Bodegas: Diestro SA

José de la Puente y Viaña was a well known and well liked person of some wealth who owned substantial vineyard holdings in the pago Balbaina. In 1798 he established a bodega in Jerez which went on to be very successful. He died in 1815 leaving his business to his sons. They ran the firm till 1854 when it passed into the hands of José Romero P Gil who maintained the firm´s solid reputation.

Don José died in 1884 leaving the firm, which now also owned vineyards in the pago Macharnudo, to his son José Romero, a well educated and intelligent man. By 1900 he was exporting successfully to the Americas and expanding sales in Spain itself, selling Sherries of the highest quality from soleras of over 100 years of age. Some of his brands were: Jerez Fino SSS, Pedro Ximénez 1860, Fino Balbaina, Oloroso Fino Superior and Tres Cortados.

The bodegas resided in Calle San Juan de Dios, 13 in the city centre. In 1964 the firm was taken over by Jaime Fernández Diestro and remained at this address, but within a decade the firm was taken over by Rumasa and became another which eventually disappeared into the melting pot of Bodegas Internacionales. Here it was more about quantity and there was little respect for a brand´s or bodega´s heritage or reputation. For a while Varela´s Fino Jardín became a Diestro Brand yet still retaining the Varela logo on the label before, like most other brands, it disappeared altogether.

On the left labels from the Internacionales era and on the right an advert from 1967

Some of the Diestro brands were: Quina San Ramón, Brandy Napoleón Primado, Ponche Diestro, Brandy Viejísimo, Diestro Fino and later under Rumasa Fino Jardín and Cacao Varela. 

Bodegas: José de la Cuesta

José de la Cuesta y Gómez del Corral was born in Torrelavega near Santander in 1824. In search of his fortune, he moved to El Puerto de Santa María and set up a wine business in 1849 which would become very successful. His son, Luís de la Cuesta, later took over the business and in 1894 bought the bodegas of Englishman John William Burdon, established in 1821, when Burdon, who had no children to leave his business to, retired back to England. Cuesta maintained the bodegas and their brands.

José Cabaleiro do Lago, also from the North of Spain, Galicia in fact, established wineries in Chipiona as an offshoot to the family oak timber business in Galicia but gradually became more involved with vineyards, Sherry and distillation. His firm, now called Luis Caballero, decided to move to El Puerto during the early XX century, and the simplest means of doing this was to buy existing bodegas, so in 1932, the firm bought those of José de la Cuesta, located not far from the Castle and those of John William Burdon, already owned by Cuesta.

A bottle from the 1960s

This move gave Caballero considerably increased stock and allowed him to export in a bigger way. Apart from its own Fino Pavón, Caballero has continued selling Burdon and Cuesta brands to this day but effectively as sous-marques and on certain markets. Burdon is available in Taiwan and Luxemburg while Cuesta is available in markets like Germany and Ireland, simply labelled Cuesta. In 1990 what was by now Grupo Caballero bought Emilio Lustau, based in Jerez, who market Puerto Fino from Burdon/Cuesta soleras and Fino del Puerto from an old Cuesta solera of 183 butts in the Lustau Almacenista range.

Cuesta was well known for its Troubadour range and also sold Oloroso Melisa, Cream Preferido, Amontillado Queen, Cuesta Moscatel and Vasco Pale Sherry, Ponche Cuesta, Anís, Quina and even a “Scotch Whiskey”. They also did quite well for a while with that British fascination with ceramic Sherry “barrels” with a tap, which could be kept on the sideboard or in the kitchen and which held around 2 gallons (equivalent to 12 bottles). Thankfully they are now consigned to antique shops.

A bottle from the current range

Bodegas: Eduardo Bohorques

Eduardo Bohorques Carrasco was born in Ubrique (Cádiz) on 29^th March 1863. He established himself in Jerez with vineyards and a bodega at Calle San Juan in 1885 and married Carmen La Cave from Sanlúcar. Before long he was exporting Sherry as far as the Americas, the Far East, Japan, India and Australia.

(foto:jerezsiempre)

His wines had a good reputation, but his most famous and commercially successful product was Quina. His Quina Formiatado, was made from a base of his wines plus a formula of botanicals devised by a leading Doctor, one Dr. Luque. In those days it was usual – and certainly commercially expedient - to have the endorsement of a doctor. The quina was also recommended by leading doctor Francisco M de Terán in 1908 and others in “British” India, not to mention the Church.

