29.11.15 César Saldaña Looks at Sherry’s Traditional Markets

The Director General of the Consejo Regulador, César Saldaña led a debate on the evolution of the traditional markets over the last 80 years in the Scientific Symosium marking the 80^th anniversary of the Denimonación de Origen at the Consejo’s bodega San Ginés yesterday. He was joined by representatives of those markets: the UK, Holland and Germany.

In the mid XX century these three markets took 79% of exports between them. Fluctuations in these markets took place in three key periods over the last 80 years: the period of warfare between 1935 and 1960, the golden age of expansion between 1960 and 1986 during which time Spain joined the EU and Nato, and the period from 1986 till the present day when sales slumped and EU grants dried up.

Cesar Saldana (centre) at the debate (foto:diariodejerez)

The crises of the mid and late 1980s brought desperate measures including the lowering of costs and the reduction of advertising due to the lack of external grants, and the image of Sherry collapsed. The period between 1993 and 2008 saw things improve until the world banking crisis put a stop to that with exports and consumption falling dramatically, and young people turned away from wine which they saw as an alcoholic drink for old people at Christmas.

Despite it all, César confesses to seeing “signs of change” thanks to the growth in “experts and people interested in wine,” protagonists of “an aspiration towards a future of growth, not only in volume but also in image, prestige, price and profitability. I don’t know when, but I’m sure improvement will only come if we continue to sell Sherry for what it is, a great wine.”

29.11.15 Re-invention is the Key to the Future

A round table debated the future of Sherry on the closing day of the Scientific Symposium held at the Consejo Regulador in celebration of the 80^th anniversary of the DO Sherry. The speakers were Fedejerez president Evaristo Babé, Equipo Navazos’ Jesús Barquín, Williams & Humbert MD Jesús Medina and Barbadillo MD Víctor Vélez, and the moderator was David Fernández, director of Diario de Cádiz.

Víctor Vélez opened the debate saying that “the future of Sherry is a complex question. The Consejo figures are disappointing so I would say that it is uncertain. There is a tremendous emotional distance with Sherry, it is associated with an Andalucian culture and high degrees of alcohol, yet on the other hand, a luxury-loving public is emerging which is interested in cuisine and which knows the oenological qualities of the wine. There is a revival, but our wine is difficult to understand and few really get it.” Jesús Medina made the point that “The number of wines included in the DO has been a fortress but now it has become our weakness. We need to focus on selling the wines which I consider the basics: Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso and Palo Cortado.”

Jesús Barquín said that the future starts with the Jerezanos themselves, who “should know their own wine. The locals should love the wine, but that is something that has disappeared for a variety of sociological and political reasons of which they are aware.” Evaristo Babé took a realistic view saying “We can’t keep making the same mistakes and say that Sherry is the best wine in the world and just leave it at that. We must be realistic, it is an excellent wine, but when you look at the figures the quality and the profitability don’t correspond. We must be optimistic but also consistent with what is said and done.”

Revival or rebirth of Sherry coming from increased consumption by young people occupied much of the debate. "I am not sure, I have heard that people are coming back to wine but I would like to see a study to endorse it,” said Víctor Vélez, and Jesús Medina agreed saying “there is a renewed interest but sales keep on falling. We need to take advantage of this interest and create an image far from that of traditional, and cheap, wine.”

The debate in Bodega San Gines at the Consejo (foto:Miguel AngelGonzalez/diariojerez)

The production of quality up-market or premium wines was a subject much talked about during the Symposium. With this range of more up-market wines and the consequent increase in pricing, the experts would like to achieve, in the words of Jesús Barquín, “the lost prestige. In the XIX century natural Sherries were already sold at much higher prices and they were duly recognised. We should focus on the word “Jerez” meaning the whole area and reserve it for the natural wines and get rid of the baggage of everything linked to the idea of “Sherry.” Evaristo Babé said that while “these quality premium wines were fundamental they would not be enough for the survival of most bodegas.” Jesús Medina said “We need to be careful in this respect. The Marqués de Casa Domecq once spoke of laboratory-blended wines. To me Sherries are the basics I mentioned before, but that doesn’t mean to say that everybody should make premium wines as that would be reflected in the profits.”

