Brandy Tres Cepas Solera 36%, Pedro Domecq

Appearance

Lightish amber with bright golden highlights.

Nose

On the light side, fresh with a certain crispness due to a notable content of column still spirit, slight hints of Oloroso and oak barrels. It is fairly basic brandy but very much Jerez nonetheless. There are traces of brown sugar, caramel and very faint rancio and dried fruit notes.

Palate

Light and fairly crisp at first then it opens out a little giving off  a certain lightly caramel sweetness with mild Sherry and faint oak notes which leave a faint hint of tannin. It is not particularly sophisticated yet there is nothing wrong with it and it is remarkably easy to drink on its own and is ideal for cocktails and mixed drinks.

Comments

This brandy was introduced in 1902 and distilled from Airén grapes at Domecq´s own distillery in Tomelloso, La Mancha. It probably consists of not much more than the required 50% holandas with the rest coming from column stills and was aged in solera using butts previously seasoned with Oloroso and has a probable average age of about a year. It was not terribly different to Fundador though perhaps slightly inferior yet it sold in huge quantities mainly in export markets. "Tres Cepas" translates as "three vines" and shouldn´t be confused with Tres Copas (three goblets) from González Byass. Both have long disappeared from the Spanish market but Tres Cepas is available in Equatorial Guinea, the Philippines (a huge brandy market) and parts of Latin America, though completely re-packaged and labelled as "light". The policy of current brand owner Emperador seems to be to make as many versions as possible of their well known brands - there are now 11 versions of Fundador!

Price

20 euros per litre, Mantequería Jerezana

 

Brandy Felipe II Solera 36%, Agustin Blazquez

Appearance

Deep amber with golden highlights

Nose

Crisp and light in style yet reasonably aromatic with notes of cornflakes and wine, light on the oak - not the usual heavier Oloroso - more Amontillado with a light trace of honey and hazelnut. Really quite elegant.

Palate

Gentle caramel sweetness at the start then those corn and honey notes which balance with a hint of tannin giving character and good length. Open, straightforward and surprisingly easy drinking.

Comments

In the heyday of Agustin Blazquez, founded in Jerez in 1795, this was a leading commercial Brandy de Jerez. It was their basic brandy, above which figured Toisón de Oro and Anticuario, all of which, unusually for a Jerez based firm, were aged in bodegas in El Puerto. The firm was taken over by Domecq in 1973, and after Domecq itself was taken over, Osborne bought some of the brandies - Carlos I, Carlos III and Felipe II. In recent times this decent quality brandy has been converted into a "bebida espirituosa" sold at 30% and while cheaper, it is certainly not what it was. So it was sheer luck and a great pleasure when I chanced on this bottle of "real" Felipe II.

Price

13.50 euros/litre from La Mantequería Jerezana

The Gallo Azul

Anyone who has visited Jerez will have seen this iconic building “the Blue Cockerel” right in the beating heart of the city. It was completed in 1929 and was a gift to the people of Jerez from Pedro Domecq to mark the Exposición Iberoamericana in Sevilla of that year, and has always been a bar and restaurant which could promote the products of the Domecq Bodegas.

The city council had wanted to improve the awkward corner of Calle Larga and Calle Santa María to provide more public space and demolished Calle Larga No. 2, a rectangular building. At a plenary council meeting on the 27^th March 1927 it was agreed that building permission on this site should be granted by competition to whichever person or company could produce an important building in terms of its design and construction within a year. The price of the site was 6,000 pesetas.

The competition was won by Domecq who appointed Aníbal González Álvarez Ossorio from Sevilla as their architect. He was famous for the beautiful Plaza de España in Sevilla, built in 1928 for the Exposición, and was also involved in the Jerez railway station façade of 1927, both designed in a mix of Neo-Mudéjar and Art Deco styles with abundant tilework from the famous factory Mensaque & Rodriguez of Triana (Sevilla). The Gallo Azul, on the other hand, is constructed in brick and its design has a wonderfully simple classical Neo-Mudéjar elegance which fits beautifully on the site, yet the only tilework is the name of Pedro Domecq along with his coat of arms on a sort of cupola at the very top.

The Blue Cockerel (foto:gentedejerez)

The name of the building refers to a painting by local artist José Luís Torres as part of the decoration, and it still hangs above the bar counter. There are three semi-circular storeys but only the lower two are used for catering, the ground floor with its ionic marble columns being for drinks and tapas while the first is more of a restaurant, where from a window seat you can watch Jerez go by.

