18.3.18 Wine Origins Launch DO Protection Campaign in US

The Consejo Regulador and Wine Origins (of which it is a member) have spent the last week campaigning to increase protection for Denominations of Origin in the United States. There, many European wines, such as Sherry, Port and Champagne, among others, are considered “semi-generic” and these names continue to be used legally for imitations produced in America. On 1^st March 2016 the European Union and the United States signed the Wine Accord in an attempt to deal with this, but unfortunately American producers with labels already registered with these names were allowed to continue to use them.

Representatives of the various Wine Origins Denominations. Cesar Saldana from Jerez is at back centre (foto:CRDO Jerez)

The problem is that American consumers have to try to distinguish between the real thing and locally produced imitations which give a false impression of the real thing. Wine Origins is an alliance of classic wine production areas in Europe, the United States and Australia which is campaigning to protect the names of their wines’ origins. Many American producers have joined the alliance, and research shows that 94% of American consumers support the idea. Thecampaign involved much lobbying of senators, congressmen and the media, and the results have been very positive - with the help of the occasional tasting. Only the large corporations which are members of the California Wine Institute stand in the way, but it was felt that their armour had been breached. Most of the world’s great wines are named after their place of origin, and the real thing can only be produced there, so it is vital to protect them.

29.1.18 Contentious Issues for next Consejo Regulador Meeting

The order of the day for the next plenary meeting of the Consejo Regulador contains two matters which have long been contentious and need resolution. Item 4, headed “Applications in Relation to the Zona de Crianza” begins with section 4:1 in which bodegas in the production zone wish to extend the crianza zone to cover the totality of the production zone. At present, the crianza zone only includes the towns of Jerez, Sanlúcar and El Puerto de Santa María. Bodegas there can buy wine or mosto from bodegas in the production zone, age it in the crianza zone and sell it as DO Sherry, but the original producers can’t sell what is pretty well the same wine directly as DO Sherry because they are not in the crianza zone. Some great wines from places like Trebujena, Chipiona and Chiclana cannot, therefore call themselves DO Sherry.

Section 4:2 covers an issue has been debated for at least a decade, which is the desire of the bodegas in Jerez and El Puerto to put an end to Fino from Sanlúcar. Their argument is that Sanlúcar has its own wine: Manzanilla, which can only be produced there, so it is unfair that it can also produce Fino. If bodegas in Jerez and El Puerto want to sell Manzanilla, they either have to buy it from bodegas in Sanlúcar or have their own bodega there, which adds considerably to their costs.

As things stand, while both Fino and Manzanilla can be made with the same grapes from the same DO vineyards, the only real difference is that Manzanilla must be aged in Sanlúcar where the flor is permanent all year round. The result is Manzanilla though, not Fino, according to the Jerez and El Puerto Bodegas who object to the fact that they can’t produce Manzanilla, but Sanlúcar can produce Fino. The sanluqueños, however, feel that they could be deprived of a historic right, and that they can indeed produce Fino, even though not a great deal of it is actually produced, and most of that is for BOB – and they don’t have to buy it in, making them competitive. Having consulted independent experts on the subject, Fedejerez has prepared a report which will no doubt be produced at the meeting.

4.12.16 Results of the III Concurso de Mostos

Every year the wine producers of the Marco de Jerez enter their newly made wine into a blind tasting competition judged by the tasting panel of the Consejo Regulador. As the local saying goes: “Por San Andrés el mosto vino es” or by Saint Andrew’s day the must becomes wine. These are unfortified table wines, 100% Palomino. There are two categories: the bigger producers and the artisan producers, and three prizes are awarded to each. The names of non-winners are not announced. This year’s results were:

In the category of bigger producers:

First: González Byass (Jerez)

Second: Cooperativa Católica Agrícola (Chipiona)

Third: Covisan (Sanlúcar)

In the category of artisan producers:

First: Viñas “El Vínculo” – Ángel Gonzalo

Second: Viñas “Zorreños” – Rafael Rodríguez

Third: La Fama – Francisco Barba Lagomazzimi

A public tasting was held yesterday at the Atalaya accompanied by zambombas, and people could vote for their favourite and enter a draw for a copy of the Gran Libro de los Vinos de Jerez. The red flag will now be flying at the doors of many a bar where mosto is available. It is delicious!

The Consejo tasting room with mostos ready for examination

8.11.13 Gymcata Jerez

"You can smell that lovely aroma from the street!"

