16.11.16 Manzanilla Rebels Claim their Survival is at Stake

In a press conference in Sanlúcar yesterday the Professional Association of Artisan Bodegas expressed their profound discontent with the judicial ruling banning BIB in the pouring trade. They say it is a measure ”imposed by Fedejerez through its executive arm, the Consejo Regulador”. According to the Association the BIB is the quality alternative to the outdated re-useable garrafa, and satisfies the bulk wine needs of the catering trade. “It is not trying to replace the bottle but to complement it, especially for bulk, and in no way harms the image of the DO wines. In fact the big bodegas of Jerez, members of Fedejerez, use BIB for some of their other wines, including direct sale to the public.”

The press conference (foto:CCruz/andaluciainformacion)

“We are not talking about image but rather of market share. This the real root of the problem” they say, and they have not ruled out the possibility of consulting the Spanish competition tribunal. “It is a question of survival”. In the judgement of the Association Fedejerez “is trying to impose its own rules of commerce through its effective control of the Consejo” despite “having no representation of the Manzanilla bodegas with a head office in Sanlúcar.” They went on to criticise the fact that the DO Manzanilla is represented by only one bodega of the twenty members which make up the Consejo. The Association wants parity of representation between bodegas in Jerez and Sanlúcar, and went on to say that they are not yet intending to create their own separate Consejo, but they are studying the idea, given the “undesirable” situation, and the town council of Sanlúcar is prepared to collaborate with a viability study.

7.6.15 New Campaign Against Bag-in-Box

After various meetings with the Ministries of Consumption and Agriculture the Consejo Regulador has launched a joint informative campaign to persuade the pouring trade and consumers against the use of Bag-in-Box (BIB). They hope to achieve this by persuasion rather than risk confrontation.

The Reglamento (rules of Sherry production) states that only glass bottles can be used for Sherry with the Denominación de Origen (DO), so BIB is therefore illegal. Many producers have got round this by selling wine in this format by de-classifying it from the DO, and many bars and restaurants use it for price and convenience reasons.

BIB from the Cooperative at Sanlucar

Not everyone agrees with the Consejo’s and particularly Fedejerez’ stance which has steadfastly refused to consider any container other than glass. After all wines such as Montilla-Moriles and many others are commonly and legally sold in this format. At the last plenary meeting in May, the Consejo noted that there had been a rise in the fraudulent use of BIB, above all in Sanlúcar where there have been instances of BIBs used to refill screen printed bottles given to restaurants and bars by bodegas.

It is worth remembering that BIB is not a legal container and so will most likely contain wine which is not DO, and any Sherry-related terminology on the label is not legal either thus misleading. Nonetheless, BIBs are good sellers; the Consejo estimates that a million litres were declassified for sale in BIB last year, but they can only estimate, as this format also makes nonsense of official figures.