Fino Una Palma 15.5% González Byass

Appearance

Bright yellowy gold with traces of gold and green, legs.

Nose

Fairly pungent flor with an attractive bitterness and traces of almond, sourdough, straw and a trace of dry scrub.The various olfactory components are beautifully h armonised yet it still grabs the nose and insists you drink it.

Palate

Quite intense with  a little more body and bitterness than Tio Pepe, being at least a year older, and very slightly leaner with a decent acidity and a very slightly salty tang which drive the flavour. There is the tiniest trace of fruit there too.It is good and dry with a long clean finish.

Comments

This is the 28/10/15 saca and the wine was selected by Antonio Flores and Michael Schachner, a member of the tasting panel of Wine Enthusiast magazine. It was said to have taken a lot of chalk and shoe leather to select the three best butts out of 142 (numbers 114, 78 and 10) but the result was most successful. 2015 was a fairly mild summer as the hot, dry Levante wind was balanced by the cool, more humid Poniente wind resulting in aromatic elegance in the Finos thanks to there still being a good level of flor. The grapes came from the pagos Carrascal and Macharnudo and the wine spent six years under its velo de flor, and has marked Tio Pepe characteristics, if more intensity.

Price

13.50 per 50cl bottle at Licores Corredera

An Interview with Antonio Flores, IWC Fortified Winemaker of the Year

Translated from an article by Á Espejo in today’s Diario de Jerez

AE – First of all, congratulations!

AF – Thank you!

AE – How did you receive the news?

AF – Well, in these International Wine Challenge awards which are considered the Oscars of the wine world, and work in much the same way as those in Hollywood, they make a shortlist of three which consisted this time of Manuel Lozano of Lustau, who died recently and won the award seven times consecutively, a Portuguese winemaker and myself. The names of the winners of the main awards are revealed at the Gala dinner at London’s Hilton Hotel, and it was there I heard my name announced as Best Fortified Winemaker in the World. It is a spectacular event, and was a super-emotional moment.

AE – A lot of emotion and I imagine a lot of nerves also?

AF – Tremendous nerves. I had already been nominated three times for Best Winemaker, but Manolo won, and whoever says they are not nervous at these moments is lying. You get very nervous and the heart beats faster. It has been a very special year for me.

AE - Was Manuel Lozano remembered?

AF – Definitely. I had – or rather still have - a great friendship with Manolo as I believe it continues from Heaven - where they now have a top oenologist. I would have loved it if he could have been present at the Gala, yet I felt his presence and even cried a few tears. I think the organisers did a fantastic thing, naming the award for Best Fortified Wine in the World after Manolo, and if my bodega wins this award, for the Cuatro Palmas for example, it couldn’t be more emotional. It was a full evening and definitely one to remember; all that was missing was Manolo.

AE – To whom do they actually award the prize?

AF – It was awarded to me, but it also belongs to the entire team at González Byass. We always say we are a family of wines and it’s true, we are a family of wines, so the prize is for all of the family, for those who are there now and those who went before. It is a prize for my father, for the capataces and members of the different generations of the González family who have managed to preserve a style and lineage in their wines – and it is also a prize for Jerez itself.

AE – As they say in Jerez you’ve been immersed in it since childhood.

AF – I was lucky enough to be born right above the foundational solera of Tio Pepe, the Tio Pepe Rebollo solera, and as I always say, it is not blood running through my veins, but Tio Pepe. These great awards for Manolo, for me, are very important for Jerez because they recognise the value of one of the world’s finest wines which is reclaiming its rightful place.

AE – Why did people lose interest in Sherry for so long?

AF – There were many factors in play. One is fashion, but also Jerez and certain bodegueros bear much of the blame. Making a great wine cheap means reducing its quality; and its recuperation means going back to its origins. I often say that there will be no future if we don’t take strength from the past; our predecessors did things well basing things on quality, the vineyard, the wine’s provenance. Now there is a move to return to the origins and doing so is allowing Sherry to recuperate its place in the world, something extremely important.

AE – The prizes are won, when will Sherry get the price it deserves?

AF - Little by little. What we call the Sherry Revolution is not the work of a day, a week or even a year. We cannot go back to the days of large volumes, days we must forget. We need to go for wines of quality and in reduced quantity, and the results will be apparent with the passing of time. It is unarguable that right now the consumer has a great opportunity with Sherry and is able to drink great wines at super competitive prices, and we ourselves need to believe it.

AE – This Sherry Revolution which everyone is talking about has an interesting mix of acclaimed winemakers and other young talents who are really pushing the boundaries.

AF – That’s the future. For me, one of the most interesting tastings at Vinoble was that of Pedro Ballesteros, Spain’s Master of Wine, about the “new avenues for Sherry” in which he sought to unite the present and future of Sherry. That there are highly educated oenologists who are well organised, have a vision for Sherry and are opening new avenues is very important, as is the way the Consejo Regulador positioned itself at this tasting in a very positive manner toward these new avenues. We winemakers in Jerez have always been very discreet people. In Jerez we don’t make “winemaker wines” like other regions; instead we have a much more important responsibility which is to be given wines of a particular style – and each bodega has a style – preserve these wines and above all, hand them over to the next generation in at least the same condition as we received them.

AE – Some of these new avenues include grape varieties which were cast aside for having lower production levels than Palomino Fino. Do you think the Consejo should authorise them once again?

AF – Here we chose the varieties which were most suitable and we should remember that a bodega is a business which has to operate profitably. But the diversity these varieties offer could be profitable with higher prices. At the moment we use three varieties: Palomino, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel, but why not open the door to other varieties? But before that there is an easier job which is to recuperate the relationship with the vineyards, the pagos of Jerez, something which is already happening. Jerez forgot about the vineyards, but now they are being given much greater importance. I believe this is fundamental. People think that in the world of wine anything old is good, but I say it is not like that; I mean if an old wine is good it must have been a good wine when it was young, back when there was more care in the vineyards, respectful winemaking, and these virtues were able to be preserved. Now we can’t forget the bodegas either: Sherry is made great in the vineyards, and made inimitable in the bodega. These are the two great strengths of Sherry which must be preserved.