The I “Gymcata Denominacion de Origen Jerez” has been a great success. The 13 teams of contestants had to pass tests such as blind tastings and differentiating different types of vinegar, going round tabancos and bodegas.

A member of one team, the “Turismologos”, a UCA student, said that she had begun to get to know Jerez itself, rather than just the route from the station to college. “It is really interesting”.

The event, organised by the University of Cadiz (UCA) and the Campus of Agro-alimentary Excellence, and supported by the City Council, The Consejo Regulador, Tabancora (the Tabanco association) and the Association of Oenologists of Andalucia, was timed to coincide with the V European Day of Wine Tourism. Another student, of oenology, said it was great fun. They had visited Gonzalez Byass and the tabanco El Pasaje. “The professors have been encouraging us, and “we’ve arrived in a very good place”.

In El Pasaje they had a really sweet test. Manuel Sanchez, one of those in charge of the test, and who is finishing his doctoral thesis on research into making sweets from Sherry, brought various samples of truffles to see if the contestants could tell which type of Sherry they had been made with.

Another team, “Los Viñeros”, were the winners after they completed all the tests in the least time. The team’s spokesperson pointed out that the event is the perfect way to promote not only Sherry itself, but to get the locals to realise what a treasure of a wine they have. Speaking from the door of the tabanco Las Banderillas, Domi Guillen also said that people would get to know better the tabancos of Jerez, which are delightful. “My test was to differentiate between Palo Cortado, Oloroso, Amontillado and Fino”.

Most of the teams were students, mostly Spanish, but from as far afield as Colombia and Portugal, and they were all delighted to discover how good Sherry and other local products are, not to mention the place and its history.

Tomorrow is also full of activities. Many bodegas have doors open days, some with violin concerts or equestrian shows, visits to vineyards, art exhibitions. There will also take place the first of the “Sherry Cooking Classes”, while the Consejo is organising a tasting for the visually impaired in collaboration with the City council and the ONCE (the Spanish National Organisation for the Blind). There will also be a tutored Sherry and food marriage tasting with a reading of poetry. Then there will be a timed rally starting in the Plaza Arenal.

Oh! How I wish I were in Jerez right now!!!

4.10.13 Vinoble Dates Changed; Rains Have Arrived; Consejo Budget

The dates for Vinoble have changed. The great fortified and sweet wine tasting event at the Alcazar in Jerez has changed the dates to 25, 26 and 27^th May to avoid clashing with the relocated London Wine Fair.

Autumn rain has arrived. For the last week rain has been falling and causing problems. In Sanlucar, 21 litres per square meter fell in only 15 minutes yesterday, more than the drains could cope with in so little time, and there were scattered floods of a minor nature. 

The Consejo Regulador hopes to triple its budget for the supervision and promotion of Sherry, after its drastic reduction over the crisis years. At yesterday’s plenary meeting, the Consejo discussed the final figures for the 2013 harvest, but the budget took pride of place. It is not really sufficient to take advantage of the recent revival of interest in Sherry, and more money needs to be found, especially from public bodies and increased levies on the trade.

Meanwhile the growers are content with the proposal of a 1 centimo per kilo levy as long as they can get a decent price for their grapes, agreed between them and the bodegas, who would have to double their current contribution of I centime per litre of wine sold. Cesar Saldaña, director of the Consejo, thinks this formula, along with increased public funding, could raise about 2 million euros, especially for generic promotion and education.

24.9.13 More Sherry Educators

23 new Sherry Educators have been appointed after this summer’s course. They come from all sorts of related backgrounds, such as sommeliers, writers and restaurateurs, and are from 13 different countries. They undertook a three day intensive course of total immersion in the Sherry business consisting of theoretical and practical sessions, seminars, tastings, bodega and vineyard visits in the three main Sherry towns, ending with an exam for the title. The Consejo Regulador has been running these courses very successfully since 2004, two every year, one in English and one in Spanish. The idea being to disseminate knowledge of and enthusiasm for Sherry.

26.7.13 Great Exhibition at Jerez Museum; Last Pre-Harvest Consejo Meeting

Antes de las Soleras y el Catavino (before soleras and tasting glasses) is the theme of a new activity in the Jerez Arqueological Museum, dedicated to the relationship between wine and the history and culture of Jerez. There will be four events on the 6^th 13^th 20^th and 27^th of August at 19.30 in English and at 20.00 in Spanish.

