24.6.14 Sherryfest San Francisco Huge Success

The V Sherryfest in the USA has closed after enormous success. San Francisco hosted the festival between the 17^th and 20^th of this month, and was awash with seminars, tastings and food matching with Sherry at the heart, showing just how versatile it is.

Sherryfest began in 2012 in New York, the brainchild of wine writer Peter Liem, who said that the San Francisco event was an unprecedented success, the most successful so far and has awoken a real thirst for Sherry.

Beltran Domecq giving a seminar (foto Consejo Regulador)

The Grand Tasting hosted over 500 professionals who had the opportunity to taste 140 brands by the hand of their representatives or even oenologists. Such was the public uptake that pre-booking had to close long before the event. In the words of Beltran Domecq, president of the Consejo, who gave one of the seminars, “Sherryfest is a magnificent example of the interest that these great wines are inspiring in professionals from all over the world. It is very satisfying to have such a professional – and young – audience which feels true admiration for the quality we produce and for Sherry’s great worldwide gastronomic potential.”

9.6.14 Another Sherryfest

Another Sherryfest will be happening in California between the17th and 20^th June. San Francisco is the chosen venue for this, the V edition of Sherryfest, in which there will be seminars, tastings and culinary experiences to show Sherry’s enormous potential as a food wine. The Sherryfest Grand Tasting scheduled for the 18^th at the Bluxome Street Winery will feature 140 Sherries from about 21 bodegas. Sherryfest was the brainchild of Peter Liem and has been enormously successful, taking place in different cities in the US and Canada. Sales there are showing a 15% increase. To get involved, see www.sherryfest.com 

30.5.14 Kids Learn Venencia; Orden de la Solear

Children in Jerez are being taught the art of the venencia. During the harvest festival (Fiesta de la Vendimia) there will be a venencia competition for primary 3 and 4 kids organised by the Consejo. It is felt very important that children grow up knowing something about the city in which they live and what made it so famous, and about potential jobs in the future.

Kids learning the art watched by Beltran Domecq (foto + Jerez)

 Barbadillo has chosen 12 people this year for induction into the Orden de la Solear. Every year this event recognises people who have done much to promote Manzanilla. The two most notable are the president/editor of the newspaper ABC, Catalina Luca de Tena and Peter Liem, who with Jesus Barquin of Equipo Navazos fame, wrote an excellent book about Sherry.

Peter Liem (r) being inducted (Foto Voz Digital)

12.10.13 Equipo Navazos to Receive Award

Jesus Barquin (L) and Eduardo Ojeda

On Monday, Eduardo Ojeda and Jesus Barquin will be presented with the Victor de la Serna Memorial Prize of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy and the Brotherhood of the Fine Table for their success in promoting fine Spanish wine.

Eduardo (oenologist at Valdespino) and Jesus, a professor of Criminology at Granada University, are Equipo Navazos, and find small and exquisite parcels of Sherry (and Montilla, brandy) and market them themselves with no publicity or marketing. Together they have done a great deal to revive interest in fortified wines from Andalucia, which have been declining into oblivion for years.

Jesus co-authored with american writer Peter Liem a really good book "Sherry, Manzanilla and Montilla" which, along with Peter's promotion of "Sherryfest" in New York (and now Toronto) has
re-awakened interest in these wines accross the Atlantic.