AE – González Byass is obviously investing in vineyards.

AF – The entire solera Tio Pepe Rebollo, which supplies Tio Pepe en rama, is from the pago Macharnudo, the Constancia solera is from Macharnudo and Carrascal, the two Jerez Superior pagos where we have our vineyards. And what’s more the Tio Pepe soleras consist of 20,000 butts comprising 21 soleras among which are the emblematic solera Macharnudo, solera Carrascal and solera Balbína, though we no longer own vineyard in the latter.

AE – It is noticeable that the oenologists are turning into the great Sherry communicators.

AF – It is one step further. The wine consumer wants direct contact with the winemaker and I believe that the communication course which Cádiz University is already doing in the oenology degree is very important in communicating what we do. We are in an area which has everything: tradition, history, quality, and we need to communicate this. I have conducted many tastings in the USA and Canada, and it gives me great pride to say that my bodega has a longer history than their city. The winemaker needs to get up from the table and get the wine across with passion and  belief in what he is communicating.

AE – Do you have new projects in mind that you can tell us about now?

AF – We have a wonderful project which few bodegas in Jerez could do. It is a big project, and like so many others, stems from the magnificent historic archive of González Byass. It consists of three grape varieties vinified sweet: Palomino – of which there are very few – Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez. We are one of the few bodegas in Jerez which has Pedro Ximénez and we hope to be self-sufficient in the future, without the need to buy in wine from Montilla. I hope these wines will be available to enjoy next year, but we are also working on new projects with old and young vintage wines, but they are still secret.

AE – Will the bodega continue using historic labels?

AF – We have been using these for the last seven years for Tio pepe en rama and for five years for the Palmas. The archive also provided a label for the new vermouth, and the majority of them are beautiful.

AE – What is the González Byass secret for staying at the fore-front for almost 200 years?

AF – The secret is that the family has invested a lot of love and dedication into the bodega. Capital which could have been invested elsewhere has been invested in Jerez and in quality. We never entered the buyer’s own brand market and suffered difficult times when everyone else opted to cut prices, but in the end we reaped the fruit. The González family is now into its seventh generation, and that brings complications. Having over 100 shareholders in a business in which not everyone can participate is very difficult but so far our president Mauricio González Gordon and our vice-president Pedro Rebuelta are managing to unite the family in the common project which is González Byass.

AE – A united family which maintains its links to Jerez.

AF – Absolutely. Jerez can’t complain about lack of support from González Byass and vice-versa.

AE - González Byass is also taking great advantage of wine tourism, so in vogue right now.

AF – We are pioneers in many things and we pioneered wine tourism when nobody else thought of it, and it is of great value to us now. We are the most-visited bodega in Europe and one of the most-visited in the world. Over 200,000 people visit every year and that’s very important as each one takes away a little of our history and culture and we’re putting Jerez on the map. It is one of the most visited monuments in Europe – well, I consider it a monument – and that is a source of economic wealth which is sowing the seeds for the future.

AE – It was inevitable that I would ask you about Bag in Box since the Junta has authorised its use.

AF – I don’t believe that is good for Sherry, and not because it has any oenological problem. It is a question of image. None of the world’s fine wines are packed in BIB. It is not good and González Byass will not be using it.

AE – What do you think about the resurrection of the old Domecq bodegas?

AF – It is very good for Jerez. The recuperation of Fundador, previously Domecq, is fundamental because it is one of the great bastions of Jerez. I Domecq disappeared from the wine map of Jerez it would be like Barcelona or Madrid disappearing from football.  That someone goes for Jerez, and not just for the brandy but also for the Sherry is a hopeful sign for Jerez.

9.7.16 Antonio Flores IWC Best Fortified Winemaker

Antonio Flores, oenologist and master blender at González Byass has won the 2016 International Wine Challenge Fortified Winemaker of the Year Award. He received it at the IWC Gala Dinner at London’s Hilton Hotel in recognition of his work in creating the Palmas range, the introduction of Tio Pepe en rama and his promotional work with #sherryrevolution. Meanwhile his 51 year old Amontillado Cuatro Palmas won Best Fortified Wine 2016. í Enhorabuena, Antonio!

25.6.16 Consejo Worried at Potential Effect of Brexit; GB Buys Bodega in Chile

Britain is one of most important markets for Jerez. Only last year it imported 100,000 hectolitres of Sherry earning the bodegas 25 million euros, not to mention 15,000 hectolitres of brandy, so not a market the Jerezanos would want to lose, but Britain’s decision to leave the EU could have important effects.  Yesterday César Saldaña openly expressed the Consejo’s worry at the change in circumstances of the most important market for Sherry. “We can’t see a positive side to this and there will surely be effects. At this stage we don’t know precisely what they will be, so all we can do is to wait and see what happens, but it is certainly bad news.”

Cesar Saldana

“Whatever happens, the UK will continue to be a very important market for our products. In recent years the image of Sherry has improved and we don’t want to see that spoiled by increases on duties which could be imposed now that the UK is outside the EU. We’ll just have to wait and see. Any increased taxation could lead to falling sales and thus more unemployment.” While things could become more difficult he felt that free trade would probably continue, the status and movement of goods shouldn’t change, nor the legal apparatus which recognises the Denominación de Origen which took so long to achieve. But there is a worry that the reduced value of the pound will have a negative effect on pricing in the UK.

Francisco Guerrero, president of the growers’ body Asevi-Asaja said that “for the moment we don’t know how Brexit will affect us since everything is up in the air, but import duties are bound to go up and that will have direct repercussions on exporters at a time when sales were edging upwards. All the current legislation will probably change, but there is nothing we can do but wait and see.”

