23.12.15 Many Prizes for Harveys

Harveys has had an amazing year. The bodega has won 26 awards including the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC) Trophy for Best Sherry Producer of the Year. They also won prizes from the International Wine Challenge (IWC) and Decanter Magazine. Here are some of them:

IWSC Trophy Best Sherry: Harveys Very Old Palo Cortado VORS

IWC Champion Fortified Wine: Harveys Very Old Palo Cortado VORS

IWC Chamion of Champions: Harveys Very Old Amontillado VORS

More trophies and gold medals were won by these VORS wines as well as the PX VORS. Silver was won for Harveys Fino, Harveys Signature, Harveys Very Rich Old Oloroso Medium, and Bronze for Bristol Cream. Decanter also awarded them six silver medals.

Andrew Tan will be delighted, and let us hope he doesn’t concentrate solely on the brandy.

Visitor's Guide to Jerez

Leading Wine magazine Decanter has published a visitor’s guide to Jerez by Sarah Jane Evans MW, who knows a thing or two about Jerez so if you are planning a visit here is the page in question:

http://www.decanter.com/spain/jerez-travel-guide-1502/

If you were not thinking of planning a trip, this might change your mind!

The patio at the old Bertemati bodega, now Paternina

14.7.15 Decanter Sherry Selection; Cooperatives to Join Forces

Decanter Magazine’s associate editor Tina Gellie has been picking 12 Top Value Fortified Wines, and her Sherry choices were:

Manzanilla La Gitana en Rama, Hidalgo La Gitana (£13.00 per 75cl)

Fino Tio Pepe en Rama, González Byass (£16.00 per 75cl)

Manzanilla en Rama Goya XL, Delgado Zuleta (£24.00 per 50cl)

Manzanilla en Rama Deliciosa, Valdespino (£10.00 per half)

Following the bankruptcy of the growers’ cooperative Aecovi, the seven remaining cooperatives are looking at joining forces, and looking for help from the Junta de Andalucía. It is almost ten years since the coops were last unified but that unity broke up when the Palomares and Albarizas co-ops broke away along with the Sanlúcar bodega of Aecovi amid discrepancies in grape prices to bodegas.

The seven co-ops, Angustias, Covisan, Virgen de la Caridad, Palomares, Albarizas, Católico Agricola and Unión de Viticultores Chiclaneros, want to re-group with a minimal structure but with a strong enough voice to negotiate with other bodies in the trade. To that end they have consulted FAECA, an organisation which defends the interests of coops in Andalucía, but it remains to be decided what sort of legal framework will be adopted.

Yesterday the presidents of the co-ops held a meeting with Federico Fernández, the Junta’s provincial delegate to discuss their worries and thrash out the best way to face the incertitude of the new situation. They want to make the most of their resources to increase profitability, and are thinking of introducing central buying of grapes.

The Junta supports the growers in their quest and will cooperate fully with their re-integration, and will refer the matter to other departments specialising in employment and cooperative associations. The growers must, however work together, think less individualistically and think of the longer term if they want to reinvent themselves and avoid the mistakes of the past.

In one matter there is unanimity, and that is the conversion of the area from “zona de producción” to “zona de crianza”, meaning that particularly in Trebujena and Chiclana wines could legally be aged there. This has been debated already at the Consejo, but so far without resolution. The growers’ presidents asked about the delay in the elections to the Consejo, and Fernández replied that they had been postponed to avoid coinciding with political elections.

28.2.15 Beltrán Domecq – “Sherry Vineyards Need More Focus”; ¡Feliz Día de Andalucía!

In a recent interview with Decanter Magazine Consejo President, Beltrán Domecq, said that producers need to explain more about the vineyards from which their wines come. Consumers know something of the bodegas and solera systems, but need to know more about the work in the vineyards. He believes that there is untapped interest in the vineyards and their specific geological characteristics which could be printed on more labels.

“50% of the quality of a wine comes from the vineyard, and distinctions are very important. We have the solera system, but why not say if the majority of this particular Fino is from Añina, Carrascal or Macharnudo vineyards? It would help a lot. Some bodegas are already doing this, particularly in Sanlúcar. The Consejo is seeking to help producers by creating a central vineyard map as a reference guide. We are writing to everyone who has a vineyard asking which area they think they belong to.

