Brandy Duque de Valdivia Solera Gran Reserva 40%, Bodegas Valdivia

Appearance
Mahogany with copper highlights and the faintest trace of green at the rim.
Nose
Full and rich with an attractive balance of distilled wine and Oloroso, hints of figs and dates, traces of caramel, vanilla, walnuts, all nicely harmonised with a suspicion of oak. Classic Brandy de Jerez.
Palate
Fairly full and yet elegant with distinct Oloroso character; as it opens out it shows a leaner side and so the sugar content below seems a little unlikely as it is virtually dry, though not completely, and is beautifully rounded. There are all sorts of nuances including cinnamon, raisin, oak, nuts and caramel, but everything is in balance with a gentle texture and good length.
Comments

This delicious brandy comes from the now defunct Bodegas Valdivia, located at one of the highest points of Jerez near Urium, which has the dubious honour of passing through the hands of Rumasa - twice. It was set up by Rumasa with a touristic hotel in the grounds which was once José María Ruiz Mateos' father's house and sold off as part of its expropriation in 1985. Nueva Rumasa eventually bought it back through its subsidiary Grupo Garvey, but the firm went bust again and the bodega was on the market, again. The receivers sold off all the stock and the empty bodega was eventually bought by the Huelva-based cooperage firm of José & Miguel Martin for the purposes of cask seasoning. The brandy was made from mostly Airén grapes with a little Palomino fermented at low temperature for a fresh character and distilled with some light lees. Made only from holandas, it was aged in ex Oloroso butts in solera and was bottled with an average age of over 8 years containing around 15 g/l sugars. It had a 15 year old big brother, Pedro de Valdivia and an older still Pedro de Valdivia Platinum.

Price
35.60 Licores Corredera

18.10.15 Buyer found for Valdivia

A mercantile judge in Cádiz has accepted an offer for Bodegas Valdivia in Jerez from the Huelva bodega and cooperage company José y Miguel Martín SL based in Bollullos par del Condado. The business of seasoning rum and whisky butts is huge, estimated to total some 60,000 annually, and they are a leading firm in this trade. Glenfarclas is one of their customers. They had hoped to receive permission to use terms such as “Sherry cask” or “Oloroso cask” from the Patents Office but the Consejo Regulador put a stop to that as wine from Huelva is not Sherry.

Hotel Villa del Duque, Valdivia bodega in background (foto:diariodejerez)

The ex Nueva Rumasa complex sold as a (nearly) going concern, consists of three bodegas and the small Hotel Villa del Duque, and has been on the market for five years with just one employee to look after it. With the purchase Martín has acquired a registration with the Sherry Consejo. Naturally the new owners want to get started as soon as possible, and will take on a workforce, but not necessarily those who previously worked at the bodega. There is no mention so far of the price paid. An Israeli group made an offer of 3.3 million euros a year ago, but no more was heard from them. In any case the price paid will be a bargain, even though much of the stock and equipment has been sold off. It is thought that Nueva Rumasa originally paid 20 million euros.

PX Sacromonte 15 Years Old 15%, Valdivia

Appearance
Very deep blacky burnt umber to amber to yellow at the rim, very viscous.
Nose
Quite intense, lots of pasa, dried grape pulp, date, dried fig (you can smell the texture) with traces of coffee, even a slight note of tar, a hint of alcohol and a slight note of old barrels. Rich, hefty, fairly concentrated and not excessively sweet.
Palate
Full, assertive, viscous with all sorts of flavours: chocolate, coffee, raisin (naturally), oak, fig, prunes, caramel, toffee, even licorice, really quite complex and serious, intensely sweet with interminable length. Really very good.
Comments
Aged for 15 years and contains about 380 g/l sugar - quite low really for PX, but no bad thing as flavour can get lost in too much viscosity. It would be good to see the whole range here, but Liberty only import the 15 year olds: Amontillado, Oloroso and this PX. It would be better still to see someone buy this bodega which has been languishing since its purchase by Garvey (read Nueva Rumasa). These wines are good though. 91 Penin points for this one.
Price
A 50 cl bottle will set you back about £20.00. UK agents Liberty Wines.

23.11.14 Offer Received for Bodegas Valdivia

An Israeli group, Keren More LTC of Tel Aviv has tabled an offer of 3.3 million for the bodega which includes the Villa del Duque hotel, and has promised to invest a further 4.7 million to re-start the business. This offer represents a mere 20% of the 16 million value put on the ex Nueva Rumasa business, but is the only serious offer received in the three and a half years since the business went into administration.

