Rations for the Spanish Armada

In a document from the Simancas Archives dated 12^th April 1588 the VII Duke of Medina Sidonia gives the captains of the ships of the Invincible Armada, based at Lisbon and ready for the invasion of England, instructions as to food and drink rations for the sailors.

Each man is to receive half a pound of biscuit a day, or two pounds of fresh bread on days when the biscuits are not given out.

(Imagen BBC)

As to wine, this will consist of one third of an azumbre (a measure, a little over two litres) of Sherry, or Lamego (Upper Douro), Monzon (Douro, near Oporto), Pajica (?) or Condado (Huelva), but only a pint of Candia (Liguria, Italy) as it is stronger, and it should be accompanied by double the quantity of water.

The first wine to be distributed shall be Condado or Lisbon, then the Lamego or Monzon. The Sherry and the Candia shall be the last to be distributed, since they better survive a sea voyage.

The document ends with a warning to the ships’ captains that no barrel of Condado or Lisbon which goes off, due to keeping it, will not be refunded, and will be charged at the same price as Sherry.

(Info JL Jimenez)

8.8.13 Fiesta Buleria; Special Manzanilla Bottles; Harvest Festival

 The XLVI Fiesta de la Buleria is to take place in Jerez at the bullring on 7^th September. This is the 3^rd oldest Flamenco festival, a big tourist attraction, and counts on the support of the Junta and the Council. Tickets go on sale this week at 20 euros and can be purchased at the tourist office in the Plaza del Arenal. Many famous Flamenco stars from Jerez will take part, as well as a few from outside the area.

 A set of promotional bottles of Manzanilla has been organised by the cultural tourism organisation La Pandorga along with Sanlucar Council and Bodegas Baron. The idea is to promote the town as a summer resort linking posters from 1949, 1958 and 1959 with three specially produced bottles with the historic posters as labels. The set is named La Manzanilla, el Vino Ilustrado. The tourism councillor, Antonio Reyes said that Sanlucar is like a kind of natural theme park for Manzanilla and the local gastronomy.

 The 2013 Harvest Festival will have over 50 activities between the 10^th and 15^th of September. Junior grape treading and concerts are among the new activities which will take place in emblematic areas of the city. Naturally the bodegas will be protagonists, along with the Alcazar, the Alameda Vieja and the Cathedral, among others. There will be 6 exhibitions related to wine at the municipal library, the old fishmarket gallery, the Alcazar, Bodega la Reservada, Gonzalez Byass and the bodega San Gines at the Consejo. The idea of a junior treading of the grapes, the day after the senior treading, is to keep young people involved with the city traditions, so they can carry them forward. Prizes for the Short Story competition will be awarded at the Alcazar, and the programme for European Wine Tourism Day (7-10 Nov.)will be presented. The III Gastronomic Fair wll take place in the Alameda Vieja.

6.8.13 Increased Mechanisation of Sherry Harvest

This year’s Sherry harvest is expected to see another drop in grape picking by hand. The unions reckon that 20% less of the crop will be hand-picked, as the machines are cheaper – by about 50%. Long gone are the days when the Jerez harvest, along with that of the beetroot, saw hordes (20,000) of workers in the fields. The machines are taking over leaving many out of work. Not that it is great work; seven hours on end in the baking heat for 6.17 euros an hour.

Last year’s very small harvest of just over 40 million kilos employed 6,000 pickers as well as the machines. This year, a harvest of 70 million kilos is forecast, and only 5,000 pickers will be employed – along with the machines. The vineyards now only extend to 7,000 hectares, of which 60% will be machine-picked. Labour savings are not the only advantage of the machines, however; they can pick at night, and much quicker, which helps preserve quality and avoid loss of yield.

The way that the vines are planted obviously affects whether machines can be used. Some 5,000 of the 7,000 hectares of vineyard are planted on espaliers (trained on wires), meaning machines can operate there, and it is likely that machines will pick more next year. A mechanised harvest takes far less time, but this is not the case in the many small vineyards which will be hand-picked by the grower’s family.

3.8.13 Eno-gastro Fair in Sanlucar; Osborne Crystal Bull; New Book on El Puerto

A festival of culture, gastronomy and tourism in Andalucia opened yesterday in Sanlucar. It is sponsored by (among others) Manzanilla La Guita, the Society of Horse Racing and the Tourism department of Sanlucar, and organised by Celebraciones Alianzza. There are gastronomy, culture and tourism stands covering all of Andalucia, as well as concerts and various other activities.The venue is at the entrance to the Horse Racing Society at Las Piletas beach and is open from 19.00 daily till the 7^th August.

 Swarovski, the crystal producers, have recreated the legendary Osborne bull in crystalline form, and the result can be seen at Osborne’s bodega La Mora in el Puerto. It is 4 metres high, weighs 500 kilos and has 2,000 crystals. The bodega is open from 10.00 – 15.00 and 19.00 – 22.00 every day, except Sunday evening, admission is free to see the bull, which will be on display till October. A bodega visit costs 8 euros, but is well worth it.