In 1934, five years after the Gallo Azul was erected, the council held another competition for a signpost to stand outside. Pedro Domecq again submitted the winning idea which was a tall twin-faced clock which you can’t miss, resembling a lamp post fitted with signs and three lights. After Pernod Ricard took over Allied Domecq they sold the Gallo Azul in 2008 to local man, Carmelo López who owns it to this day.

Bodegas: Juan Haurie

Jean Haurie Nebout was born in Villesegure, Béarn, in the lower French Pyrenees, in about 1719. He was clever and wise, and could spot a good business opportunity, especially if it concerned wine. In 1740 he came to Jerez. He lived in the Plaza Plateros where he ran a bakery/drapery/general merchant business –virtually next door to Patrick Murphy.

Plaza Plateros today

Murphy was an Irish farmer, born possibly in County Cork, who had come to Jerez in 1725 and established a timber business, having no doubt fled Ireland for religious, political or poverty reasons. He was a bachelor and of a slightly sickly disposition, but had a good eye for business and soon saw that the Sherry trade was more profitable. By 1730 he had established himself in the wine trade, having bought vineyards in Ramona, Prunes and Balbaína, and bodegas in the Calle Tornería, where he lived, and also Prado de San Sebastián.

Haurie and Murphy became close friends, and the former helped Murphy in his wine business until 1762 when he inherited it along with its vineyards on Murphy’s death. Murphy was a bachelor and had no one else to leave it to. Haurie was delighted to get properly into the wine trade, re-named the firm Juan Haurie, and abandoned his previous business. It flourished and he became well known and popular. He supplied the first wines to James Duff. But then his efforts collided with the restrictions imposed by the Gremio de la Vinatería (the powerful growers’ union), which would not let bodegas/exporters store the reserves of wine necessary for ageing (so they would have to buy more must from the growers). Haurie simply decided to take on all three sides of the business, and become a grower as well as an exporter and almacenista.

He binvested in spacious new bodegas and more vineyards. Like Murphy, he was a bachelor, and with succession in mind, he constituted a new company in about 1773 with his five nephews: Juan José, Juan Pedro, Juan Luís, Juan Carlos and Pedro de Lembeye y Haurie and named the firm Juan Haurie & Sobrinos.

He died in 1794, and his nephews continued with the firm, becoming the biggest exporters. Juan José had been longest in Jerez, and had many contacts and good knowledge of the industry, so his contribution to the company was decisive. Things did not go well, however.

These were difficult times, and Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808. With their French background, this made life very difficult for the sobrinos (and not a few other bodegas – French or not). Juan Carlos, who had really helped the firm to become the biggest exporter in Jerez, now faced a dilemma. Despite having always lived in Jerez, he still had French blood, and so opted to support the invaders during the War of Independence.

This provoked great anger and, on the 2^nd of June 1808, a furious crowd assembled, baying for his blood. Priests did all they could to restore the peace and preach forgiveness, but the people weren’t in the mood to listen. So the mayor decided to let loose the bulls at the crowd – a more efficient remedy than today's rubber bullets and tear gas!

Juan Carlos now received “favours” from the French. In Napoleon’s name, Maréchal Soult awarded him the concession to supply the French troops. Farmers and bodegueros were forced to supply him with their wares which he then handed over to the French, but he was allowed him to keep the wine and provisions he wanted. Even worse, Juan Carlos shamelessly began to collect the taxes imposed by the French on the people to pay for the war. The first French troops arrived in Xerez (as it was called then) at mid-morning on the 4^th February 1810, from where they initiated the siege of Cádiz. They left on the 26^th August 1812. After two and a half years of occupation, endless looting, abuse and oppression, they left Jerez in total ruin and desolation. In 1811, Joseph Bonaparte (nicknamed unaffectionately “Pepe Botella”, or Joe the Bottle (who in fact was not a drinker) celebrated his Saint’s Day, in his requisitioned house in the Calle Francos, exactly one year before the “year of hunger”.

After the French had finally been expelled, Juan Carlos Haurie was totally ruined. He had to pay a fortune in compensation, and the French Government “forgot” to pay its debts to him. Haurie was left alone and penniless. He couldn't possibly pay his debts, and had to pay his capataz (cellarmaster) Juan Sánchez in brandy, wine, anís or even their containers. Things did not improve, and in 1815 he was declared fraudulently bankrupt, and jailed. By this time the other sobrinos had all died.