Entrance to bodegas with hotel on left (foto:diario jerez)

The administrators feel that poor though it is, this is the best option to conclude the sale of the company. The economic crisis has hit Spain badly and Jerez in particular, and the bodega business is not attractive to potential investors. Keren More will have to prove that they have absolutely no link to Nueva Rumasa, who had notoriously devious ways and means of hiding their presence in deals.

The proposal is to purchase the 19,000 m2 of bodegas (Valdivia, Pedro Valdivia and Sacromonte) as well as the hotel and all equipment. There are plans to buy more wine and brandy stock and barrels, to create a commercial department and develop new brands. New contracts of employment will be offered first to ex-employees, and about a dozen are expected in the first year.

8.6.14 GB Opens Archives; Valdivia Still For Sale; Sherry Should be DOC

Gonzalez Byass is opening up some of its archives in recognition of International Archive Day. On Monday the public will be able to see some of the company’s historic records in two sessions, the first at 11.00 and the second at 13.00. These records show a fundamental part of the social and economic history of Jerez as well as the family and business legacy of the firm’s founder, Manuel Maria Gonzalez Angel.

Bodegas Valdivia (Foto Diario Jerez)

No buyers have yet been found for Bodegas Valdivia. If times were less difficult it would make an attractive proposition. It is a pristine bodega attached to a beautiful old hotel, the Villa del Duque. The sale includes furniture and cars, the bottling plant, the brands, the vineyards, website, and the wine, which is being looked after elsewhere. It has all been divided into lots to try and facilitate a sale. The liquidators are hoping to raise 16.5 million, but are far from optimistic.

Jose Ramon Estevez (Foto Diario Jerez)

Sherry should have a Denominacion de Origen CALIFICADA, according to Jose Ramon Estevez, the president of Grupo Estevez. His is one of the leading firms in the area with turnover of 103 million Euros, 800 hectares of vineyard and sales of 30 million bottles annually.

In an analysis prepared for a forum sponsored by the Banco Popular and publisher Grupo Joly, and in the presence of other bodegueros, growers and cooperative members, he suggested this as a way to create employment, wealth and increased prestige for Sherry.

He used the model of the French growers who are prepared to sacrifice quantity for quality and many of whose vineyards are classified. The Sherry growers should be proud to be so.

Many changes would have to be made: everything that goes into a bottle of Sherry would have to come from Jerez like the fortification spirit, for example. A change of mentality from the growers is needed, and from the bodegas too. Sherry should be repositioned as a unique wine of top quality, rather than an everyday drink. Much more investment is needed in promotion, and margins would need to be increased to cover that. (See Opinion)

Bodegas: Valdivia

Valdivia was originally established by Rumasa in 1960, and passed through the hands of Williams & Humbert and then in 2003 to Intermonte, an investment and construction group from Murcia. They bought the grand house the Villa del Duque and neighbouring bodegas from Williams and Humbert which they proceeded to revamp, converting the Villa into a hotel, thus creating Jerez’ first wine tourism centre in a complex of 20,000 m2 located in the central Barrio Santiago.

The three bodegas called Valdivia, Pedro de Valdivia and Sacromonte were up dated to the highest level of equipment and the enologist Rafael Veas was installed. Vineyards extending to 250 hectares were bought - the Pago de la Plata in Jerez Superior.

In March 2008 the complex was bought by Nueva Rumasa for 20 million Euros through its Grupo Garvey subsidiary, which is now in administration. Nueva Rumasa was sold by the Ruiz Mateos family to Back in Business, a company specialising in revitalising companies with difficulties, and which received offers to buy Valdivia – including its debts – but refused. Angel de Cabo, owner of Back in business is currently in jail, and the bodega is not working, so heaven knows what will happen to it.

The bodega produces Brandies and Vino de la Tierra de Cadiz as well as the following Sherries:

The Valdivia Suite range, aged for 5-10 years:

Fino; Manzanilla “La Rubia”;PX; Medium; Cream; Pale Cream; Oloroso Seco; Amontillado Seco

The Sacromonte range aged over 15 years:

Amontillado; PX; Oloroso

Contact

Address: C/ Zoilo Ruiz Mateos Camacho s/n, 11408 Jerez de la Frontera, Cadiz

Tel: (+34) 956 314 358

Web: bodegasvaldivia.com