These will comprise a tour of the Museum, highlighting the most relevant exhibits to the theme.  The Museum director, Rosalia Gonzalez, explained that wine, which has so marked the city’s history, will be the protagonist, so that visitors will be able to get to know the different aspects of the art and culture of wine in Jerez up to the end of the XVIII century, when the solera system came into common use.

The Museum has all sorts of ceramic vessels, amphorae, sculptures, reliefs, mosaics and pieces of glass among other things, which speak of gods, myths, symbols, rituals and business, all relative to wine, whose consumption is generally accepted in this area as dating back to the fist millennium BC in the times of Tartessos with the arrival of the Phonecians. The Carambolo painted ceramics belong to this era, and were excavated both at the necropolis and at the area called Mesas de Asta, and recent studies have shown they were used for wine.

The Manzanilla Question and the shortage of grapes will be the main topics at the plenary meeting of the Consejo on Tuesday, where it is hoped to finally cure some old wounds. The Manzanilla Question, a proposal by Fedejerez to limit Fino production to Jerez, a vote on which was postponed for a cooling-off period, will be on the agenda, but it seems likely to be postponed again. Also, the Consejo has not yet received a reply from the Junta, from whom it requested an opinion, as the Junta is waiting for an opinion from Brussels on the new Reglamento.

There are other matters needing resolution, such as old customs and rules unchanged since the start of the Denominacion de Origen in the 1930’s which are obsolete, and more so with the arrival of the new regulations. The thorny issue of bag-in-box is another, not to mention the use of the word Chiclana on moscatel from there, the producers of which were threatening to leave the DO.

30.1.13 More on Consejo Plenary

The bodegas will have to pay 1 centimo per litre towards generic Sherry promotion. This is about triple what they were paying before. The bodegas pay about half of the Consejo’s promotional budget. The increase will help fund other sectorial projects which will also receive funding from other institutions, but CRDO director Cesar Saldana worries whether these institutions will really be able to help given their own funding crisis. The Consejo is also going to put support into the new Sherry Bar phenomenon and also the tabancos, always providing that what they are selling carries the Denominacion de Origen.

26.1.13 Sherry Shines at Madrid Fusion

For another year, the wines and brandies of Jerez were protagonists at Madrid Fusion, the gastronomic fair held there last week. The Consejo Regulador had a stand which was a meeting point for numerous professionals and experts who took part in the food offerings developed to demonstrate the versatility of the products of Jerez and the infinite wine/food matching possibilities. Some sessions were partly education, partly tasting, such as cocktails made using Jerez Brandy. There were also workshops marrying various types of Sherry with gourmet products like Torta del Casar and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses as well as Los Pedroches ham. Michelin starred Chef Angel Leon, of the innovative A Poniente restaurant in El Puerto de Santa Maria, initiated a conference on pescados humildes.

Waitrose Medium Dry Amontillado 18.5%, Romate

Appearance
Deep amber to walnut, darker than most amontillados - some vino de color probably, legs.
Nose
Quite fat, and more like oloroso, and a little dumb from colouring and sweetening wines presumably. Nicely controlled oxidation, quite full, traces dried fruit and walnut.
Palate
Oloroso surely, quite tangy, less sweet than nose, but certainly sweetness there - and not much of it is PX. It is actually quite a pleasant wine , and definitely suitable for "medium" drinkers, but is never amontillado.

Comments

Classic "Medium (dry) Sherry". By no means the worst of its breed, but not amontillado. I wish the Consejo would ban use of the A word for wines which are simply not A. It is they after all who want to promote Sherry for its quality. Still, this wine is cheap, and thus good value for what it is.
Price 
£ 6.49

14.11.12 Amid strikes, some good news

The bad news:

Today was 14N. The 14^th of November, and the day chosen by the trades unions in Spain to hold a national strike against the cuts, the second under the government of Mariano Rajoy. The unions said it was a success, with 80% going on strike, while criticising the  over-policing of the event, but the Government said everything was comparatively norma, and disputed the unions' figuresl. Meanwhile in Jerez the dustbin men have been on strike for nearly two weeks, and there are piles of rubbish everywhere. The strike which is over reducing council costs, seems intractable. Something will have to give soon though…

The good news:

The Copa de Jerez national competition has chosen Madrid restaurant Il Bambino to represent Spain in the international competition. The Copa de Jerez is awarded to the best menu married with Sherry.

