Fino Alexandro 15% Bodegas Yuste

Appearance
Slightly brassy, strawy mid gold with golden highlights.
Nose

Some depth here with fairly intense notes of straw, minerals, a little flor bitterness, faint oxidation from bottle age and some hints of fallen leaves and wax. It smells very natural and very Fino.

Palate

Full and characterful, clean and tasty and better than I remember it - not there was anything wrong with it before. Some bottle age has made it slightly more serious and it is nicely balanced with a gentle bitter flor edge and a grassy strawy roundness with a long clean finish.

Comments

Alexandro was a good quality range of Sherries bottled by the "cooperative of cooperatives" in Jerez, Aecovi, which amalgamated four smaller ones in 1989. Unfortunately the crisis hit it hard and it went into receivership in March 2015. So I was surprised to come across this Fino bottled by Francisco Yuste in July 2016. The original was just over 3 years old and it now has a screwcap rather than the old stopper cork. The approximately 20 months in bottle have rounded it off nicely and added a little complexity, so it was a very good buy.

Price
7 euros Pura Cepa

10.12.15 AECOVI Asset Sale; Feliz Cumpleaños El Pasaje!

A period has begun in which offers can be made for the assets of Aecovi, known as “the cooperative of cooperatives” and which sadly went bust in March. Aecovi was a combination of four cooperatives which did not feel disposed to finance its growing lack of liquidity any longer. The stocks of wine and vinegar have already been sold by the administrators and they are now looking to sell off machinery, vehicles and wine and vinegar making equipment, all in very good condition. Buildings will pass to the banks which hold mortgages on them. There seems to be considerable interest in the assets and any offers will need to be submitted by January.

Tabanco El Pasaje is celebrating its 90^th birthday on the 15th. This legendary bar, the oldest tabanco in Jerez and famous for its Sherry, tapas and flamenco, is in a XVII building which has seen visitors from all over the world, many of them famous. The original site was in Calle Lancería, established in 1862 and the current site was once a grocer then a waiters’ club and a tabanco since 1925. The owner is Antonio Ramirez, known locally as “Antonio el del Pasaje”. He gets through around 7,000 litres of Sherry a year, all supplied by El Maestro Sierra, and over recent years he has increased the food and flamenco offering. El Pasaje is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Jerez. Feliz cumpleaños!

14.7.15 Decanter Sherry Selection; Cooperatives to Join Forces

Decanter Magazine’s associate editor Tina Gellie has been picking 12 Top Value Fortified Wines, and her Sherry choices were:

Manzanilla La Gitana en Rama, Hidalgo La Gitana (£13.00 per 75cl)

Fino Tio Pepe en Rama, González Byass (£16.00 per 75cl)

Manzanilla en Rama Goya XL, Delgado Zuleta (£24.00 per 50cl)

Manzanilla en Rama Deliciosa, Valdespino (£10.00 per half)

Following the bankruptcy of the growers’ cooperative Aecovi, the seven remaining cooperatives are looking at joining forces, and looking for help from the Junta de Andalucía. It is almost ten years since the coops were last unified but that unity broke up when the Palomares and Albarizas co-ops broke away along with the Sanlúcar bodega of Aecovi amid discrepancies in grape prices to bodegas.

The seven co-ops, Angustias, Covisan, Virgen de la Caridad, Palomares, Albarizas, Católico Agricola and Unión de Viticultores Chiclaneros, want to re-group with a minimal structure but with a strong enough voice to negotiate with other bodies in the trade. To that end they have consulted FAECA, an organisation which defends the interests of coops in Andalucía, but it remains to be decided what sort of legal framework will be adopted.

Yesterday the presidents of the co-ops held a meeting with Federico Fernández, the Junta’s provincial delegate to discuss their worries and thrash out the best way to face the incertitude of the new situation. They want to make the most of their resources to increase profitability, and are thinking of introducing central buying of grapes.