Rafael del Rey of the Observatorio Español del Mercado del Vino (OEMV) believes, on the other hand, that there shouldn’t be too much of an impact. He admits that there will probably be monetary effects in the short term which could hit exports, but things should even out. Who knows?

One of the Veramonte bodegas

González Byass has bought a majority shareholding in the Chilean bodega Veramonte, the first bodega they have bought outside Spain. Veramonte comes with 600 hectares of vineyard in Colchagua, Casablanca and Apalta and leading brand names like Neyen, Primus, Ritual and Veramonte. The wines are sold in 37 countries especially the United States, and GB believe that this acquisition can help with their distribution there.

24.5.16 González Byass Launch Vermouth; Feria de la Manzanilla

Vermouth La Copa is produced according to a formula from 1896 which had been preserved for more than a century in the company archives. Even the label is a reproduction of the original, though adjusted to match the new bottle presentation.  In the past many bodegas produced vermouth till it went out of fashion, but thanks to a resurgence of interest they are re-launching it.

La Copa is produced from a blend of fine Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez of at least eight years of age with carefully selected botanicals including wormwood, savory, clove, orange peel, cinnamon, nutmeg, angelica and quinine. The name La Copa is historical as it was the branding iron of the horse breeding ranch of the Marqués de Torresoto, son of GB founder Manuel María González. The new (?) vermouth has a very complex spiced aroma and on the palate it is smooth and elegant with a slightly bitter finish while its Jerez origins can be detected. Price is around 10 euros and it is 15.5ᴼ.

The 2016 Feria de la Manzanilla starts tomorrow. The mayor of Sanlúcar, Víctor Mora, will switch on the more than 400,000 lights at 23.00, and they will be switched off again at the end of the Feria at midnight on Sunday 29^th. The avenidas Bajo de Guia and Las Piletas will also be brightly lit. There will be music aplenty, a parade of horses and all sorts of horse drawn carriages and a bullfight, not to mention feasting, dancing and the consumption of vast amounts of Manzanilla.

The portada (entrance gateway) foto:Raul J Bustillos/andalucia informacion

Tio Pepe en rama saca 2016 15%, González Byass

Appearance

Mid to pale strawy gold with a barely perceptible trace of green, light legs.

Nose

As soon as it was poured I could smell it at the other side of the room! Fragrant,very fresh and generous with pronounced flor but not excessively bitter, there's some depth here and seriousness, which show just what a treasure these soleras are. Hints of almond and a slight trace of butter give added complexity to a gentle but very characterful Fino wine.

Palate

Dry, clean and lively, a trace of acidity and abundant but gentle flor give perfect balance to that trace of butteriness which stems from the dead yeasts at the bottom of the butt. It has a gently dry texture with traces of olive brine, almond and flor, and a very long clean finish.

Comments

This 7th release is a blend of wines from 60 selected butts in the Tio Pepe soleras in the La Constancia and Rebollo bodegas,and bottled mid April. This year's wine had more flor than usual as a mild winter with ideal average temperatures followed a cooler than average late summer and a complete absence of the warm Levante wind allowing it to remain intact on the surface. Then it burst into life again in spring ready to give zest to the wine, which it certainly did! Antonio Flores, the winemaker, describes it as "sublime, pungent and fresh." If you want to see a 50 second video of Antonio and his boss Mauricio González tasting it, go to #sueloyvelo

Price
About 15 euros from Licores Corredera

29.3.16 GB Shows Bloggers Retinto Beef; Solear en rama Spring Saca

González Byass organised a trip for food bloggers to learn about the unique Retinto beef, its various cuts and how well it matches with Sherry. The event took place at a large farm called El Jardinillo in the La Janda area near Jerez where the visitors could admire the Retinto cattle in their natural habitat accompanied by the farmer, the vet, the president of the association of Retinto farmers and the manager of El Alcázar meat products. Various Retinto themed dishes were presented and matched with GB wines by oenologist Antonio Flores. For example steak tartare with Viña AB, meatballs and hamburgers with Oloroso Alfonso and roast loin of beef with Palo Cortado Leonor.

Barbadillo has announced the spring release of the Manzanilla Solear en rama bottled during Semana Santa after a cold dry winter. It will be available for the feria season with a few weeks in bottle. According to oenologist Montse Molina it is full with complex aromatics with marked notes of flor and salinity and on the palate it is silky smooth developing flor bitterness and has great length. As usual there will be 2,500 half bottles available.

12.3.16 26 New Sherry Educators; González Byass Buys Rias Baixas Bodega

The XIV Sherry Educators course concluded successfully yesterday bringing to over 500 the number of restaurant professionals, sommeliers, wine educators and journalists to have completed the course. The latest group were from Spain and countries as far away as Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. The knowledge gained from this course will allow them to become ambassadors for Sherry in their respective international markets.

Sherry Educators at Barbadillo's La Arboledilla bodega

This highly respected and much enjoyed course takes place twice annually, once in Spanish and once in English, and looks in depth at all aspects of Sherry production from the vineyard to the bodega with tastings along the way. If you are interested, details can be found at www.sherry.wine

González Byass has bought the bodega Pazo de Lusco in the Galician DO Rias Baixas. The firm is now present in no fewer than nine DOs in Spain. Pazo de Lusco consists of five hectares of vineyard planted to Albariño, a XVI century manor house with stables and a chapel.

Sherry is Digging Itself out of a Hole

This is a translation of a very interesting article in El Confidencial which outlines, at least in simple terms, the plight of Sherry and the beginnings of its resurgence.

Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Colosía was always there. When, during the 1960s Sherry sold half way round the world there was money in the Marco de Jerez, he was already working in the bodega bought by his grandfather. When, in the 1970s and early 1980s Ruiz Mateos dropped the prices and thus the prestige of Sherry, he suffered like everyone else. When, in the 1990s and 2,000s the majority of the 350 bodegas which existed then closed, he managed as best he could. And now, now that Sherry is beginning to sell again, Juan Carlos is still there to see it because Sherry, the wine of Churchill, the British Royal Family, Shakespeare and Nelson is back. In 2015, for the first time in 30 years sales in Spain actually rose, and we need to go to Jerez to understand what is happening.