Over the past thirty years the land under vine in Jerez has declined from about 22,000 hectares to just 7,000, reflecting falling demand for Sherry, but at least supply and demand are now back in balance. According to Beltrán Domecq the growers who remain are better able to invest in vineyard management, and are now receiving three or four times what they were before.

He also spoke of his respect for the “en rama” wines as well as the Consejo plan to promote Sherry and food pairings – as long as the proper glasses are used. “No schooners, please, Sherry is a wine!” he declared.

Beltran Domecq at work in London (foto:+jerez)

Sr. Domecq is in London for the XXVI Wines of Spain Trade fair and he conducted a special tasting on Wednesday for wine journalists. The Spanish specialist Master of Wine, Sarah Jane Evans was there too. The ideas was to capitalise on media interest in Sherry and hopefully thereby to transmit that to younger consumers. A further special tasting took place at the wine fair in the form of a Sherry and Food Matching Seminar with Beltrán Domecq and famous chef José Pizarro.

Happy Andalucia Day!

The 28th February is Andalucía Day, so be sure to raise a glass of Sherry to toast the finest place in the world! The coat of arms on the flag represents the Pillars of Hercules, and on the arch appear the words “Dominator Hércules Fundator”. The colours represent the countryside, the villages, the purity and hope of Andalucía.

12.10.14 Decanter Magazine Sherry Recommendations

The current (November) edition of Decanter Magazine features the wines of Spain, and I thought you would like to know which Sherries are recommended. The following were chosen  for their quality, and availability in the UK, and given points by Sarah Jane Evans, a Master of Wine who knows a great deal about Sherry.

Sarah Jane Evans MW (foto: Decanter)

Antique Palo Cortado, Fernando de Castilla 19/20 points

Amontillado VORS, Bodegas Tradicion 19

PX VORS, Emilio Lustau 19

Manzanilla Sacristia AB 1ª Saca 2013, Antonio Barbadillo Mateos 18.5

Amontillado, El Maestro Sierra 18.5

Fino La Panesa, Emilio Hidalgo 18.5

Oloroso Faraón, Hidalgo La Gitana 18.5

Moscatel Soleado, Gutierrez Colosia 18

Fino Inocente, Valdespino 18

Palo Cortado Obispo Gascón, Barbadillo 17.5

Manzanilla San León, Herederos de Argueso 17.5

Amontillado Viña AB, Gonzalez Byass 17

Fino/Amontillado Coquinero, Osborne 17

Pedro’s Almacenista Selection Fino, Viniberia 17

All, or nearly all can be found in my tasting notes.

29.11.12 Decanter Magazine Praises Sherry

Decanter Magazine, in its current (December) edition has given high praise to some Sherries. The article was written by Sarah Jane Evans MW, who knows a lot about Sherry, having written her MW dissertation on the Almacenistas. I can confirm that; I last met her at Vinoble giving a talk on Moscatel. She praises the following:

La Bota de Manzanilla No 32, Equipo Navazos

Manzanilla Pasada Cuevas Jurado, Lustau Almacenista

Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana, Hidalgo la Gitana

Puerto Fino, Emilio Lustau

Fino la Ina, Emilio Lustau

Fino Antique, Fernando de Castilla

Fino Perdido, Sanchez Romate

Amontillado La Bota No 31, Equipo Navazos

Amontillado Antique, Fernando de Castilla

Amontillado Vina AB, Gonzalez Byass

Oloroso La Bota No 28 Bota Punta, Equipo Navazos

Palo Cortado Viejisimo 1/5, Cayetano del Pino

Palo Cortado Vides, Lustau Almacenista

Palo Cortado Wellington VORS, Hidalgo la Gitana

Moscatel Emilin, Emilio Lustau

PX Antique, Fernando de Castilla

PX Noe VORS, Gonzalez Byass

I have tasted most of these, and will post my notes on those not already posted as soon as I can. They are all quite excellent, and you should stock up with them for Christmas!