think about the many small producers who only
make a few bottles from their vineyard, but enough to live well, to live wine.
This interview appeared in the Diario de Jerez
22/5/17
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