22.4.17 Wine Route Now Most Visited in Spain; New La Guita/Covisan Agrement

The Wine Route of the Marco de Jerez is now the most visited in Spain with 501,783 visitors last year. The Catalán wine route of Penedés has been relegated to second place despite having 80 bodegas on its route and Jerez having only 32. In total, Spanish wine routes welcomed 2,714,409 visitors, a healthy 21% more than 2015. The business generated is enormous, and the association of wine cities (ACEVIN) reckon that it amounted to 54.2 million spent at member establishments an increase of 10.66%. This does not take into account money spent in hotels, restaurants and shops which are not members of the Ruta. The majority of visitors are Spanish so there is still plenty of room to boost the figures by attracting more foreigners.  To find out more go to:

http://www.rutadeljerezybrandy.es/

Grupo Estévez and the Sanlúcar cooperative Covisan have renewed their collaboration agreement to guarantee grape supply for La Guita for a further five years. The cooperative has 175 members with around 350 hectares of vineyard. Some of these grapes will be distilled to make fortification spirit so that the best-selling Manzanilla in Spain can be 100% Sanluqueño. It is produced in two bodegas; the old one in Calle Misericordia and the more modern one on the Jerez road, where the bottling line is situated. It is very busy right now ensuring there is enough La Guita for the Feria de Abril in Sevilla which kicks off on the 30^th. Hopefully they will also be bottling the 2017 La Guita en rama.

28.3.17 Ruta del Vino y Brandy de Jerez to Incorporate Vineyards

Ruta del Vino y Brandy de Jerez is one of the most visited in Spain with over 400,000 visits last year, but it is too focused on city centre bodegas with visitor centres, and very few visitors have the opportunity to visit the vineyards. To put this right, a new vineyard route project has been launched, with the hope of funding from European ITI (Integrated Territorial Investment) grants.

César Saldaña, director of the Consejo Regulador, was unanimously re-elected yesterday as president of the Ruta del Vino y Brandy association at an extraordinary general meeting and accepted the challenge saying “we have spectacular countryside and vineyards only a stone’s throw away and the boost offered by the ITI funds is fundamental, but we must do things properly, step by step.”

The project promises employment and involvement in the project, but a few already identified problems must be solved first. The main one is that to receive the funds, the case needs to be justified and the total cost predicted. Of the 4.2 million euros available for wine tourism, there will be some half a million for the design of the route and its definition which will be the association’s responsibility. Later some 2 million will be available for infrastructures, mostly repair of country roads, and the rest for individual projects.

Members of the association at the Consejo's bodega San Gines (foto:diariodejerez)

But there is another problem. While European funding for public administrations is 100%, private ones only receive 90% meaning that the association will need to find 50,000 to bridge the gap while its members only pay an annual subscription of 200.  It was details like this which occupied a large part of yesterday’s meeting, and the directors will need to tackle at a further meeting the possibilities there are to face a challenge in which “we have accepted that the design needs to be different from the Ruta del Vino y Brandy yet it should in some way amalgamate all the knowledge and experience from the wine tourism point of view, and for that we will need to be creative to get the maximum benefit from the grant”. They are not ruling out some sort of agreement with public administration which would allow them the full grant.

“We are fully prepared to work and to devote as much time as the project needs”. Meanwhile there will be an external audit as a step towards the renewal of the Ruta del Vino de España certification. If this admirable project works out it will be a significant boost to the quality and variety of wine tourism in Jerez.

26.10.16 Awards for Rutas del Vino y del Brandy de Jerez; Protest March

The Wine and Brandy Trail of Jerez has won three awards in the III Rutas del Vino Awards promoted by the Spanish Association of Wine Cities (Acevin). The trail itself won one of the awards: Best Promotion Campaign for the website, while Best Gastronomy went to the restaurant La Carboná for its quality, local gastronomy, local produce and atmosphere. González Byass received a special mention in the awards for Best Wine Tourism Experience for the Tio Pepe Festival and Sherry Master. http://www.rutadeljerezybrandy.es/es/la_ruta

Cesar Saldana (Consejo), Mamen Sanchez (Mayor) and representative of Acevin (foto:andaluciainformacion)

The Ruta del Vino y del Brandy de Jerez was initiated in 2006 and involves 100 companies related to Sherry and Brandy; from bodegas, restaurants, hotels, wine shops and leisure firms. Over 450,000 people visited last year, making the trail a fantastic boost to the local economy which helps de-seasonalise tourism in the area.

Protest march in Jerez (foto:diariodejerez)

Hundreds of workers launched a protest march yesterday between the big bodegas of Jerez to raise awareness of their “struggle for decent working conditions”. They were accompanied by family, union representatives and left-leaning politicians as well as a police escort. Aware that with a lack of agreement with Fedejerez the strike could be a long one, they wanted to put up a show of strength. Cries could be heard of “Convenio si, miseria no”, “Que viva la lucha de la clase obrera” (long live the working class struggle) and “Si esto no se arregla, Guerra, Guerra, Guerra” (if this isn’t sorted, war, war, war). Both sides have nevertheless agreed to meet at the arbitration service tomorrow at 9.30.