The chef Angel Vellon produced three courses accompanied by wines chosen by sommelier Ivan de la Torre. The menu is as follows:

First course:  a dish based on artichokes with an oloroso foam with crisp ham, accompanied by Fino  La Panesa from Emilio Hidalgo

Second course: a terrine of duck confit accompanied by Williams & Humbert’s Dos Cortados Palo Cortado

Dessert:  Fantasy sorbet Romate, with Sanchez Romate Old & Plus PX

The panel of judges includes Beltran Domecq, president Of the Consejo Regulador Jerez. The final will be celebrated in Jerez next year.

                    

An Interview with Jose Ramon Estevez, president of Grupo Estevez

I have translated this interview from yesterday's Diario de Jerez, to whom I am much indebted.

"Sherry is no longer in crisis and our priority is to create employment once more." 

The relationship with Mercadona created a "before and after" at Estevez, who are expanding after the purchase of 400 ha of vineyard. The bodega's president talks of resurrection but says "let's not go mad."

Grupo Estevez has just bought from Beam Global (former owners of Domecq) 400 ha of vineyard in the biggest deal in the area for many years. While others are slimming down, this family business is pursuing expansion together with Mercadona (a Spanish supermarket chain based in Valencia) with whom they started working in 1998. This created the "before and after" at Estevez, home of Tio Mateo, by the sales volume of the 50 or so lines they produce for the chain, which has over 1,000 branches throughout Spain. Jose Ramon Estevez, president of the bodega, believes Jerez has overcome the crisis and now is the time to build, to forget the hard times and to get back to creating employment - without sacrificing quality.

The vineyard purchase is good news in an area with ever decreasing vineyard, you see a lot of bald patches in the countryside.


It's awful. Whenever you go into the countryside you say this was a vineyard, that was a vineyard, and you think of all the hope and work which went into it. It is a shame, a lost patrimony, but we have a responsibility for our inheritance which we cannot afford to lose. I am now creating employment and this purchase is part of the plan, because with so little vineyard left and demand from abroad, there could be supply problems.

It's odd that only a few years ago Fedejerez (bodega association) estimated that there was a third too much vineyard in Jerez and now there isn't enough.


I never said there was too much, and if we'd had enough sense we wouldn't have uprooted so many vines, neither would we have lost so much labour, and we wouldn't have had so much unemployment in Jerez. I do what I have to do and I've always said what I believed to be right, and I've never believed in grubbing up vineyards in Jerez. That's what I said to the local agriculture minister, and to the national one, and to everybody, because Sherry is a treasure we can't afford to lose.

Is there an expansion plan behind the purchase?


In the short term we're going to need as many people as Beam had for the vineyard we bought which needs some attention. To put it into full production, to graft, prune etc. needs a lot of specialised workers. So long as our customers are ordering we are happy to grow. Beam is a fantastic multinational, very successful, but they can make more profit from the money they invested in Jerez elsewhere. I think we could do it here.

In an investment such as this, Mercadona will be involved, what is it worth to Estevez?


It is worth about 50% of our business nowadays.

Is there any guarantee of continuity?


Mercadona isn't going to go away. It's for life, I'm sure of that.

Can you explain that?


In the first place I won't let them go and in the second case it's not their philosophy. And if Mercadona makes a mistake with me they make a mistake with their own project, but that won't happen. They have put a "before and after" at Estevez, they've made us see how to do business, create wealth and distribute it. They took the opportunity no-one else saw, and here are the rewards.

Are we talking about just volume?


No. Mercadona never questions volume; they question quality and the wellbeing of all involved: 1st the customer, then the workforce, then the suppliers, then society, then capital. When one puts this model - this philosophy - to work, the results are spectacular. We now have a motivated workforce working with impressive dedication; we have suppliers who are delighted because we can guarantee to pay them, so they earn money. Last year in the vineyards we paid growers 10% more than the market rate and this year we'll pay another 10% and next year too, because we want suppliers to earn money. We pay more, but we expect more because quality is fundamental. The price is a function of your perception. Not always selling at a higher price shows you are less competitive. You can sell at a higher price and be more competitive because you are giving greater quality, you are giving something the others aren't. But you have to remember that there is no business without a supplier, and Sherry has stopped being a commodity, it is a unique wine in the world with no barriers.