It won the Gran Diploma de Honor (the top award) at the Great Exhibition at Buenos Aires in 1911. Eduardo also produced Quina Bohorques and Quina Hércules. The following year he was awarded a Warrant to supply the Spanish Royal Family, and in 1913 the magazine Nuevo Mundo printed a feature about him calling him the “King of Aperitifs”. Some of the labels were designed by the well-known Jerez artist Teodoro Miciano.

In the same year he exported - without charge - a large quantity of Quina to give a boost to the Spanish troops fighting in the Rif War in Morocco, a fact which he made sure was well advertised. Like many successful bodegueros, Eduardo was involved with other lines of business: he was the Spanish agent for the American Aeromotor company which produced tall windmills for pumping up water and various other applications, and installed one at one of his Fincas, La Serrana. This too was well advertised and attracted the interest of both the Minister of Agriculture and King Alfonso XIII. He was even the consul for Paraguay.

At about this time Eduardo and Carmen lived in Calle Caballeros and the firm moved to smaller bodegas at nos. 9-11 Calle Cazón. These would later be used by Ruiz de Villegas from 1946 and later Gran Mariscal. He died in around 1915 leaving the running of the business to his wife who carried on till the 1920s when she ceased to be an exporter and came to an arrangement with Sánchez Romate who, having presumably bought her out bottled and sold the wines under the Eduardo Bohorques brand for a while as a sous-marque.

Among other brands the bodega produced Ponche Bohorques, Coñac Regidor, Brandy Siglo Pasado, Brandy Solera, Amontillado Fino Bohemio, Fino Macharnudo, La Pica Cocktail Sherry and Dry Solera Los Claveles.

Bodegas: José Alonso y Pajares

José Alonso y Pajares founded a bodega in El Puerto de Santa María in 1870 in the Calle Postigo on the corner with Calle Santa Fé. He operated successfully as an almacenista and exporter and while the bodega was small it was busy, sending its wines and spirits all over the world. In fact he won various medals and diplomas for quality at exhibitions in Europe and America, and supplied more than one royal household.

A late XIX century label blank

Wine was sold in bulk under the style J Alonso and in bottle under the style José Alonso Pajares and was as natural as possible, something he made a feature of. Labels for the bottles were produced by the best designers and printers in Paris, Málaga and Jerez. The range of Sherries was considerable, with all the standard styles as well as Manzanilla Fina and Moscatel Superior and Vermouth. Various other lines were produced in their own small distillery: Anís, Ojén (a style of anís made famous in Ojén (Málaga). They even had the nerve to promote their “Cognac Fine Champagne” at the great exhibition in Paris, while they also sold red and white table wine from La Mancha.

José was married to María de los Dolores Ruiz de Cortázar y Calderón but since they had no children she inherited the bodega after his death using the name Viuda de Pajares until her brother José A Ruiz de Cortázar Calderón took over, reverting to the name José Alonso Pajares and adding “Sucesor José A Ruiz de Cortázar” by 1902. He also moved to premises in Calle Albareda, and interestingly was married to one of the daughters of the bodegueros Adolfo and Manuela Tosar. At this time there were no fewer than 25 bodegas, 8 distilleries and 18 cooperages operating in El Puerto; how times change! After  José's  death in 1937 the business was wound up.

Bodegas: Manuel García Monge SA

This reputable bodega was founded in Sanlúcar at the end of the XIX century by Manuel García Monge (b.1862), and with help from his sons earned a good reputation for its Manzanilla Pipiola, among other wines. The firm owned vineyards at the Finca El Maestre in the Pago Mahina near Sanlúcar, and Los Espejos.

In 1918 they bought the old bodega owned since 1907 by Doña Carmen Giménez Flores (1867-1938). She was known as “La Infantona”, being the daughter of a shoemaker and a servant who became a wealthy viscountess being the lover of Prince Antonio de Orleans y Borbón. This bodega was originally the 1526 Hospital de San Juan de Dios in Calle Misericordia. After it ceased to be church property in the 1830s it had been converted for bodega use between 1867 and 1868 by the businessman and bodeguero Cipriano Terán Carrera who later sold it to Doña Carmen. Inside, there is a carved millstone set into a wall recording this. There was once an old chest here which had been used to carry gold from the Americas, and it had 14 locks and 14 bolts.

Manuel’s wife was María Gómez Porras, and after Manuel’s death in the 1940s she bought a beautiful house in 1947, along from the bodega in Calle San Juan, known as “Casa del Kilómetro 24”, once owned by the daughter of the bodeguero Carlos Otaolaurruchi. It was so named because it was 24 km from the Jerez Post Office.

