Goodbye Gaditano

This is an article by Francisco Jose Becerra Marin published in his blog La Sacristia Caminante. It is a lament for a wine no longer made by Gonzalez Byass, Fino Gaditano.

“Fino Gaditano. The back label states: “Fino wine of pale strawy-yellow colour made from Palomino grapes. Fino, aged in soleras.” There are few who remember you now.

Time was when people used to drink a less expensive wine known as “vino de medio tapon” in the tabancos. It was a Fino of good quality but younger, having gone through fewer criaderas, an easy wine to drink, and at the same time light, though it had the same strength as the more expensive brands.

(Foto Sacristia Caminante)

Medio tapon meant that as the bottles had no capsules they were only “half sealed”. There were famous brands such as those of MacKenzie, Hidalgo’s Tesoro, and the very well-known Mantecoso of Bodegas Rivero. El Puerto de Santa Maria also had its own versions: the well –known Fino Pavon of Bodegas Luis Caballero (which is now a proper brand), and the famous Fino C from Bodegas Cuvillo.

Just a sip of this elixir, well chilled, somewhere just off the Plaza de Abastos (the market square of Jerez) like the Bar Pampero, with some fried hake was a total luxury. Many a Saturday we would go in the early afternoon to try this precious Sherry. A Fino to be drunk from a proper Sherry glass, slowly, little by little like life itself… elegant and timeless as a close friend. It was a wine to accompany conversation, to get to the bottom of. A wine of memories, the same wine and flavour my grandfather appreciated, one of my father’s favourites, one which he taught me to enjoy at gatherings of family or friends.

So I say goodbye to you, Gaditano. I will only be able to see you now in the form of your bottle, the silence of time covering you with dust and fading your white and green label. I will not be able any more to sample your contents, which many now cannot even remember –and even less your name. So I pay homage to you in my memories, a special, natural wine, a “medio tapon” of whom a whole generation – mine – has barely even heard.”

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I have to agree with every word of this article. It was my father’s favourite Sherry too, and I have tasted and enjoyed it many times. I can’t imagine why GB ceased production of such a popular wine, but I suppose they can’t have a marketing budget for every wine they make. It came from a 1947 solera. A Gaditano, by the way, is one who comes from Cadiz (from the Latin Gades), like my father.

When Sherry Saved Cadiz

During the XVI and XVII centuries, when Spain had an empire in the Americas, there was huge traffic between the empire and the homeland. Many ships were bringing gold and silver, and naturally became a target for pirates. At the same time, there was an undeclared war between Catholic Spain and the growing number of Protestants, including Elizabeth I’s England, as Spain tried to retain its Catholic territories in the Low Countries. The war lasted from 1585 till 1604, and during that time there were various official - and unofficial - attacks on Spain.

English adventurers/pirates like Hawkins and Drake were a constant thorn in the Spanish side as they raided Spanish colonies and shipping, and Spain itself. Thus the English came upon the local wine and found it very much to their taste, leading in the longer term to its popularisation in England.

This story relates how an English and Dutch fleet consisting of some 90 ships, 10,000 soldiers, 100 horses and 5,500crew set sail on 15^th October 1625 under the command of Edward Cecil, Viscount Wimbledon. The aim was to attack the Spanish Fleet of the Indies, which was lying at Cadiz Bay, and make off with its treasure. On the fleet’s arrival, local watchtowers and defence posts sent out the alarm to all areas of the locality to summon aid in defence of Cadiz.

(Imagen BBC)

The mayor of Jerez, Luis Portocarrero led 2,000 soldiers with seven cannons, leaving a rear-guard of 4,000 soldiers. He advanced to the Puente Zuazo, a bridge connecting San Fernando to Cadiz and waited. The English disembarked at nearby El Puntal, reaching San Fernando starving and in search of food and drink. There, about 8,000 English soldiers led by the Viscount Wimbledon prepared to halt the Spanish advance. At this point, however, they discovered a warehouse full of barrels of wine ready for embarkation for the Indies. One can only imagine their joy at discovering so much wine!

They proceeded to drink their fill. As the wine took hold, there were all sorts of drunken fracas and fights amongst themselves to get to the best wine, leading to insubordination and even mutiny among the paralytic soldiers. The Viscount was horrified and decided to retire back to their ships as fast as possible, much to the amusement and mockery of the Spanish troops chasing them. The Viscount got back to the ships, but thirty of them had by now been sunk by the Spanish, and 1,000 soldiers had gone astray. The Spanish Indies fleet, meanwhile, had sailed off unharmed to Sanlucar. Sherry had won the day, and has been doing so ever since.

From an article by Francisco Jose Becerra Marin in La Sacristia Caminante