Would this increase in prices recover the prestige of the wines, or would it just shock the local clientele? “The price is the consequence of factors relating to the past,” said Jesús Medina, “It is perfectly compatible to have both premium wines and others at a more accessible price, though the latter should be properly made and represent a fair profit.” Evaristo Babé didn’t see a problem with a young person drinking a glass of Sherry for just a euro or two, the worry comes “when that price is the result of an imbalance between supply and demand, although that is about right for now.”

The most positive thing about the situation according to the experts, is that Sherry’s position is understood, and from there it can go forward using tools such as communication and marketing. It is time to get to work and construct an image of excellence in line with the quality of the product because “Sherry clearly has a future. It only has to reinvent itself with a consequent change in the mentality of the trade,” as Evaristo Babé put it.

28.11.15 “Sherry” a Term in Constant Crisis

Álvaro Girón Sierra, doctor of History at the University of Cádiz, gave a lecture on this subject in its historical and social context since 1935 at the Scientific Symposium in celebration of the 80^th anniversary of the DO Sherry. He began by quoting the Marqués de Casa Domecq who said in 1875 “It is a mistake to export too much Sherry. It is a wine for the rich or the infirm which, like Burgundy or Champagne, should not be within the reach of everyone.”

Álvaro wanted to get down to the deep roots of the Sherry crisis, “the problems of which are still dragging Sherry down to this day.” He explained that the word “Sherry” was synonymous for many decades, not with Jerez but with a specific process of winemaking to which low quality alcohol was added to produce an adulterated drink for export.

Alvaro Giron (foto:gerionsanlucar.com)

The fact that exporters were more interested in quantity than quality ended up in compounding the problem. “Sherry is so expensive to produce that for the price for which it is sold the bodegas cannot usually make a profit. This is incompatible with quality.”

To add insult to injury, British and German doctors for many years branded Sherry as harmful to the health, declarations which, although they denied them, simply did more to damage the image which Sherry already had.

28.11.15 Harvesting from Knife to Machine

Carmelo García, professor of analytical chemistry and coordinator of the Master in Vitiviniculture at the University of Cádiz (UCA) gave a talk on technical innovation at the Scientific Symposium in celebration of the 80^th anniversary of the DO Sherry titled “Oenological renovation and technological innovation in Jerez over the last 80 years.

Carmelo Garcia (foto:lavozdigital)

Carmelo listed in detail the evolution of all the processes required for the elaboration of wine right from the start: the harvest. One of the key aspects and which differentiates the process now from that of centuries ago has much to do with climate change, which has caused the advancement of the harvest from September to August.

Technological change goes hand in hand with the entire production process, from harvesting with the traditional knife to the use of machines which now pick nearly 85% of the grapes. The grapes are no longer brought in in canastas (traditional baskets), and few are sunned outside. Now there are acclimatised chambers devised by UCA, where humidity and temperature are controlled and the grapes can dry in perfect conditions in half the time and with guaranteed quality.

28.11.15 The Ins and Outs of the Bodega City Project

José Manuel Aladro Prieto, professor of architecture at the University of Sevilla, addressed the Scientific Symposium in celebration of the 80^th anniversary of DO Jerez on “Renovation versus Tradition: Architecture and the city in the second half of the XX century.” He began by saying that “the dilemma between renovation and tradition is so present in Jerez that it affects its architecture, urban planning and everything symbolic.”

Jose Manuel Aladro Prieto

The revolution in mechanisation and technology which hit Jerez along with the rest of Europe during the second half of the last century provoked a transformation in the culture of wine, “with a dismantling of the model of architecture, city and land established since the XIX century. The change of land model brought some lagares from the vineyards to the city, but the change is more relevant in the opposite direction since at the start of the XX century mechanised transport made it possible for some companies to move their installations to the vineyard, meaning the wine was leaving the city.”

From then on the landscape of Jerez changed and bodegas started to establish themselves at the city’s perimeter at the new Carretera de Circunvalación (ring road) built as part of general urbanisation plans. At first these projects allowed the two big firms of the city to expand towards the Cuatro Caminos area, but the bodegas were growing so fast that the municipality could not satisfy their needs. The euphoria was short lived as there was no longer enough land for the immense bodega complexes being built at the time.

Huge bodegas with vineyards at the edge of the city

In parallel with the construction of these vast complexes, there were changes in building materials. Concrete and steel structures are now common as they can be made bigger to accommodate conveniently and efficiently all the functions of a bodega in one place. Most present externally the aesthetics of the traditional bodega but inside they are simply huge industrial spaces.