María ran the business as Viuda de Manuel García Monge with her son Manuel García Gómez. He died in 1968 and his nephews Manuel and Diego García Olave took over as Herederos de Manuel García Monge. Diego was company secretary but died aged only 31 in 1978. The business was wound up with the bodega being sold to the owners of Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marín, producers of La Guita, and it was later restored by the current owners, Grupo Estévez.  The Pipiola solera was sold to Sánchez Ayala who only sell the wine, now a straightforward Manzanilla, on draught. The La Montería solera now belongs to Francisco Yuste who sells a range of wines under this brand name.

The 18th July 1936 was the day the Civil War broke out. Best to be on the right side.

Some of their brands were: Manzanilla Pasada Triunfal “La España Nueva” (Civil War bottling), Manzanilla Pasada La Montería (now Yuste), Fino Mahina (single vineyard), Manzanilla Amontillada Pipiola, Amontillado Navazo, Jerez Oro, also Anis, Brandy, Vermouth, even Málaga Wine.

Finca El Maestre

Bodegas: Goytia Hermanos

This bodega was established in Jerez in 1834 by Francisco de Goytia, who came from the Basque country, and like many montañeses had made his money in South America. He began as an almacenista carefully building his stocks till in 1855 he was recorded as owning 177 butts. By the late 1870s those stocks had increased dramatically. He must have been doing well as in 1861 he paid for marble flooring for the parish church of San Miguel.

The main bodegas were in the Calle Arcos 44 with workshops, offices and gardens. There were also six warehouses in the Picadueñas area on the city outskirts, full of the produce of their vineyards in the Pago Balbaina. On the death of their father, his sons took the reins of the firm, renaming it Goytia Hermanos, and in 1885 they began to export and thus became known outside bodega circles, especially abroad. Many almacenistas did this around that time as they felt that some exporters were selling poor quality wines and harming Sherry’s reputation.

They were particularly proud of their Palma and Cortado soleras, both dating from 1840 and much admired in Jerez. In fact they were suppliers of Sherry to the Royal Household, and winners of medals for quality. To give their wines further gravitas they insisted that they be analysed officially in all markets to which they exported, and a certificate of their authenticity and thus quality be issued. Every wine passed with flying colours. No more is heard of the firm after 1912, when it must have been taken over by another firm keen to get its hands on those fine soleras.

Among their best known wines were: Palma Goytia, Cortado Goytia and their more commercial brands were Quijote, Figaro, Néctar and Amontillado Goytia.

Bodegas: Rafael García del Salto

This well respected but now lost bodega was established in 1837 by Salvador García del Salto who spent some of his wealth on developing extensive vineyard holdings in the pagos Macharnudo, Carrahola, Almenillas, Cerro de Santiago, Añina and Balbaina, as well as bodegas, and offices in Plaza de los Ángeles, Jerez. He built up a successful production, almacenista and exporting business with export markets, primarily in Britain and France where his brand was much sought after.

He was married to María de la Encarnación Valiente, and their son, Rafael García del Salto y Valiente, was born in Jerez in 1851. He studied first in Madrid, and aged only 13, enrolled in the military college of Segovia in preparation for joining the artillery. Four years later he abandoned this and moved to England where he studied commerce at Cheltenham College before returning to Jerez in the early 1870s. Here he spent a couple of years learning the Sherry trade with bodegas Juan Haurie & Nephews, where he acquired a profound knowledge of and passion for the Sherry trade, which stood him in good stead to take over the family business on the death of his father in 1874.

Rafael Garcia del Salto y Valiente

Rafael inherited a great deal of money and a thriving Sherry business, but rather than have an easy life, he threw himself into the business, ending up with ten bodegas and approaching 9,000 butts of wine in stock. Agents were established in Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Mexico, Canada, and he had offices in Paris and London. His Amontillados Macharnudo and Non Plus Ultra were well known in up-market circles throughout Europe.

In 1889 he entered his wines in the Paris Exhibition and won prizes for them. The 1890s saw many such exhibitions and, believing in strength in unity, he entered the wines of various other exporters as well and they won many prizes and medals, especially in the Universal Exhibition of Bordeaux in 1895. The local press of the time said that this would have passed unnoticed in Jerez had it not been for Rafael’s efforts in creating a Sherry wines pavilion at the Exhibition. Having been appointed to the judging panel, and not for the first time, he had a certain influence which he used to the full.