Juan Carlos Gutierrez Colosia (foto:gentedelpuerto)

Helena Rivero is a good example of what is happening. She is the daughter of Joaquín Rivero, a Jerezano and ex-owner of the construction company Metrovacesa who, during the construction boom made one of the biggest fortunes in Spain. At the end of the 1990s Helena had decided she would return to Jerez. The Riveros had once owned one of the oldest bodegas in Jerez, CZ, founded in the XVII century and which, like so many others, closed down in the 1980s after problems with the bank. “Sooner or later I was going to return. A wine with 3,000 years of history couldn’t end up like this. Our generation could not allow ourselves to lose it”, explains Helena as she walks among the butts of the bodega in the centre of Jerez. It is a small, pretty bodega, in amongst the tiny cobbled streets which snake around the city.

So in 1998 Rivero founded Bodegas Tradición, now re-named CZ-Tradición after buying back the historic brand name. They started buying soleras at a time when everyone else was selling them. “In 1998 they thought we were mad, more so when we charged double the price of other wines and staked our reputation on quality. They said we would end up cleaning the windows with all the wine we had bought”, she remembers. Not only did they not want to clean windows, but they wanted to do something crazier still: produce Sherry: Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, Cream, PX and brandy of the maximum quality and sell it to the top end of the market. “Obviously there were better businesses than this but we didn’t only do it for romantic reasons: we wanted to make money”, says Helena, who is president of CZ- Tradición.

Helena Rivero (fot:bodega)

To consider the implications for this company at the end of the 1990s we need to go a few kilometres down to the coast to El Puerto de Santa María. There, at the mouth of the Guadalete river, sits the bodega of Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Colosía, the last Mohican of El Puerto. “In 1996 or 1997 I was at a trade fair in Flanders and nobody stopped at my stand. They didn’t even want to try it. Another time in London someone said “Sherry? No”. To understand why no one wanted Sherry and everyone thought Helena Rivero was throwing away the family fortune on it, we need to look further back.

“In the 1970s the area of vineyards was tripled and this generated vast overproduction, huge amounts of Sherry at low prices which was not up to the usual standard” explains Beltrán Domecq Williams, president of the Consejo Regulador. He is the classic “Sherry Gentleman” with an English surname, blue eyes, wearing a blue suit and a blue shirt with white stripes, a tie, a handkerchief in his top pocket and shiny tasselled shoes. He is a chemist who has worked in the entire chain of  Sherry production. He was director general of Williams & Humbert when it was taken over by Ruiz Mateos in 1972, and while extremely diplomatic, lets slip that he said “There’s not enough wine here”. Beltrán has his office in the Consejo Regulador, a fine building constructed in the 1950s resembling a Jerezano stately home.

Beltran Domecq

In 1964 during the good times, the Denominación de Origen had 7,666 hectares of vineyard. In 1978 it peaked at 22,097 hectares after which it slowly but inexorably declined to the present 7,000 hectares, back to a position of balance between supply and demand. Consumption declined with it. Juan Carlos is less diplomatic, and has no doubt who was responsible for the woes of Sherry: “Ruiz Mateos was our number one disaster. He ruined Jerez. His vision prostituted Sherry by selling poor wine at cheap prices so Sherry lost its prestige. He was bad, and worse still he had good pupils. He wanted to create an industry out of bodegas, but they are not an industry.”

Jerezanos remember that in the good times the streets would smell of wine, and older people have not forgotten the little train which used to transport butts between the bodegas. But after centuries it all came to an end. In one decade Sherry changed from being the wine of British high society, a wine mentioned by Shakespeare no fewer than 40 times, a wine always served at royal weddings and a favourite of the Tsar, to just one more wine on the supermarket shelves. Of course it still had its faithful following, but every time a British lord died Sherry lost a customer. Demography is a stubborn thing.

Then came democracy, a social change to which Jerez did not adapt well. It is not a city which likes change, but ownership of bodegas was being divided among families where often the less capable were left in charge while the more capable emigrated, leading to the end of many. There is nothing left of the bodegas of the wealthy Sherry branch of the Domecqs who took legendary excursions, spending a whole season playing polo in France. Other bodegas were taken over by multi-nationals and some carried on like zombie bodegas. There are now only some 40-50 bodegas where once there were 350.

Old soleras at Osborne (foto:bodega)

With this in mind, it is easy to imagine the expressions on people’s faces when Helena Rivero returned to Jerez to establish a luxury bodega. Further, Sherry has its own peculiarities which make it unique in the world like the solera system, with complicated notes written in chalk on the butts which only the capataz can understand. One single grape can produce all sorts of wine. “When people from other wine regions visit us and see what we do they think we are peasants”.

Traditions were maintained but there was ever less Sherry in the city. Jerez decided to position itself as the city of motorcycling. One can even see the Hollywood Walk of Fame style pavement devoted to famous motorcycle racers in the same avenue as the Consejo Regulador. Jerez also became a city of wastefulness getting into such debt it could not even afford to clean the streets. Corruption was rife; every mayor since Democracy has either been jailed for corruption or accused of it. The wine looked like a relic from the past until about five years ago something began to change.

High class gastronomy began to see Sherry as a wine to accompany a meal rather than just as an aperitif, and slowly, little by little it began to become fashionable. José Argudo López de Carrizosa (now there’s a Sherry name), marketing director of González Byass points out the landmark opening in 2010 of Bar Pepito in King’s Cross, London, the first of the Sherry Bars. Since then they have proliferated in many capital cities. “Sherry is cool, like the new vermouth bars. In London you can see girls sitting in a bar with a glass of Oloroso reading a book.” Then came the documentary film “El Misterio del Palo Cortado” and the novel “La Templanza” by María Dueñas set in XIX century Jerez, both have helped increase awareness of Sherry.