The Junta supports the growers in their quest and will cooperate fully with their re-integration, and will refer the matter to other departments specialising in employment and cooperative associations. The growers must, however work together, think less individualistically and think of the longer term if they want to reinvent themselves and avoid the mistakes of the past.

In one matter there is unanimity, and that is the conversion of the area from “zona de producción” to “zona de crianza”, meaning that particularly in Trebujena and Chiclana wines could legally be aged there. This has been debated already at the Consejo, but so far without resolution. The growers’ presidents asked about the delay in the elections to the Consejo, and Fernández replied that they had been postponed to avoid coinciding with political elections.

30.6.15 Aecovi Administration

While some bankruptcy administrations take a very long time, it seems that in the case of Aecovi, the largest cooperative in Jerez, it will be concluded in record time, hopefully by the end of July.  The administrator appointed by the mercantile court of Cádiz has received permission to sell off perishable assets such as wine, vinegar and brandy, and to pay off the 12 staff whose wages were two months behind. The banks will probably get the buildings.

The Alejandro range (foto:diariojerez)

Income was not sufficient to cover interest payments and general expenses, especially those of the brave attempt to modernise and diversify. Towards the end of the 1980s Aecovi decided to market its own brands to help reduce excess production, good brands which were beginning to meet some success in export markets: Alejandro, Santiago and Miralamar. They were even close to producing the first organic Sherry. This is all a terrible shame.

2.3.15 Aecovi in Receivership

The leading cooperative in Jerez established at the end of the 1980s with great hopes now finds itself in receivership owing over €1m, some say more like €2m. Aecovi consists of a group of cooperatives: Coop Las Angustias which is owed €200,000, Covisan €130.000 along with the Coops of Chiclana and Chipiona which are owed unspecified amounts.

Aecovi has been facing cash flow difficulties since early this year and is meeting with its creditors, mainly banks and public institutions, but so far without the desired result. It is trying not to involve the member coops in its problems, though more support from them would have been helpful. The administrators are trying to find a way to re-float Aecovi and avoid liquidation.

The cooperative has a large range of products: three ranges of Sherry: Alejandro, Santiago and Mira la Mar, Sherry vinegar, sauces and condiments. They have a modest modern office block, a laboratory, bottling plant and 17 “young and dynamic” staff. They already sell wine in Russia, Japan, Australia, the US and the UK, and were really going places, but the crisis caught up with them. Let us hope this enterprising group can be saved.

PX Alfaraz 16%, Aecovi

Appearance
Dense black through brown amber to yellow rim, very viscous.
Nose
Cinder toffee, caramel and pasa, an interesting phenolic/fruity nose (remember the stems can't be separated from the sun-dried grapes) with some character and charm. Lots of dates and figs and intensely sweet.
Palate
Extremely viscous, cinder toffee and hints of syrup and molasses, very fruity pasa-laden wine with a trace of tannin and a little acidity, but overall extremely sweet with good length.
Comments
A good young PX made in Sanlucar. The Alfaraz range seems to have been replaced by the Santiago range which the Cooperative now makes in Jerez.
Price
Not available in the UK.

15.9.14 First Organic Sherry in 2015

The first organic Sherry will be released in 2015. The cooperative AECOVI buys all the organically produced grapes in the region, and in a few months will release a late harvested wine from the 2014 harvest. AECOVI is a group of cooperatives: COVISAN in Sanlucar, Nuestra Señora de las Angustias in Jerez, Catolico Agricola in Chipiona and Union de Viticultores Chiclaneros in Chiclana.  Most of the AECOVI vineyards belong to over a thousand smallholders who pick manually and deliver the grapes to four big lagares (presshouses).

The harvest of organic Palomino was some 140,000 kilos, which were pressed and fermented separately. Some of this must will also be used to feed the organic vinegar soleras which were established five years ago and whose produce is already available on the market.

Turning the bunches of PX during sunning (foto Diario Jerez)

All this is the culmination of at least two years of strictly organic production in order to receive the necessary certification, and now under official control, the vineyards must be free of any chemical products, fertilisers or herbicides. The cooperatives’ technical people are keeping an eye on things in order to achieve the maximum quality with the maximum respect to the environment.