(fotos:jerezsiempre)

The French press devoted much space to the banquets, meetings and tastings in which Rafael promoted his beloved Sherry and explained it in great detail. On arrival, visitors were given a leaflet listing all the Sherry producers and their products, and they were captivated with his gently humorous talks - accompanied by models of soleras, lagares and samples of albariza - on the production process of Sherry, which is nothing like what is done in France. He even had the illustrious French chemist Ulysse Gayon, regarded as one of the fathers of oenology, analyse samples of albariza, and he in turn recommended suitable vine varieties for it.

For his work in promoting Sherry, often at his own expense and his vast knowledge of it, Rafael was awarded all sorts of recognitions including the Legion d’Honneur and the Cruz de Isabel la Católica. He died in Switzerland in 1901 having achieved so much in his 50 short years, but the firm continued for a while as Rafael García del Salto & Cia, being run by one P de Lambarri.

Bodegas: Fuentes Parrilla/Fuentes Repeto Hermanos

José de Fuentes Parrilla established his bodega in Jerez in 1871 and before long he had built a reputation for quality. The bodega was situated in Calle Méndez Núñez close to the railway station where he had a modern bottling line, being the first to export in bottle. There were connected buildings in the Calles Argüelles and Madre de Dios for cooperage etc, and another bodega in Calle Ramos. The adjacent offices were in a grand building on Calle Ferrocarril overlooking the station, and which is now in a very poor state of repair thanks to various failed projects for it. 

The old office building (fotojerezpatrimoniodestruido.blogspot)

José also owned vineyards which produced around 700 butts of wine, so he acted as a cosechero, almacenista and exporter, though his principal market was always Spain itself, where he held a royal warrant. Not only was he a producer of Sherry, but he also dealt in wines from Málaga, Madeira, Oporto, Alicante and Valdepeñas, as well as producing a range of “grande fine champagne” brandies, Uno, Dos and Tres Brillantes. Always innovating, he even produced an Espumoso, a sparkling Manzanilla.

When José died in 1890 his widow, Mercedes Repeto Tobar continued with the business, now renamed Viuda de Fuentes Parrilla, assisted by her two sons, José and Julio de Fuentes Repeto who had been brought up in it. The business maintained its reputation until Mercedes decided to retire and in 1898 sold the bodegas, stocks and brands to Díez Hermanos .

Sparkling Manzanilla (foto:etiquetasrafamontano)

The Fuentes Parrilla brands included Espumoso, the Brillantes brandies, Anis Seco and Moscatel Predilecto de Damas (bodegas have always assumed that women only like sweet wine for some reason).

(foto:gentedejerez)

A year later Mercedes’ sons set up their own bodega, Fuentes Repeto Hermanos, in Calle Ferrocarril which produced some outstanding wines. There is a story that they were opposed to entering wines in competitions, but a customer in Cataluña entered their cheaper range in a local competition and they all won gold medals.  However despite their expertise, ample capital and soleras dating from 1750, the firm only lasted till 1906.

Bodegas: Abárzuza y Cia

The Abárzuza brothers Fernando and José, originally from Navarra, set up in business as maritime traders in 1830 in Habana, Cuba, where they quickly made a fortune. Seeing the huge potential in Sherry, they moved the firm to Cádiz in the mid 1840s. They were a talented family with a playwright (Luis), a painter (Felipe) and Buenaventura became a writer and politician, later signing the peace treaty which ended the Spanish American War, while his brothers ran a mercantile shipping business. They were very successful, and branched out into other enterprises such as banking, insurance and wine trading. Being located in the restricted space offered by the city of Cádiz, the firm owned no vineyards yet still traded in large quantities of Sherry.

In 1888 the next generation took over, in the form of brothers Fernando, Luis and Joaquín Abárzuza y Ferrer and formalised the firm in 1897 establishing large bodegas at the corner of Avenida Portugal and what is now Avenida Juan Carlos I in the Segunda Aguada district. 

The soleras were stored in Jerez and the bodegas in Cádiz were used for storage and bottling for export, mainly to Mexico, Cuba and the United States. They were one of only three Sherry bodegas in Cádiz. In 1899 the firm appeared in the Guia Oficial de Jerez as purveyors of wines and vinegars, and in 1900 they changed the trading name to Viuda Abárzuza and in 1906 to Antonio Abárzuza which remained till 1944 when it was changed to Luis de Abárzuza. 

Wirh the advent of the DO for Sherry in 1935, the bodegas in Cádiz were initially not included in the Zona de Crianza, but the Abárzuzas managed to persuade the authorities to include it, at least till the 1960s. The firm already had bodegas in Jerez, in Calle Sancho Vizcaíno. Between 1942 and 1949 Fernando was secretary to the syndicate of exporters and  the trading name was changed again in 1953 to Sucesores de Antonio Abárzuza SL remaining the same till the 1960s when the firm was sold to Fernando A de Terry. This firm based in El Puerto de Santa María used the bodegas till they were sold off in the 1980s and demolished.