Pedro Domecq Lembeye (from Usquain, Béarn) was Juan Carlos Haurie's brilliant cousin and great nephew of Juan Haurie, Although born in Jerez, had been working in London with a firm called Gordon, Murphy and Co. who were Haurie's agents. He later formed a company called Ruskin, Telford and Domecq who for a while imported both Haurie and Duff Gordon wines. Eventually when Pedro Domecq returned to Spain, Ruskin (1785-1864, father of John Ruskin) acted as his agent and both prospered.

From 1822 the bodega del Castillo at the Puerta de Rota, the San Blas cooperage, 144 ares of vineyard in the Macharnudo and 22 in Parpalana were leased to Pedro Domecq, and he ended up buying the lot - and paying off some off the debt. He also re-purchased the Macharnudo vineyard Haurie had been forced to sell. As Domecq once rightly said “I managed to make my entire fortune in only two years of hard work”.

Pedro Domecq

Juan Carlos was a complete scoundrel. Despite his agreement with Domecq, in 1824 he founded a new partnership involving William Garvey, his nephew Juan Haurie and James Wilson using Domecq’s good name. Wilson came from Dunbar in Scotland, and his brother, a doctor, would do great work during the cholera epidemic of 1834. Haurie claimed to be the biggest shipper, but most of the wine was in fact shipped by Garvey and Wilson. Juan Carlos died in 1828. Haurie proceeded to go bust in 1841, again in 1855, stuttering on somehow till 1877, when Domecq took over entirely. According to Customs records, they exported 2,340 butts in 1870. Pedro Domecq meanwhile, was making a great reputation and becoming very prosperous, building what would become one of the great bodega firms.

See also the post: Juan Haurie, a Smart Businessman

Fino La Ina 15%, Lustau

Appearance
Bright pale lemony straw, some legs.
Nose
Fresh with floral - camomile notes, salted unpeeled almonds a trace of membrillo (quince) fruit and a little bitter flor, quite soft sophisticated and elegant. There's a trace of dry scrub in the background, but this is beautifully complex and balanced.
Palate
Good and dry, the flor is a little more obvious here, with some bitterness and a gentle tang, but it is still very smooth with a deliciously bitter finish balancing with that trace of almond and membrillo. Delicious.
Comments
Made from 100% Macharnudo grapes, and from a 1919 solera of some 4,200 butts, this was the flagship fino from Pedro Domecq. After the dismembering of Domecq by Pernod Ricard, Lustau (Caballero) bought the La Ina range of Sherries and their soleras in 2008. The wine is about six years old, and has never tasted better. The La Ina solera is still located in the old Domecq La Mezquita bodega, now owned by Beam Suntory, but the Lustau team are allowed to operate the solera there. The soleras of the other wines in the range were moved to Lustau's own bodegas.
Price
@£10-12 in the UK where it is distributed by Fields, Morris and Verdin.

Sibarita Oloroso VORS 20%, Pedro Domecq

Appearance
Deep burnt umber through mahogany and amber to a yellowy green rim, legs.
Nose
Rich, full, forthcoming and fragrant; hardly any woodiness but traces of sweetness - raisins, a savoury Marmite note, walnuts, leather armchairs, toasted bread. Immaculately clean for a wine which has been oxidising for over 30 years, and very complex, not at all austere.
Palate
Full bodied, powerful, dry, yet a trace of sweetness mollifies the astringency these old wines can have, a hint of toffee, even coffee, a slight fried mushroom and truffle oil note, gamey touches too, phenolic aromas as well as a touch of wood tannin, almost interminable finish. Wonderfully old and complex.
Comments
From a solera laid down by Haurie e Sobrinos in 1792 and acquired by Pedro Domecq in 1822, this is a classic and rare old Sherry. VORS wines all have to prove a minimum of 30 years in solera, but few if any are from soleras of such an age. This is an original Domecq bottling in the square footed bottle, and is probably no longer available, but Osborne now bottle the wines with similar presentation except the foot of the bottle is round. There is almost certainly a touch of PX blended into this wine to round it off and balance out the astringency such old wines can have.
Price
£33.95

Bodegas: Pedro Domecq

Probably the oldest and certainly among the most important bodegas in Jerez, the story of this firm goes back to the XVIII century and the arrival in Jerez of an Irishman called Patrick Murphy in 1725. He came to work with timber but saw that the local wine could be a far better enterprise and established a bodega in 1730 - the date given by Domecq (not wholly inaccurately) of its foundation. Murphy made friends with a French expatriate called Juan Haurie who inherited the business after the former's death in 1762. Haurie worked hard on the ageing, storage and export of wines, and in 1791 his 5 nephews joined him in the business which they called Juan Haurie y Sobrinos. On Juan's death in 1794 the nephews inherited the bodega, but by 1814 only one, Juan Carlos Haurie survived, and he was beset by problems caused by the war with France and rented the bodega to Pedro Domecq, another expatriate Frenchman, to avoid bankruptcy.