1.8.16 X Anniversary of Ruta del Vino y Brandy de Jerez

Saturday saw the celebration of this milestone at the Castillo de Macharnudo, where representatives of the association’s more than 100 institutions and companies enjoyed a gala evening with wine, gastronomy and flamenco. Over 450,000 visits have been paid to the association’s bodegas and wine museums. The Ruta was one of the first in Spain and most visited, and now includes hotels, restaurants, tabancos, wine shops and travel agencies, all with one common objective: the promotion of the culture of the wines and brandies of Jerez.

(foto:lavozdigital)

18.6.15 Ruiz Mateos Jailed; Harley Heaven; Jerez, Culrura y Vino; Ruta Website; La Goya Cocktails

José María Ruis Mateos, founder of Rumasa and Nueva Rumasa has been jailed by surprise in Madrid for defrauding Hacienda (the Spanish Inland Revenue). It was felt that because of his age (84) and physical and mental condition he was no longer able to serve the 3 year sentence, but he was submitted to tests and deemed capable. Sending someone to jail at this advanced age is extremely unusual, and his daughter Patricia had to rush to the jail with his armoury of medications.

This weekend sees the arrival of some 10,000 Harley Davidsons in the Marco de Jerez for the annual rally of worldwide Harley clubs. The event coincides with the Carrera de las Leyendas (Race of the legends) at the Jerez circuit. Trouble is not expected, but the main problem is where so many people are going to sleep.

Typical Harley rider (foto:lavozdigital)

The Consejo Regulador is tonight hosting the presentation of the book “Jerez, Cultura y Vino” published by Peripecias Libros which consists of the collected talks given by various experts on Sherry and its culture in celebration of Jerez Ciudad del Vino 2014. Subjects cover wine, architecture, history, poetry, art, archaeology and more.

Tomorrow there will be a presentation at the Consejo Regulador of the new Ruta del Vino y Brandy de Jerez website and promotional video developed as part of the “Vivejerez” project financed by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. www.rutadeljerezybrandy.es is now live and offers visitors the chance to organise their tours and create made-to-measure tours as well as book them.

Delgado Zuleta has celebrated the V Manzanilla La Goya Cocktail Competition at the Hotel and catering school of Sanlúcar. 27 current and past students competed and the winners will be presented with their prizes at the bodega on Monday. The winning cocktail was:

Cocktail Al-Andalus by Nazaret Marín Gómez

3cl La Goya, 4cl banana liqueur, 2cl mandarin liqueur, 4cl alcohol free passion fruit liqueur and 1.5cl lemon juice

21.5.13 Osborne Profits; Ruta del Vino Logo; Lustau Win Gold; World Sherry Day

Grupo Osborne has announced its figures at the shareholder AGM for 2012, which show net sales of 222 m euros and a gross profit of 32.5 m euros, representing a 7% rise. The drinks side of the business contributed 78% of sales, principally brandy, anis, Rioja etc. The remaining 22% came from Iberico Pork and restaurants, which have seen growth of 50%. Unfortunately, Sherry was not a major contributor.

The Wine and Brandy Route of the Jerez area has a new logo. It was designed by Jose Antonio Chanivet, from Puerto Real. The logo was tiring and in need of a change, and this is a great improvement. La Asociacion de la Ruta del Vino y Brandy del Marco de Jerez, which covers all the main municipalities of the area, is composed of some 70 entities connected to enoturismo (wine tourism). These are bodegas, hotels, restaurants, bars, tabancos or wine shops, and they must all comply with the Association’s quality manual. The route is part of the official national system of Wine Routes, and is among the most popular.

Bodegas Emilio Lustau has won no less than 21 medals at the IWSC in London, considered the “Oscars” of the wine trade. They won half the medals available!

Their VORS Oloroso, Amontillado and Palo Cortado won gold, while the VORS PX won silver. Rio Viejo Oloroso, Rich Oloroso Anada 1997, PX San Emilio, Amontillado Los Arcos and the Almacenista Pata de Gallina also won gold. Three more Almacenista wines won silver: Amontillado de Sanlucar Cuevas, Amontillado del Puerto Cuevas and Palo Cortado Vides. Silver also went to Moscatel Emilin, Oloroso Emperatriz Eugenia, Palo Cortado Peninsula and Puerto Fino. Fino La Ina, Amontillado Botaina, East India Solera and Oloroso Don Nuno all won bronze.

 The first World Sherry Day has now listed over 200 worldwide events in 23 countries taking place this week up to the day itself, Sunday 26^th. The town council of Jerez is looking at how to link WSD with next year’s Vinoble wine fair, along with – if it is granted – European City of Wine. Jerez is a candidate for this, and to that end has renewed its connection with Recevin, the European network of wine cities. The bodegas of Jerez are the most visited in Europe with 311,000 visits last year. To keep abreast of what is happening, follow these sites:

www.worldsherryday.com y www.turismojerez.com.