Vino Blanco Covisan 2016 11.5%, Coop Covisan

Appearance

Pale silvery strawy gold, looks young and fresh.

Nose

Soft and slightly chalky, even a very slight trace of sherbet, faintly floral with gentle apple, pear and melon fruit. It is not massively complex but really quite attractive, and it's Palomino.

Palate

Again soft and gentle, and although the acidity is low it works with those orchard white fruits coming through. Its lightness and freshness make it attractive, especially in summer. Moderate length. Dangerously easy quaffing wine of decent quality.

Comments

Covisan stands for  Cooperativa del Campo Vitivinícola Sanluqueña which was established in 1968. The seven cooperatives in the Sherry area own a little over half the vineyards and each thus produces large quantities of wine. They act as independent wine producers with their own soleras and brands, sell bulk mosto (newly fermented wine) to the bodegas and bars and also sell them mature wine as required. So the coops are a very important part of the system. Covisan is well equipped with modern plant and is very serious about its wine. They supply La Guita next door and La Gitana among others. Anyway this wine is made from the first very gentle pressing of Palomino (as is their Manzanilla), fermented in stainless steel tanks at @ 17C allowed to settle and then gently filtered before bottling. It seems so cheap but it is good and also available (legally!) in BIB.

Price
2.30 euros ex bodega

2.3.15 Aecovi in Receivership

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

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

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

11.3.14 Tasting; Tabancos; Feria; Brandy; Estevez/Covisan

After the success of the interactive online Manzanilla and Fino tasting in January between Cesar Saldaña, director of the Consejo Regulador, and Chelsea Anthon, general manager of International Sherry Week and some restaurateurs in Australia, another tasting is to take place with 60 London restaurateurs in Sevilla.

The tasting is organised by the Restaurant magazine as the highlight of a two day culinary trip. The restaurateurs will unfortunately be unable to visit Jerez, but at least they will be able to see how amazing the wines are. As Chelsea puts it, “I can’t allow such a powerful group to leave Andalucia without tasting the best wines in the world.”

Jesus Muñoz, president of Tabancora, the association of traditional bars in Jerez, has been in London at the invitation of the city’s latest Sherry bar, Drake’s Tabanco. The new establishment, at 3, Windmill Street, Fitzrovia, London, and which only opened last October, serves Sherry from the barrel – with a venencia! They also serve a wide variety of delicious looking Spanish food. Jesus Muñoz was impressed how the staff act as Sherry educators.

The 2014 Feria del Caballo in Jerez will take place between the 11^th and 18^th of May. The poster for this spectacular feria has just been revealed at Gonzalez Byass, and here it is, a montage of 2,166 Sherry glasses!

Jerez Brandy sales have seen a sharp fall over the last few years due to various adverse conditions. Sales of the top level brandies actually rose slightly, but those of the cheaper ones have been falling fairly dramatically. Brandy has faced changes in consumer drinking habits, such as the disappearance of the early morning noggin or one after dinner. Gin is seen by the younger drinkers as far more modern and fashionable, along with whisky and rum – and are far cheaper to make. Not only is the raw material (grapes) 3 times the price of cereals or molasses, but brandy needs costly ageing. European Union grants for potable spirits distillation have all but dried up, and recent grape harvests have been very small.

Producers are having to focus on promoting brandy in the export markets, while the domestic market declines. The Brandy Consejo Regulador is looking at changes to the production rules, one of which is that the spirit must have a minimum alcohol content of 36 degrees. Some producers have argued for a reduction, and also to be permitted to sell non-grape spirit under existing brandy brand names. The latter has caused some controversy.

Grupo Estevez and the Sanlucar cooperative Covisan have been celebrating working together. Last Saturday the 167 growers and their families were welcomed at the cooperative bodega by its president, Antonio Palacios, then addressed by Estevez president, Jose Ramon Estevez. He highlighted the history of Estevez, owner of La Guita, its commitment to Sanlucar, vineyard sustainability, quality, and the importance of origin. All the grapes for Manzanillas La Bailora and La Guita come from Sanlucar. A visit to the La Guita bodegas followed, and cooperative members could see the 14,000 butts of Manzanilla stored there. They also saw what happens to the must made at their bodega to transform it into finished wine. Estevez explained the joint project with supermarket Mercadona and their efforts to develop a sustainable agro-alimentary chain. The event shows the strong bond between the cooperative and Estevez, and the latter’s commitment to but most of the cooperative’s produce.

10.11.12 Estevez signs permanent contract with Covisan

Covisan cooperative with its 170 members has agreed a “life” contract to supply grapes and musts to Estevez, to whom they are already the main supplier. Jose Ramon Estevez said that this was a joint project for the future in the hope of reducing production costs and improving quality, one which guarantees grape sales for the growers and supplies for the bodega. This latter point is important as not every bodega secured enough this year to replace stocks, what with the recent grubbing up of vines and the small harvest.  Now that balance has been restored work can begin on improving the image, the prestige and the price of Sherry. If the growers and bodegas work together they can both make a profit. As the president of Covisan, Antonio Palacios, put it, “there is hope”.

Covisan bodegas in Sanlucar