Maria Duenas studying (foto:elperiodico.com)

González Byass is a good example of a big family bodega which has known how to survive. As well as Sherry they produce wine in other areas like Beronia in Rioja, but their star is Tio Pepe. José Argudo’s office is full of Tio Pepe symbolism; even the webcam is carefully fixed to a bottle of it. The bodega, which is the most visited in Europe exploits its history and shows off all its butts signed by famous people with great pride. Few symbols can compete with the illuminated Tio Pepe in the Plaza Puerta del Sol in Madrid, but it has one competitor: the Osborne bull. This famous old firm in El Puerto is now a multinational yet still mostly in family hands. Their communication director, Iván Llanza says that the trick to making a comeback is authenticity. “Some companies need to invent a history but we don’t need to. Here we have a 1792 solera which supplied wine for Tsar Nicholas II, and here is another from 1812.”

The Sherry trade looks at the improvement with palpable excitement. In 2015 domestic sales rose – very slightly, but they rose – from 11.343 million litres to 11.522. A rise of 1.5%, not much but in a period of economic stagnation and falling wine consumption it looks more than hopeful. Beltrán Domecq thinks it might be the first rise in 35 years. While export volumes continue to slide, it is felt in Jerez that it is the larger scale BOB supermarket wines which are sliding while the quality wines are actually rising. Helena Rivero agrees. Sales of CZ-Tradición have grown by 5% in Spain during 2015 and they even ran out of Palo Cortado having sold 2,100 bottles at 80€ each. The bodega produces about 20,000 bottles a year, mostly at 20-30 years old and exports about 75%. They also have a gallery with some great Spanish art. Another prized possession is the bodega’s historical archive which they are slowly digitalising.

Patio at CZ-Tradicion (foto:bodega)

Carlos Gutiérrez is also optimistic. “Sherry was at the point of dying out from its greatness. Ten years ago if someone had asked me I would have said there would be no one left. But now I see a future if we make quality wines worth a high price.” In the bodega he is investing in improvements like restoring old butts. He has survived because his costs are low and the family owns everything. “I do everything from winemaking to bottling, I’ve done it all my life, so I know something about wine…” Of course there is a long way to go before Sherry can recoup its former glory. Beltrán Domecq would like what he sees walking the streets of Jerez to change. “It hurts to walk down the Calle Larga in the very heart of Jerez and see everyone drinking beer or Rioja. It is very sad we Jerezanos are not setting ourselves a good example.”

Despite beer and Rioja in recent years there has been a welcome resurgence of tabancos. Here in these scruffy dives smelling of wine Sherry was traditionally dispensed straight from the butt, but they have cleaned up their act without losing their essential character. Last week in one of them they served the tapas on brown paper on the bar and wrote the bill in chalk on the counter as they always used to. There were the usual old men, but also young people and tourists ordering Oloroso and listening to a Flamenco group which was probably performing for drinks money. “Pa’ qué quiero más tormento que estar un año sin verte? “ (Why would I want more pain than not seeing you for a year?) lamented the singer who said after the applause “Welcome to planet earth, welcome to Jerez.”

19.2.16 Matúsalem Best Fortified Wine in Japan

González Byass Matúsalem VORS Oloroso Dulce has won the trophy for best Fortified Wine in the Japan Wine Challenge 2016 which is regarded as the top Asian wine competition. Matúsalem was the only Spanish wine to win maximum points out of the 1,400 wines which competed from 28 countries, and only 12 gained maximum points. The trophy was presented by her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado at a gala dinner in Tokyo.

HIH presents the trophy (fot:vinetur)

Pale Cream Croft Original 17.5%, González Byass

Appearance

Fino-like bright pale strawy gold, more legs though.

Nose

Light and fresh though restrained a bit by the sweetness, a bit like Fino blended with mosto which is pretty well what it is, hints of lemon cake icing, sweeties.

Palate

Reasonably well balanced with a very gentle tang and the sweetness is not too excessive. Inevitably it has less flavour than the traditional dark Cream, but the point is it's lightness, and it does match different foods, even if it is not very exciting on its own.

Comments

This was the first ever Pale Cream, (hence "Original") launched in the 1970s by International Distillers and Vintners (IDV) who used the name of their Port subsidiary Croft to also sell a range of Sherry, much from the old Gilbey soleras. A huge bodega complex was built, Rancho Croft, and Original challenged Bristol Cream for the top selling position. As a result of various corporate changes Rancho Croft eventually closed and the brand and its soleras were sold to GB. The wine is basically a sweetened Fino and is made from mosto yema (first pressing), fermented in stainless steel and fortified to 15.5%. The wine is aged in solera for about four years as a blend with concentrated sweet Palomino musts. Sugar content is 110 g/l which is a bit lower than most dark Cream Sherry, and Croft is a decent accompaniment to pâtés and soft fruit salads among other delights.

Price

€6.95 in Spain. Widely available.

13.12.15 Jerez Takes in Emperador Takeover

275 million euros is a lot to spend on a mere whim. The Philippine magnate Andrew L Tan has become the focus of attention since he burst onto the Jerez scene with the purchase of the old Domecq business. Outwardly the bodegas are pleased, but inwardly they are worried as nobody knows what he has in mind and all indications are that he is here to stay.

Many feel that his arrival could be the spur needed to re-inject vitality to the brandy business. Some of the bigger firms were thinking of removing their principal brands from the DO – which gives the brandy its nobility - so they could be sold cheaply as “spirt drinks”. The two bodegas which opened Pandora’s Box: Osborne with Veterano and González Byass with Soberano, have the most to lose.

Tan’s interest in Jerez brandy and in particular Fundador stems from way back. It is the national drink in the Philippines and Fundador is the brand leader. Tan visited Jerez 30 years ago to study how it was made. Later on the self-made millionaire established a commercial relationship with González Byass which he recently strengthened with a strategic alliance for brandy production. Those who know the workings of GB are convinced that the firm would have had serious difficulties staying at the top without Mr Tan and not without reason. He is their biggest customer and even before their joint venture was spending 100 million euros, equivalent to half their turnover.