Jerez itself has some sort of barrier - or frontier (!)


That is part of the Jerez culture which should be got rid of. It upsets me that the Jerezanos seem to lack affection for their land. When we're away we are proud of the place, but here we are always running things down. We have to change because there is so much unemployment, so many people to feed and a tremendous cultural and historic patrimony in Sherry. We've reached the limit - of many things, now we are going to do things properly.

In the trade there are those who are beginning to see signs of recovery, do you agree?


The situation in Jerez today is much better than last year and the previous one. It's better because everything has been adjusted, the balance between supply and demand has been restored - but that doesn't mean to say  that everything has been done, you have to reinvent yourself every day. One thing we lack is plain speaking and taking on leadership, we mustn't wonder every day what they are going to do for us, but do things ourselves. Jerez has a product we must make the most of.

How can we make the most of it?


All we need is for businessmen to put their batteries in, that we all work in the same direction, and that we all - including Jerezanos - drink Sherry every day. Why do we drink Rueda or whatever, and not Sherry?

Perhaps the reason is that Sherry has been thought of more as an export wine than local.


So what do we do for the Feria in Jerez? What more important event is there in Jerez than the Feria? It's our culture, our way of life...

And what do we do for the rest of the year?


The rest of the year we throw it away, we give it away. At Christmas time toys are more expensive than in the sales, but we do it in reverse - when the season of demand comes we just give it away. We've done things backwards for a long time, but never mind, but now we must be realistic, it's time to grow. Everything it could be said we had done badly everybody knows; the cooperatives know, the growers know, the bodegas know, we all know. We'll have to start from the beginning and build all over again.

You seem optimistic.


I'm not optimistic but realistic. Jerez is not in crisis now, it's been resuscitated now that balance has been restored, and I'm positive that the first thing we have to do is to make sure the growers, without whom there would be no Sherry business, make some money. We can't keep going from boom to bust because the bodegas couldn't cope. That's where we need agreement - for a start. And if we could guarantee supplies we could grow - but that's in doubt with so much grubbing up.

Many have fallen by the wayside because of this rebalancing.


Yes. We now have 6,000 hectares and we used to have 22,000. Last year we had 1,800 growers and loads have gone, just like so many employees of the business and those of auxiliary industries. But it has stopped now, we're no longer in crisis, we are balanced and need to put in the batteries. But we shouldn't go mad now that we have balance and say tomorrow that grapes should cost 200 pesetas (@ 1,30 euros), no. I aspire  for Jerez to be like Champagne or Cognac. Do you know how much 1 hectare costs in Champagne?

If Jerez is less than 9,000 euros, say 15,000?


One million euros!

How much?!


You heard that right, one million euros, and a kilo of grapes costs 5 or 6 euros.

The bodegas must have a share of the blame for all this.


The bodegas had the problem that sales were falling and it was thus impossible to maintain a cost structure. But there was no vision for the future, no business vision, and the loss of labour this implied hadn't been taken into account. The situation has changed, and I am for creating employment because we have a responsibility.

That responsibility also belongs to the Consejo Regulador and for providing funds for promoting Sherry.


Firstly we must be grateful to Beltran Domecq for having taken on the presidency of the Consejo. He is a person who will give great value to Sherry because he is well known internationally and understands the business. If we don't provide the resources and don't support him, his work will be very difficult. To be able to have resources you have to have a margin, profitability, profit, because nowadays you can't just ask for money from a bank. I would ask for investment in Jerez because I believe in Jerez and I believe that by reinventing ourselves day by day we'll have much more to say than other products, other DOs and other types of business. But we have to regain profitability and the winegrower must make money. If he doesn't make money we will be left with no grapes, and no grapes means no wine, nothing. And if we're not selling anything I don't know what we'll do here.

What would your father, Jose Estevez, have thought of all that's happened in Jerez?


My father saw the situation coming through the circumstances, society, the politics. We have been living in a very wasteful world in which everything was bad. Everyone in the business has to agree, the bodegas, the growers, the cooperatives... and stop lecturing the institutions. We have to forget the mistakes of the past and the bad things we have done. We have a great asset, we have lots of good workers in Jerez, we have an obligation to move forward and do something with our inheritance. And it can be done because the main things are balanced. Before, there was a lot of distortion: excess production, excess stocks, excess credit, people who shouldn't have been there - a veiled reference to Jose Maria Ruiz Mateos. But that has disappeared, we have a name known the world over for the wine, the motorcycle racing, the horses, the Feria, the people, the personalities... and that's what we must capitalise on.