Large blocks of flats were built on the Cádiz site in 2016 and the sub-district is now known as Abárzuza. Before construction, the site was excavated by archaeologists who found 127 graves dating from between the VI century BC and the II century AD.

Brands were Manzanilla Olorosa María de la O, Manzanilla Mari-Cruz, Solera Gaditana 1860, Amontillado Fino Cañailla

Bodegas: De Goñi

Damián de Goñi y Fernández, whose family originated in Navarra, was born in Cádiz in 1813, son of Damián de Goñi y Plou and María Jesus Fernández Rendón. His parents had made money in the Spanish colonies in South America, but which were gradually gaining independence. Those returning were nicknamed “Indianos” and usually very rich, and Damian de Goñi was one of them. He became a general merchant and like so many saw wine as more profitable.

When he was only two years old, the family moved from Cádiz to Jerez to start up a wine business from their home in what is now Calle Manuel María González. The house was on the first floor and the ground floor was the bodega, office and general store. His parents owned two vineyards in the Cerro del Pelayo. Young Damián began his career with a brief stint in diplomacy as Portuguese Vice Consul, but began work in the family bodega in 1832, and took it over in 1834, aged only 21, after the sudden death of his father.

(Foto:La Imagen del Vino de Jerez)

It was a good time to start. In 1825 English excise duty had been reduced and sales quadrupled. The Gremio de la Vinatera was abolished in 1834 offering a new found freedom for merchants dealing in wine. Damián had other interests including a flour mill jointly owned with Pedro Domecq and John David Gordon. In 1834 he joined forces with Feuerheerd & Co, a mercantile company established in 1815 by the Oporto born German Dietrich Matthias Feuerheerd, which later specialised in Port. Together they traded as De Goñi Feuerheerd & Co.

Like his father, Damián de Goñi died young, in 1839, and his uncle Justo de Goñi y Plou took over from him. The firm continued successfully throughout the rest of the century, exporting 1001 butts in 1856. De Goñi Feuerheerd opened a branch in London in 1860 jointly with their English agent Frank Wearne (whose daughter Edith was one of the survivors of the Titanic disaster), naming it Feuerheerd Wearne & Co Ltd, 4 New London St, London. The 1880s saw a new generation of the Feuerheerd family taking an increasing interest in Port.

(foto:La Imagen del Vino de Jerez)

The XX century brought change and some of the de Goñi bodegas were sold off in 1900. By 1911 De Goñi Feuerheerd & Co had their own branch in London at 47 Mark Lane, but it didn’t last long. Barros Almeida bought out Feuerheerd in 1926 and later merged it with another subsidiary, Hutcheson, and the de Goñi Sherry interests were bought by González Byass in 1927.

Bodegas: Jorge Thuillier

Englishman George Thuillier Burrow left his home of Exeter (Devon) leaving behind his family and starting another in El Puerto de Santa María with his lover, Ann Bradshaw whom he married in Spain and with whom he had six children. He worked in banking and exchange briefly, but was soon drawn to the wine business.

It is not known whether he bought a bodega established in 1840 or established it himself in that year, but 1840 was always given as the year of foundation of the bodega situated in the Campo de Guia area. He chose to make high quality wines and won medals for them in Madrid (1857) and in Paris (1878) while exporting principally to England and the English speaking world.

These two hunks are the legendary bullfighters Joselito "El Gallo" and Juan Belmonte

On George’s death, probably in the 1880s, he was buried in the English cemetery which existed then on the road to Jerez.  His son Edward, then 29 years old, took over the bodegas changing their name to his own. There were also wines sold briefly under the name of Edward’s brother Augusto Thuillier. Edward lived with his family in a beautiful XVII century house in C/Palacios, 59. He was an educated and cultivated man with interests in the arts and learning.

Note St. George, patron saint of England

When he died in 1903 he left a house and bodega in C/Zarza, an estate, vineyards in the pago Rincones, more land in the pago de la Laja - and box number six at the Teatro Principal! Edward’s son, Jorge Thuillier Solares, took over the business and all went well till the Spanish Civil War, when he invested huge amounts in Republican War Bonds. Franco’s victory in 1939 rendered them worthless and he was forced to liquidate the business, but he did retain the brand names and the house which are still in family hands. Among their brands were: Amontillado Fino Los 2 Gallos and Quina Verdad.