AECOVI has also successfully completed the sunning of the Pedro Ximenez grapes, largely thanks to very good weather with the absence of rain. A total of 60,000 kilos of PX were picked, all in the Jerez area. Fine, dry weather is vital as once picked, the bunches must be exposed to the sun for 8-10 days, and any humidity such as rain can cause big losses to rot. The vintage has been of exceptional quality, but while the fine weather has reduced the crop somewhat, the alcohol levels are good. In nearly all the vineyards levels of 12, even 13 have been achieved, much higher than usual.

A Study into the Differences Between Fino and Manzanilla

AECOVI, a large cooperative in Jerez, has completed a two year study which shows that the differences, particularly in salinity, between Fino and Manzanilla are not simply due to the crianza (ageing) of the wines being in different places. They have found a close relationship between salinity and proximity of the vineyard to the sea in wines aged biologically (under Flor).

In the mid XIX century the ageing of the wines was changed from a system of anadas (or vintage wines) to the now well-known solera system, largely to suit the English importers who wanted more consistent styles. This served to reinforce the “myth” that Sherry is made in the bodega and that the differences in style of Finos and Manzanillas were due to the place of crianza, rather than the grapes themselves.

Under current regulations (the Reglamento) the “myth” is continued as regards definitions of Fino and Manzanilla. The only real difference according to the Consejo is that Manzanilla must be aged in Sanlucar. The grapes themselves can come from anywhere in the Sherry zone, although in practice most do come from the Sanlucar area. Equally, the grapes for the Finos of Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria may come from anywhere in the zone. Custom has become law and has been accepted.

This fantastic aerial photo gives an idea of the humid atmosphere in Sanlucar (vinoybrandydelpuerto)

The study found that the grapes grown near the sea contain more sodium and that the salinity is more concentrated in the summer months – particularly around harvest time – in areas which are exposed to prevailing westerly winds and nightly dewfall. This compares with the drier vineyards of Jerez where the winds alternate more, east and west. Aecovi studied various parcels of vineyard, 22 in Sanlucar, 4 in Jerez and one in Chipiona which link the location of the vineyard to the salinity in the grapes for the first time.

Temperatures, rainfall and solar radiation were found to be very similar in Jerez and Sanlucar, but the latter has more humidity due to the west wind – which brings more salt. Soils and leaves were analysed in all 27 parcels, showing more salt in the Sanlucar area especially towards harvest time.

As well as field studies, the investigators analysed the wines themselves – 30 bottles of Manzanilla and 24 bottles of Fino from both Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria, all available commercially, with concurrent results. The Manzanillas contained an average of 70 mg/l salt compared to an average of 40 in the Finos, thus reinforcing the Aecovi theory that wines are born in the vineyard, not the bodega, but due to the homogeneity required by export markets this has been lost.

The aim of the study is to put value back into the vineyard, says Carmen Romero, manager of Aecovi, and perhaps help save it from housing development because of its seaside position. Also up for consideration now is the notion of redefining the Denominacion de Origen Manzanilla, restricting its production to only coastal vineyards. For sure we haven’t heard the end of this one!

31.1.14 Vineyards Special Plan; 2.3 Million to Promote Sherry

The “special plan for the development of vineyard activities” was approved unanimously and envisages the re-launching of vineyard and wine tourism. It has great importance for the city, which as the mayor put it, “is a place with great patrimonial, ethnographical, cultural and architectural value with especially protected countryside”. Local councillor Agustin Munoz pointed out the support of the wine and tourism sectors for this historic and novel project would act as an umbrella for any public and private initiatives which will add value and reduce time taken to implement them.

 The Support Programme for Spanish Viti-viniculture is to invest 2.3 million euros, paid for by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund, in the promotion of Sherry outside Europe. The announcement came from Federico Fernandez, environment delegate of the Junta, on his visit to Las Angustias Cooperative, where he met Salvador Espinosa, its newly appointed president.