The González family, who were aware of the progress of the negotiations to buy Domecq, had a meeting days earlier with Mr Tan, who assured them that their joint venture was not at risk, at least for the moment. Nevertheless the family is convinced that the magnate will, sooner or later, break the agreement to concentrate his efforts on Domecq.

Osborne is also on the alert. The firm has represented both the good and the bad in the brandy sector over recent years and has changed from being primarily a Sherry producer to a spirits producer with a large number of brands, some previously bought from Domecq. Osborne was the first to remove Veterano from the DO and at the same time reinforced their faith in Jerez brandy by buying up any well-known brand they could get their hands on. They felt that they had everything under control until the sudden appearance of Andrew Tan which might completely disrupt their plans. For now the Osborne brandies are dominant in the domestic and German markets, a position which Tan would be in a position to compete with if his objective, as the brandy sector believes, were to invest in Fundador and recover its prestige.

Those who have followed Tan’s career say that he is a patient man, one who believes in the longer term. The test will be when the apprentice became the master. Thirty years after his first visit to Jerez his Emperador brandy is the second best-selling alcoholic drink in the world with annual sales of 40 million 9 litre cases – almost 30 times the total annual sales of Brandy de Jerez and 10 times the combined sales of Jerez brandy and Sherry. Only time will tell whether Tan will be the spur so badly needed for Jerez brandy. If so the old Fundador slogan could be revived: “El coñac – ahora brandy – que está como nunca.” (The Cognac – now called brandy – is as good as ever.) This refers to the fact that for a long time Jerez brandy was known as Cognac - or "coñac" , until the term was outlawed.

17.11.15 González Byass Palmas 2015 Released

The 2015 selection of the fantastic Palma range from González Byass is available from today. This is the 5^th annual release, all bottled en rama, and consists of 4 Palma wines of increasing age from 6 years old (Una Palma), 8 years old (Dos Palmas), 10 years old and virtually flor free (Tres Palmas) to over 40 (Cuatro Palmas), selected from an original selection of 30 butts in the Tio Pepe soleras. Palma is Fino but of exceptional finesse, and in this range one can see the development of the wine as it ages into Amontillado. Every year a leading wine journalist is chosen to help Antonio Flores with the selection, and this year it was Michael Schachner, Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s Hispanic wine editor based in New York. Only 6,000 bottles of this stunning and rare Sherry will be released so you had better bet your skates on!

29.10.15 Trafalgar Sherry 1805

Earlier this month Josep Roca, sommelier and co-proprietor of El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, the best restaurant in the world, led a seriously interesting tasting at the San Sebastián Gastronómika Congress. There were only three wines but with a dimension that goes far beyond mere colour, aroma and flavour, wines which “help one to think and to live” as Josep put it.

The first two wines were from Catalunya. Carinyana de Capmany 2012 from the bodega Arché Pagés in Empordá, made from vines which had suffered in a fire years ago and which imparted amazing smoky aromas. Then came Pau 2008 from the Proyecto Ilusión+del Priorat, made from vines which had been attacked by ELA (a deadly fungal disease). Kept going by its acidity, it was lacking body but interesting nonetheless for its unusual balance.

Josep Roca with the ancient wine (foto:elmundo)

The third wine was the really interesting one: 1805 Sherry from González Byass, bought by the González family in the same year as the battle of Trafalgar, before the foundation of the bodega. Only a very few arrobas of this wine remain at the La Cuadrada bodega in Jerez. Josep pointed out that the wine, from a half bottle and served in drops on the hand from tiny plastic bottles, showed that Jerez is so much more than piles of barres; it is capable of making “immortal” wines. He described this intensely concentrated wine as “salty tears dressed in copper with a prickle of iodine, a long gone spring, a duel between earth, time and wood, a wine which has eaten away at the old seasoned wood. It grips like a knife on the palate a sea fossil sprinkled with sunshine.” Unusual tasting notes, but I haven’t had the opportunity to try it myself!

A Royal Visit to Jerez and its Bodegas

From an interesting article by Antonio Mariscal Trujillo in Diario de Jerez

Queen Isabel  II with her husband Francisco de Asis de Borbón and their children, Isabel, María de la Paz,  Eulalia and Alfonso undertook a state visit to the provinces of Andalucía in the autumn of 1862. At midday on the 3^rd of October the royal train from Cádiz pulled into the station at Jerez greeted by the bell of the Madre de Dios convent which was soon followed by all the others. Amid cheers and marching bands their majesties were received by civil, military and ecclesiastical dignitaries as well as the most prominent citizens who awaited them at the end of the platform. After a few brief words of welcome from the mayor, José María Izquierdo, the tightly scheduled programme began.

Isabel II (foto:slideplayer.es)

Before a huge cheering crowd which surrounded the station the royal party boarded a coach drawn by six handsome horses in richly adorned harness and set off for the Collegiate Church. They were followed by a cortège of no fewer than sixty coaches all beautifully adorned, and it was said that the scene of streets, public buildings and church towers bedecked with coats of arms, flags and other decorations was almost too impressive to describe.

The Queen entered the city by way of the Calle Porvenir, at the start of which had been erected an arabesque archway. Hundreds of flowers and sheets of paper bearing poetic compositions rained down on the royal coach, while thousands of doves with coloured bows flew above the procession. On arrival at the Collegiate Church the royals could hardly get through the crowd and the noise of all the bells, bands and cheers of “¡Viva la Reina!” was deafening. They were greeted by the abbot and the collegiate chapter who ushered them to the main altar where they gave prayers of thanks.