After so much hardship, do you think the lessons have been learned?


Whoever hasn't learned the lesson won't be able to do anything now. I think things are much clearer now.

News from Jerez 1.7.12

More on Beltran Domecq (b. 1946), new President of the CRDO Jerez, by his peers. He is diplomacy and gentlemanliness personified, a dandy of the wine world for which he was born, predestined for a career as a bodeguero and passionate about Sherry for which he professes a contagious devotion.

He hasn't a bad word for anyone, and no-one has one for him. Anyone who has had the privilege of attending a tasting given by him falls under his passionate spell of Sherry to which he refers as the "Mythical Wine". He speaks perfect English as his mother was English (a Wiliams from Williams & Humbert) and he is related also to the Gonzalez (Byass) family and of course Domecq. He is an enologist and a chemist and completed his academic education at courses in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Cognac. He began work at Williams & Humbert and later moved to Domecq, working in Sherry and brandy production along with commerce and PR.

The author of numerous articles and technical publications, not to mention his recent book "El Jerez y sus Misterios", he derived his passion from his legendary father Jose Ignacio Domecq, known affectionately in Jerez as "La Nariz" (the Nose - because of his brilliant tasting skills). He has travelled the wine world either learning about other wines or promoting Sherry. Sherry could have no better ambassador.

What has happened to Sherry?!!

It was once drunk by everybody, now it is all but a niche wine. It seems very strange that one of the world's finest wines is drunk by so few people, especially when one takes into account its extraordinary value for money. The usual reasons appear to be that it is old fashioned, and drunk by grandmothers because it is nice and sweet. Some people don't even know it is a wine! Sherry has a real mountain to climb to regain sales and consumer confidence. That is not to say that a lot of Sherry isn't drunk here, but it could be much, much more - and much better. Current sales are poor compared to, say, the 1970s.

With any product, marketing is essential, along with promotion, or consumers will know nothing of it. One only has to look at the Scotch Whisky industry to get some idea of how to promote an "old fashioned" drink - and their success in recent times. There are whisky ambassadors worldwide; constant new "expression" releases; limited editions; releases of rare bottlings; single cask expressions to encourage collectors; whisky societies; whisky magazines; whisky blogs........ There is a dynamism there which is infectious. The Scotch Whisky Association is constantly in court somewhere to protect the integrity of whisky. It is paid for by a levy on its members - the majority of the trade. Not unlike the Consejo Regulador of Jerez.

All is not doom and gloom, however; many bodegas are doing their own marketing and innovating. A while ago Lustau introduced the "Almacenista " range. More recently Hidalgo La Gitana, Barbadillo and Gonzalez Byass have introduced the lovely Manzanillas and Finos "En Rama", and the latter also a range of "Palmas". Equipo Navazos offer a wonderful range of single barrel Sherries, and a sort of Fino-style table wine made by Dirk Niepoort of Port fame. Some progress has been made in establishing PX as a dessert wine or one for pouring onto desserts, but this all amounts to very little compared to whisky.

Hopefully the recent wave of new Sherry bars in London (Pepito's et al), New York (Tertulia), Tokyo (Sherry Club), and Chicago (Vera Bar) will help, and they should be encouraged by the Consejo. We should  remember, however, that only about 4% (in cash terms) of fortified wine sold in Britain is sold by the pouring trade, so they really need promotional help.

I realise the Consejo is short of a president at the moment, but surely a lot more could - and should -be done to really get Sherry going again. Britain has caught on to Tapas, so let's promote Sherry - the ideal Tapa wine - with them. It has already happened a bit in London, but needs to be nationwide. What about ambassadors? There are the Sherry Educators, could they be increased in number and work with restaurants, bars and wine merchants offering promotional and educational help?

The Media need to be exploited - the press, celebrities, Facebook, Twitter, bloggers - with an educational campaign to dispel the myths that Sherry is old fashioned and all sweet. What about a Sherry movie? It worked for table wine and whisky. Could the tourist agencies in Spain offer Sherry-themed holidays? There is already a Ruta Turistica de Bodegas.

So come on, Consejo and Bodegas, such a good wine at such a good price can't be too hard to promote!