2.2.17 Consejo to Ask Brussels About Unfortified Sherry; Sherry Week 2017

At a plenary meeting of the Consejo Regulador on Tuesday it was agreed to seek from Brussels an exception to the rules of the Denominación de Origen for the production of unfortified Sherry. Such an exception would cover Fino and Manzanilla but the Consejo is not ruling out an exception for Amontillado as well. The other styles of wine would continue to need to be fortified in order to remove the flor and thus propitiate oxidative ageing.

Luis perez with his son Guillermo, serious winemakers (foto:cosasdecome)

EU regulations have it that in order to be considered “vino generoso” Finos and Manzanillas need to be fortified (or contain a certain level of sugar, which is obviously undesirable). However experiments carried out at Bodegas Luís Pérez have demonstrated that it is quite possible to reach the required 15% alcohol naturally, without fortification, and so they suggested a change to the rules which was supported by Fedejerez.

To reach 15% naturally the producer runs certain risks as it would require over-ripening of the grapes by delaying the harvest and /or some sun drying, both of which expose the grapes to greater risk of adverse weather conditions and, of course, reduce the yield.

The dates for the 2017 edition of International Sherry Week have been announced, so it’s time to put them in your diary: 6^th – 12^th November. That gives you nine months to organise some spectacular events. Sherry Week is now a truly global event and a wonderful way to get together with friends, family and food, all with the fabulous link: Sherry.

What is Manifiesto 119?

This communist-sounding title is that of a group of winemakers and bodegueros from Jerez, El Puerto, Sanlúcar and Chiclana, all with very inquiring minds. They have got together to do what they can to raise the profile of the wines of Cádiz by recuperating old vine varieties from the XIX century, making unfortified Sherry and giving more importance to grape cultivation in the vineyards. The title refers to the 119 grape varieties recorded in Andalucía by the eminent botanist and ampelographer Simón Rojas Clemente, who in the early XIX century noted 40 in Cádiz alone, as well as drawing a viticultural map of Andalucía.

On the 20^th September last, the group celebrated their first public get-together at the legendary Er Guerrita in Sanlúcar where they offered a tasting of their wines and explained their plans. Members of the illustrious group are: flying winemaker Ramiro Ibáñez, Guillermo (Willy) Pérez of bodegas Luís Pérez, Armando Guerra of Er Guerrita, Primitivo Collantes owner of the eponymous bodega, growers and winemakers Rocío Áspera and Alejandro Narváez who run Bodegas Forlong and Francisco and José Blanco of Viña La Callejuela. They are not the only people experimenting and other inquiring minds are welcome to join them.

The group tasting at Er Guerrita (foto:cosasdecomer)

Primitivo Collantes has already planted 1,700 vines of the old variety Rey or Mantúo in Chiclana. Other old grapes being revived are the Perruna and the red Tintilla. The group feels that the Palomino itself could do better with more care in the vineyard and attention to the terroir. For the tasting Ramiro brought his Pitijopos (I think it means dragonflies), six different wines all from 2014 and all Palomino, but from different vineyards. Callejuela brought their 2012 vintage Manzanilla en rama. The group would like to see the recuperation of the casas de viña as this would help with vineyard work and offer a cultural and tourist attraction.

Unfortified Sherry is another of their ideas. Willy Pérez has already been experimenting and has shown it is perfectly possible by simply keeping an eye on the ripening of the grapes and what happens in the bodega. His wines are coming along nicely. The group plans to hold regular meetings to exchange ideas and keep coming up with new ones, and to work with anyone to restore the wine to its rightful place.