The money will be divided as follows: Aecovi Cooperative will receive 694,518 euros, while the rest will be spent in the following countries: USA, Canada, Mexico: 223,380 euros; Russia, Ukraine, Serbia: 141,168 euros; China, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines: 108,018 euros.

While in Jerez, Fernandez took the opportunity to pay visits to Williams & Humbert and Lustau, two companies to which the Junta de Andalucia has given 120,000 euros in funds towards promotion in third countries. He underlined the Junta’s commitment to the cooperative movement, which will be a priority in 2014. He said that promotion will determine their long term viability.

Salvador Espinosa reaffirmed what Fernandez said, how important financial is to promote wine abroad, especially to such potentially important markets as Asia, USA and Canada. He announced he was going to China in March on a sales mission organised by the Business Confederation. He \said it would be more difficult for the cooperatives than for the bodegas who have recognised brands, but he would fight for market share.

He pointed out, however that it should never be forgotten that the Cooperatives’ biggest market is the bodegas themselves, who buy the musts, but who have enjoyed years of paying low prices. The growers must remain profitable, an no growers, no Sherry. In reference to Jerez being European City of Wine this year, he said that the cooperatives would be doing open doors days, tastings, food and wine pairings and vineyard visits. “We have come a long way, but there is still plenty to be done”.

                                          

                                         

More on Women in the Sherry Business

(Another interesting article from the Diario de Jerez - I've added a few details)

Women have managed to conquer the Sherry trade, in a small but growing group of managers, executives, enologists, public relations people, venenciadores, growers...

From starting out working at the bottling lines, women have built an important niche in the Sherry business. Nowadays women are to be found in all the specialist areas; a group of women would establish a big bodega run exclusively by women; their names run into the hundreds, too many to mention, but there follow a few examples. In an earlier article we looked at the women who took over bodegas after their husbands' deaths, such as the memorable Pilar Aranda and Pilar Pla. Both of them and many others broke the masculine hegemony to give women a step up the ladder to the feminisation of the trade. And by the 1980s things really began to take off for women in Spain.

Firstly there is Fatima Ruiz-Lassaletta, a Jerezana who worked for many years with Rumasa as the first director of public relations from the 1960s, then there is Millie Swithinbank, secretary to the legendary Guido Williams at Williams&Humbert, who, upon his death became the British Vice Consul in Spain and ran the W&H public relations department. Esperanza Paez Morilla, daughter of the "Vinegar King" Antonio Paez Lobato ended up running the entire Paez Morilla wine business herself. Another young woman, Maria del Carmen Padilla, is the "face" of the financial analysis centre of Beam in Spain, and Marta Ferguson, still works as manager and administrator of Domecq (now Beam).

There are many female enologists in the Sherry area. Beltran Domecq was once asked how his famous uncle Jose Ignacio Domecq felt about the better aptitude women have for enology and tasting. He simply replied diplomatically that both sexes were born with sufficient sensorial attributes to allow them to work as enologists as long as they worked hard, studied hard, tasted hard and remembered hard. The secret is work - for either sex.

Maribel Estevez Puerto, daughter of the unforgettable Jose Estevez is a familiar face. As an enologist she is director of research and development at bodegas Real Tesoro and introduced the first low histamine fino, Tio Mateo, and the genome "Music3 (Vid-Vino-Vina)", a musical translation of the genetic sequence of flor yeast, CDs of which are played to the yeasts working in the wine.

Many are not from Jerez. Montse Molina is another enologist, a Catalan, working for Bodegas Barbadillo, firstly as a technician in research and development, and for the last ten years or so as chief of the technical department. Then there's Jane Ward, an Englishwoman, export manager at Lustau, and Claire Marie Henderson from Glasgow working at Gonzalez Byass. Ana Cabestrero Ortega comes from the Ribera del Duero near Valladolid and is commercial director and award winning enologist at Bodegas El Maestro Sierra, owned and run by a woman, Pilar Pla and her daughter Maria del Carmen Borrego.