Next the royal party headed for the Alcázar and after greeting the multitude from a window of the Ponce de León tower, they proceeded to the dining room luxuriously appointed with fine paintings. Her majesty was joined for lunch by various dignitaries at a table laid with the finest lace cloth, candelabra and silver cutlery, and the most exquisite meal was served from the finest china and glassware. With dessert the Queen was given commemorative medals in gold, silver and bronze, struck for the occasion. Four thousand more – presumably bronze ones - were thrown from a window to the crowd along with poems printed on silk.

Commemorative medal (foto:todocoleccion)

After lunch her majesty went to the throne room of the beautifully adorned Palacio de Villavicencio where the great and the good could pay homage. She granted the mayor an audience where he begged her to become a patron of the company formed to bring a water supply to the city from the Tempul springs which she granted, instructing the minister of development to do everything necessary to this end. After greeting the cheering crowds at a window the royal party set off for González Byass (González Dubosq as it was known then).

At the entrance to the bodegas the firm had built a triumphal arch in stone, which still stands there to this day. The royals entered through it and were welcomed by Manuel María González Ángel, the founder and director of the bodega, who invited them to watch the treading of the grapes. Luckily he knew of the royal desire to see this beforehand as the harvest was long finished, so he had sent people out to buy as many grapes kept back by people for pasas as they could obtain. They obtained no fewer than 23,000 kilos!

The arch at Gonzalez Byass (foto:elperiodico)

Treading over, their majesties were shown round the bodegas where the finest soleras were kept and here a young venenciador filled two crystal glasses with very old PX from a silver venencia so they could taste the nectar of Jerez. On taking their leave the royal party thanked Manuel María for a wonderful visit and stressed how important the Sherry industry was. Poor Manuel María, however, was out of pocket to the tune of 30,000 duros. He was offered a dukedom by the Queen but he politely refused. The wine produced by such unusual means turned out to be excellent and he commissioned a massive barrel to contain the 33 butts worth of it. As Christ died at the age of 33 the barrel was christened “El Cristo” and still sits in the bodega alongside twelve others named the Apostles. Judas is kept in the vinegar store. Manuel Maria dedicated the bodega La Concha, built in 1869, to her majesty in honour of her visit.

The triumphal arch at C/Lenceria (foto:jerezintramuros)

The Queen and her party now set off to visit Garvey’s bodega in Calle Guadalete via the Calle Lancería where a triumphal arch had been constructed in the Doric style. Having passed by more cheering crowds they arrived to the sound of the royal march and were greeted by Patricio Garvey, son of William the founder, and his two elder sons. Here the royals tasted their wines which would include their famously fine Amontillados and probably their Fino San Patricio which was  quite new to the  market. They went on to enjoy a tour of the bodega San Patricio which was the largest single bodega in Jerez, before setting off again to Visit the hospital.

At the Hospital de la Merced, which was renamed Santa Isabel de Hungría in the Queen’s honour they met the senior doctor and the nuns while visiting the wards and chatting with patients. Then it was back through the cheering crowds to the station where the Queen thanked the mayor in words of real affection and satisfaction for the wonderful reception she had received from this “Most Noble and Most Loyal City of Jerez”. At five o’clock the train pulled away from the cheering crowds in the direction of Sevilla. For many days afterwards the royal visit was the only thing people talked about, after all it had been 66 years since the last royal visit, that of Carlo IV in 1796.

Bodegas: Gordon & Co

Arthur Gordon was born in Beldorney Aberdeenshire in 1729, the fourth of eleven children born to James Gordon, Lord of Beldorney and Kildrummy, an area fairly near Huntly in Aberdeenshire, and Lady Mary Gordon of Wardhouse and of Law. The family were staunch Jacobites and as a result of the battle of Culloden in 1746 and the subsequent repression of Catholics, he fled abroad arriving eventually in Jerez in 1754 aged 25. He soon married María del Rosario, daughter of the Flemish Miguel Morrough and the Spanish Phelipa Navarro with whom he had a son, but who unfortunately died in infancy.

Wardhouse as it is today (it is a listed building!)

In Jerez he conducted various import-export businesses and prospered, but eventually chose to concentrate on wine. Starting with the lease of several small bodegas, he ended up building a large one of his own in 1787 as well as a very comfortable house next door. The house, known as Las Atarazanas, stands in the Plaza de San Andrés, once at the edge of Jerez as it was the site of an old arsenal. The area was remodelled in 1860 by the mayor - the Marqués del Mérito, no less.

Gordon was an innovator, improving vinification and ageing as he went along and building a very successful network of agents and distributors (one of whom was George Sandeman), but soon felt he could not manage the enterprise any longer on his own. Being childless he therefore summoned his nephew Robert, son of his brother Cosmo, and James Arthur (1759-1823), son of his brother John. They lived in Las Atarazanas while their uncle lived in Cadiz where he could oversee shipments.

In 1794 Arthur decided to semi-retire, and joined a friend and fellow Scot, William Dalry in a banking and investment business having become very rich. He left the business for his nephews to run, while always keeping close contact, and they formed the firm Gordon & Co, joined by Robert’s brother Charles and John David Gordon Boyd, who in 1820 would be appointed first British Vice-Consul in Jerez, and be followed by Charles Peter Gordon. By this time the company had bodegas in both Jerez and El Puerto de Santa Maria.

In 1809 James Arthur welcomed his relative the poet George Gordon Noel Lord Byron, showing him how Sherry was produced and letting him taste it "from the very fountainhead." Byron stayed at las Atarazanas while he visited old Arthur in Cádiz and another, more distant relative, Sir William Gordon who worked with Sir James Duff at Duff Gordon in El Puerto de Santa María. 