The bull was designed and built by local craftsman Willie Marquez, and the crystals were applied in the Swarovski workshops. The piece was first displayed a month ago in the Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid. After its display in El Puerto, the bull will go on a world tour, ending up as the centrepiece of the Osborne Bull Museum which will open at the bodega in the first half of 2014.

A new book about the grand houses in El Puerto will be introduced by its author, Fatima Ruiz de Lassaletta at Osborne’s bodega La Mora on Wednesday 7^th August at 21.00. Known as the “city of a hundred palaces”, El Puerto has seen some decline over some decades, but interest in its preservation has grown since the 1980’s. The book covers 50 houses or “casas palacios” which once belonged to wealthy bodega families or those who were involved with the import and export trade to the Americas. The author says that this book is the second part of her previous work “Seigneurial houses, bodegas and flavours of Jerez”, and she hopes to complete a trilogy with a similar work on Sanlucar.

2.8.13 Jerez Candidate for European City of Wine 2014

Jerez Council has approved the presentation of the city’s candidature to RECEVIN, the European network of wine towns, and has set up a working committee, which includes the Sherry trade, to support the application. Principal among RECEVIN’s remits are the promotion of awareness and knowledge of the winemaking world, its products and different denominations of origin, as well as the excellence of the wines and their healthy properties as European wines.

RECEVIN also considers the growth of wine tourism for this, the third year of the project, which works on a rotary basis around the European wine growing countries. The first was Portugal (Palmela), then Italy (Marsala), and now it is Spain’s turn. Jerez will be up against 22 other Spanish wine towns, including Chiclana andE l Puerto de Santa Maria! 2015 will be France’s turn.

The Council considers that Jerez fulfils all the requirements, and so has decided to apply. It will now try to get things moving by promoting the richness, diversity and common traits of the area at a European level, offering a better knowledge of the countryside, gastronomy and patrimony of the Jerez area “for a better mutual understanding among citizens of the European Union”.

RECEVIN is also promoting the European Day of Wine Tourism, on the 10^th November 2013.

1.8.13 Horse Races of Sanlucar Underway

For the 168^th year, the horse races on the beach at Sanlucar are about to begin. The races, which have been declared to be of National Touristic interest, and attract some 30,000 spectators, take place in two phases, the first from today till Sunday, and the second from the 16^th - 18^th August.

At these dates the tide is low and the sand is suitably moist between the beaches of Bajo de Guia and Las Piletas, providing perfect conditions for the horses to race, and as the day draws to a close a veritable hippodrome is formed with the Coto Doñana as a backdrop.

There will be 23 races, all for thoroughbreds. The cost of the event is 600,000 euros, 150,000 of which is for prizes. Columbus sailed from here on his third journey to the Americas, and Magellan too, on his first circumnavigation of the world.

The races have been an institution since 1845, and have been growing in recent times, with meetings for Jockeys (professionals), Gentlemen (enthusiasts), and Amazons….! Where do I sign?!

31.7.13 Tio Pepe gets Q Certification; Consejo Meeting

Bodegas Tio Pepe is the first bodega in Jerez to be awarded the “Q Certification” for quality as a tourist venue. The Instituto para la Calidad Turistica de España (ICTE) made the award, which is endorsed by the secretary of state for tourism and the autonomous communities. The ICTE is there to promote, find and organise quality tourism in Spain. This means constant attention to various factors, such as accessibility, management of resources and care for the environment. The certificate thus guarantees quality in touristic establishments.  The award of the certificate to Bodegas Tio Pepe makes it the leading tourist attraction in Jerez with around 250,000 visitors per year (30,000 British) – the most visited bodega in Spain.

The Consejo Regulador thinks it is time to think about the “revaluation” of Sherry. Now that the balance of supply and demand is satisfactory – at least for the moment -after years of over-production and ever falling prices, the hitherto unthinkable prospect of actually raising prices is on the horizon.

At yesterday’s last Consejo meeting before the harvest, it was felt that this might be a possibility, providing, in the words of Cesar Saldaña “that producers and bodegas plan the immediate future well. We’re not going to go mad planting more vineyards but we will seek to control the reduction of wine stocks in bodegas.”

Forecasts for this year’s harvest show a 30% increase on last year’s very small crop giving a total of 68,000 butts of qualified must, as opposed to last year’s 51,392. Actual sales are 82,000 butts – 2,000 more if you include vinegar – so this harvest will leave the trade short by some 14,000 butts. For the 2014 harvest there will be more vineyard in production, since 527 hectares which had been set aside for experimenting with other products have been allowed back to Sherry production. Taking this into account, 2014 could yield 77,000 butts, which calculated with wine already in bodega, means sufficient supply for four years.

There is an opportunity here to revalue vineyard and wine, and everyone should give it some thought and not miss the opportunity. Both Cesar Saldaña and Beltran Domecq underlined the quality of the grapes this year, which are recuperating from reduced phenol levels caused by abundant spring rain and variable temperatures. A very good quality harvest is expected.

The matter of Chiclana wine being sold in bulk, and the Fino-Manzanilla question have been shelved for the time being, provided that the situation does not go on for ever.