Pedro Domecq Lembeye (1787-1839)

The Domecqs, a very old family, were country aristocrats in the southern Bearn region of France who were related to the Hauries (and the Loustaus). Their motto was "Domecq oblige". Because of their position in society they felt threatened by the  persecution of the French Revolution, and Pedro Domecq Lambeye went to London where he worked with the British agents for Haurie for a while before arriving in Jerez in 1816. The British agents were Gordon Murphy & Co.established by Duff Gordon, but the name was changed to Ruskin Telford & Domecq in 1809, and wound up in 1869, on the death of Ruskin. A grandson of Juan Haurie, Domecq was a very able man, and went on to acquire the bodega in 1818, renaming it Pedro Domecq in 1822. He brought a new type of still from France which he used to produce what he claimed was the first Jerez (and indeed Spanish) brandy and later launched the brand Fundador with great success in 1874.

The Domecq bodegas at the Puerta de Rota Jerez in an 1849 engraving

The most important soleras were laid down by Haurie: Capuchino (1790) and Sibarita (1792) and by Pedro Domecq: Amontillado 51-1a (1830), followed by Venerable PX (1902) and La Ina (1919). With the exception of La Ina, these soleras now produce the VORS wines sold at a minimum age of 30 years - though much older. The firm went on to produce many famous brands, listed below and was the first to produce Jerez brandy on a large scale. They were also the owners of extensive vineyard, mostly in the important pago Macharnudo where they owned the Castle and the Majuelo vineyard.

In 1855 Juan Pedro Domecq bought the lovely Palacio del Marques de Montana, built in 1778 and with a beautiful courtyard and detailing, and this became the seat of the Domecq dynasty, now known as the Palacio Domecq. It was restored and modified in the 1960s for commercial use. A famous resident was Jose Ignacio Domecq, a brilliant taster known to all as "La Nariz" (The Nose).

The Palacio de Domecq with a statue of the Marques de Casa Domecq

During the 1950s the company expanded into South America, most notably in Mexico where Domecq still makes the leading brandy (Presidente) and operates a successful wine company, being the largest wine and spirits company there. Expansion took place in Spain also with the acquisition of Bodegas Antonio de la Riva, Bodegas Agustin Blazquez, whisky distiller DYC and the Jerez Sherry and brandy firm Fernando A de Terry along with the establishment of a bodega in Rioja known as Domecq Domain. After managing to resist takeover by Rumasa, Grupo Domecq as it was now called fell prey in 1994 to the acquisitive British group Allied Lyons, owners of Harveys of Bristol, already owners of Bodegas Palomino Y Vergara, MacKenzie and Terry, and the new conglomerate Allied Domecq eventually itself fell prey to a takeover by Pernod Ricard in 2005 who sold off what was not of interest. As a rather sad result, the Domecq brands were scattered amongst various owners:

Pernod Ricard: Domecq Mexico
Beam Global: Harveys, Terry, Fundador and DYC
Lustau (Grupo Caballero): La Ina, Botaina, Rio Viejo, Vina 25 PX
Osborne: Carlos I and Carlos III brandy and the VORS range
Marques de Riscal: Marques de Arienzo Rioja (previously named Domecq Domain)

Beam was bought by Suntory in 2014 and the new Beam Suntory sold Harveys, Terry and Fundador to Phillipino brandy magnate Andrew Tan for 275 million euros in late 2015. The firm is now called Fundador, part of Andrew Tan´s Grupo Emperador. Tan, along with Gonzalez Byass, has since bought back those available of the brand names. Meanwhile Harveys have been winning lots of medals.

Among the many Domecq brands are/were:

Fino: La Ina  (Albeit Lustau now, but usually the highest scoring Fino in Guia Peñin)
Manzanilla: Pochola, Prodigio
Amontillado: Botaina; Amontillado 51-1a VORS; Jandilla; Primero; Imperial; Casarejo
Palo Cortado: Capuchino VORS
Oloroso: Rio Viejo; La Raza (Abocado); Sibarita VORS; Double Century, Añada 1840;
PX: Vina 25; Venerable VORS
Cream: Celebration
Brandy:  Tres Cepas, Fundador, Carlos I, Carlos III, Marques de Domecq

Visits and contact: 
Bodegas Fundador: www.grupoemperadorspain.com/es/contacto