Las Atarazanas. The bodega was behind. (foto:google)

After the French invasion of 1808, the Gordons, like everyone else encountered many problems - especially when the French found out they had entertained the Duke of Wellington - but they survived. Old Arthur Gordon died in 1815 leaving a fortune. By 1840 Gordon & Co was one of the six biggest shippers. Despite being one of the big six however, the firm encountered grave problems beginning in 1856, and in an attempt to avoid collapse, Jose Carlos Gordon Villaverde, son of Jacobo Pedro Gordon, struck a deal with Larios Hermanos, the Malaga Wine producers. It evidently worked, as he was able to re-start the business in 1857, and in 1868 took on a new partner, William Mitford. The firm was now called José C Gordon & Co and re-commenced exports over the next five years. Mitford retired, Felipe Norman replaced him, but it was not to last, and the firm went under in 1878. Some of the stocks went to González Byass.

In 1877 a descendant of James Arthur, Nicolasa Gordon Moreno married Pedro Nolasco González de Soto, (son of the founder of González Byass) first Marques de Torresoto de Briviesca, and thus began the relationship between the Gordons and the González families. Nicolasa and Pedro lived at  Las Atarazanas, and their heirs still own it. Currently González Byass has no fewer than 5 board/family members with Gordon in their name.

Over the years the Gordons never forgot their roots and Arthur Gordon built Wardhouse Mansion in Aberdeenshire in 1757. He visited frequently, and throughout successive generations the family used the house, but many were visiting from Spain. They were known as the “Spanish Gordons” and Juan José Gordon, the 8^th Laird even built a bullring there. King Alfonso XIII of Spain and his wife Victoria Eugenia spent their honeymoon at Wardhouse in 1906, far from the  assassination attempt they had recently experienced in Barcelona. The house was eventually sold in 1952, and is now a ruin, yet Gordons still occasionally visit. Beldorney Castle however, is still in good condition.

The Gordons were a very large family and there were various Gordon bodegas, principal of which was Gordon & Co.followed by Gordon Beigbeder and briefly Gordon Murphy & Farrell, Gordon Doz. 

12.9.15 Fiesta Gastronómica; Sherrymaster

Starting on Tuesday the Fiesta Gastronómica de la Vendimia will take place on the Alameda Vieja, the jacaranda-lined area round the Alcázar in Jerez. It runs till Saturday the 19^th inclusive and is open all day with live music at 23.00 each night, with the great Diego Carrasco playing on the last night. A tapa and a drink will be available for €3.50 and no fewer than 16 bars and restaurants will have a stand showing off their specialities.

At the III edition of González Byass Sherrymaster, Pedro Ballesteros MW (Spain’s first Master of Wine) gave an impassioned tutored tasting of Sherries going back over 100 years. He said that Jerez was in the middle of a revolution but not enough producers were taking advantage of their wines’ ageing potential or their terroirs. He said that they should move away from mass-market wines and concentrate on small batch wines from single vineyards or even parts of the vineyards, and not lose their intimate knowledge of them.

He said that en rama wines were now fairly common but he would like to see an unfortified Sherry and the wines recognised as “Fine Wine.” He said that González Byass were going about things in the right way, in fact it could be said that they were the “Silicon Valley of Jerez.” Regarding ageing potential, he said that there is a market for the older wines among the “frikis” or Sherry nuts, who will be delighted to know that GB has announced the forthcoming release of the Añada 1987. GB’s oenologist Antonio Flores said that vintage wines need to be bottled at 27-28 years of age before they become too woody and can continue development in bottle. 

21.8.15 Harvest at Barbadillo and González Byass

Bodegas Barbadillo has begun harvesting and hope to pick 10 million kilos of grapes which they say are of excellent quality. They reckon the harvest will last till the first week of September. About 2.5 million kilos will come from the firm’s own 300 hectares of vineyard in Santa Lucía and Gibalbín. The rest will come from the 35 contracted growers’ vineyards in Jerez and Sanlúcar. They are picking about half a million kilos daily, split between mechanical and hand harvesting. The machines work at night till morning and the humans work from dawn till it gets too hot.

So far sugar readings are between 11.5ᴼ and 12ᴼ Beaumé and with the forecast cooling of temperatures the ripening will revert to normal. Much of th harvest will go for the firm’s top selling white table wine brand Castillo de San Diego which celebrates its 40^th anniversary this year. They also make a sparkling wine Beta, for which the Chardonnay was picked at the end of July. It is already fermented and awaits the Palomino to join it in the blend. Meanwhile with the red grapes they will pick Merlot at the end of this month and later the Tempranillo, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Cabernet.

Hand picking at Barbadillo (foto:diariojerez)

González Byass has also been harvesting at their 15.5 hectare La Racha vineyard, one of their holdings in the Pago Macharnudo. They have been picking by hand here and at night for the last four years. The 39 pickers are all men. They used to be mostly women as the men were working in construction, but the crisis put an end to that. Each worker picks some 600 kilos of grapes and the harvest will take two or at the most three days. The grapes go to a selection table where any bad bunches will be discarded. The pickers all have hi-viz jackets and lights on their heads and with the tractors’ headlights as well, there is enough light to see, but the noise from the engines makes conversation difficult.

30.7.15 More Awards for Sherry

In the III edition of the wine competition “Catatalentos”, open for the first time to fortified wines, three Sherries won awards. Manzanilla Maruja from Juan Piñero took the crianza biológica award while the crianza oxidative went to Palo Cortado Leonor from González Byass and the sweet went to Moscatel Pasas from César Florido. The event is organised by the chemicals giant BASF who want to showcase the quality and variety of Spanish wines. Interestingly the winning wine were chosen in a blind tasting by the bodegueros, oenologists and growers themselves.

Juan Pinero receives his award (foto:diariojerez)

25.6.15 Zarcillo Awards 2015

Premios Zarcillo is a biennial wine competition originally national but since 1999 international. This, therefore was the XVI national edition and the VIII international edition. Zarcillo is the Spanish word for a tendril. The following Sherries won the following awards.

Gran Zarcillo de Oro:

PX Noé (González Byass)

Zarcilla de Oro:

Palo Cortado Apóstoles and Fino Tio Pepe (González Byass)

Moscatel Los Madroñales and Moscatel Pasas Los Madroñales (Bodega Coop Católico Agricola)