27.11.15 Eight Decades of DO Jerez

The opening lecture at the Scientific Symposium  which forms part of the 80th anniversary of DO Sherry, was given yesterday by Luís García, a professor of constitutional law and past president of the Consejo. Since 80 years of history is a lot to cover in an hour and the lecture was so interesting, he was allowed to overrun.

The many regulations of the DO and their modifications formed the thread of the lecture. García felt the principal change during those 80 years came about from the Ley del Vino (Wine Law) 2003 which established the separation of the fuctions of control and management of DOs to avoid the conflict of Consejos being judge and jury. Curiously, the consequences of the transfer of powers of prosecution to the Junta can be seen in the current BIB conflict, in which some bodegas decided to sell Manzanilla in a prohibited container for which the Consejo is asking the Junta to prosecute, but without much response so far.

Luis Garcia with Cesar Saldana (foto: Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Diario Jerez)

García did not expand on this matter other than to say that the rivalry between Jerez and Sanlúcar is as old as the Consejo. Now that the Consejo no longer has the powers to prosecute, which it acquired in the regulations of 1941, it enjoys a friendlier and more agreeable countenance with fewer tensions, being responsible for matters such as sales quotas, prices or crop disqualifications, and is more centred on promotion of events like Venencia competitions and International Sherry Week. “Currently it is more glamorous but it is difficult to say if it is better or worse than what went before.” He alluded to the realities imposed on the Consejo, and with the loss of its legal powers the most it has been able to do is reduce the vineyard area from the 10,500 hectares of the recent past to the little over 6,000 of today to restore balance in supply and demand.

Regarding the love-hate relationship between Jerez and Sanlúcar, he said that Manzanilla used to find itself under the umbrella of Sherry at a time when it lacked its own identity; it was just another style of Sherry like Fino or Oloroso until the DO was split in 1964, which gave rise to dispute over the term “Manzanilla” after the ministry authorised its use for the product of the town in Huelva of the same name.

According to the professor the first regulations – and in 1935 there were at least three, the second of which excluded Sanlúcar from the ageing zone – set the foundations of a continuous adaption to a changing reality which was marked at the beginning by insufficient grape production, a situation which was correcting itself until the introduction of the regulation of 1964 which imposed order by limiting the entry of wine from outside the region with the exception of Vino de Color and Pedro Ximénez. Nevertheless, a sales quota was introduced that year of 40% which caused widespread discontent and threats of lawsuits, but this was settled by the regulations of 1969 which coincided with great expansion.

With the regulations of 1941, the zona de crianza was set as the towns of Jerez, Sanlúcar and El Puerto de Santa María, but Lebrija was excluded from the production zone causing a problem which would take 40 years to solve. The subzone Jerez Superior was introduced, along with the obligation to buy a percentage of grapes from it. These regulations were also modified on three occasions; in 1959 the Consejo was given the power to control unfair competition in price and quality, a ticking bomb which gave rise to not a few conflicts in relation to the drop in international markets. However in the records one could see confidence in the future of the trade, above all with the expansion of brandy sales at that time.

The Casa del Vino in Jerez

In 1956 the Consejo was able to celebrate the export of the 50,000^th butt and was offered the site at the corner of Avenida Álvaro Domecq and Calle Paul on which was built the “Casa del Vino” the seat of the Consejo Regulador. During his run-through of the regulations, García related the ins and outs of the purchase of the site which had already been deemed necessary as early as 1938. Even so, it was a quarter of a century before the definitive site was chosen after consideration of one at Capuchinos and another at Sotoflores. Until construction of the new building was complete, the Consejo rented office space in a building in Calle Lealas, possibly at the site of the now disappeared Cine Lealas.

This important Symposium continues today with lectures by Carmelo García Barroso, Álvaro Girón, José Manuel Aladro and Enrique Montañés. There will be a debate on “Multinationals versus Family Businesses” in which such noteworthy people as Beltrán Domecq (Consejo president), Mauricio González Gordon MD of González Byass), Eduardo Ojeda (technical director of Grupo Estévez), Jorge Pascual (MD of Delgado Zuleta and ex Consejo president) and Helena Rivero López de Carrizosa (president of Bodegas Tradición).