The marketing and commercial world of Sherry has not missed out either on the feminine touch. Here there are many more women. Victoria (Vicki) Gonzalez Gordon, a member of the GB family, is international marketing manager not only for Sherry but also for the firm's other wines and spirits. She says that the international consumer is slowly rediscovering Sherry, helped by the Sherry Bars, tapas and the fame of Spanish chefs.

At Beam Global, we find Maria Eugenia Herrera, who runs the PR department and has as colleagues Maria del Carmen Padilla and Marta Ferguson. They are proud to work for Beam which as an international company has a good gender  equality policy.

Veneciadores of such fame as Julian Delgado or Pepe Ortega are being challenged, as are vine growers. Carmen Romero not only holds a technical degree in agriculture but is also a qualified enologist. She is the fourth generation of a vine growing family and is also the figurehead of Aecovi, a grouping of four cooperatives with some 1,200 vine growing members. This is a young dynamic company which uses the latest technology to augment artesan methods in the vineyard and bodega. These days it has a full range of wines as well as vinegars and sauces, exporting these to about fifteen countries. Carmen forms a part of the 60% of the workforce which is female.

Not only are women now heavily involved in the Sherry trade on the production side, but we are also major consumers. Gone are the days of little English grannies and their Cream Sherry. Women now enjoy - and appreciate - the finest of all styles of Sherry. Viva la mujer!

Very interesting - a new study of vineyards

A new study into the differences between Fino and Manzanilla

AECOVI , a large cooperative has completed a two year study which shows that the differences, particularly in salinity, between Fino and Manzanilla are not simply due to the crianza of the wines being in different places. They have found a close relationship between salinity and proximity of the vineyard to the sea in wines aged biologically (under Flor).

In the second half of the XIX century the ageing of the wines was changed from a system of anadas (or vintage wines) to the now well-known solera system, largely to suit the English importers who wanted more consistent styles. This served to reinforce the “myth” that Sherry is made in the bodega and that the differences in style of Finos and Manzanillas were due to the place of crianza, not the grapes themselves.

Under current regulations (the Reglamento) the “myth” is continued as regards definitions of Fino and Manzanilla. The only real difference according to the Consejo is that Manzanilla must be aged in Sanlucar. The grapes themselves can come from anywhere in the Sherry zone, although in practice many do come from the Sanlucar area. Equally, the grapes for the Finos of Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria may come from anywhere in the zone. Custom has become law and has been accepted.

The study found that the grapes grown near the sea contain more sodium and that the salinity is more concentrated in the summer months – particularly around harvest time – in areas which are exposed to westerly winds and nightly dewfall. This compares with the drier vineyards of Jerez where the winds alternate more, east and west. Aecovi studied 27 parcels of vineyard, 22 in Sanlucar, 4 in Jerez and one in Chipiona which link the location of the vineyard to the salinity in the grapes for the first time.

Temperatures, rainfall and solar radiation were found to be very similar in Jerez and Sanlucar, but the latter has more humidity due to the west wind – which brings more salt. Soils and leaves were analysed in all 27 parcels, showing more salt in the Sanlucar area especially towards harvest time.

As well as field studies, the investigators analysed the wines themselves – 30 bottles of Manzanilla and 24 bottles of Fino from both Jerez and Puerto de Santa Maria, all available commercially, with concurrent results. The Manzanillas contained an average of 70 mg/l compared to an average of 40 in the Finos, thus reinforcing the Aecovi theory that wines are born in the vineyard, not the bodega, but due to the homogeneity required by export markets this has been lost.

The aim of the study is to put value back into the vineyard, says Carmen Romero, manager of Aecovi, and perhaps help save it from housing development because of its seaside position. Also up for consideration now is the notion of redefining the Denominacion de Origen Manzanilla, restricting its production to only coastal vineyards. 

For sure we haven’t heard the end of this one!