It is much more than just a visit for tourists;
it is about submerging oneself in the history of how important the wine
industry was for Jerez, from basic wisdom to anecdotes revealing the very soul
of the trade. The museum, established in 2013 in the Bodega de la Luz, is
packed with reminiscences of the great years in the history of Sherry. It was
in this enormous bodega complex which spreads between the Puerta de Rota and
the old convent of Espíritu Santo that Pedro Domecq built his empire and where
Jerez brandy was born, in among the Sherries.
The exhibition, which is open all year round,
begins with a homage to the El Majuelo vineyard in the pago Macharnudo and follows
through to the effects of the industrial revolution on the evolution of Jerez,
told through the histories of Fundador, Terry and Harveys.
It is not known exactly where in the bodega the
original butts of Fundador were stored for the first five years or so, but they
were stored here. In the late XIX century a large order for wine spirit for
liqueur production was received from Holland, but for some reason the spirit
never left the bodega and it was decided to store it in Sherry butts where it
remained forgotten for some five years. A capataz happened upon it and thought
he could use the spirit, but he discovered that it had absorbed flavour
elements from the wood and the Sherry the butts had previously contained and developed
into a beautiful brandy. This discovery opened up a whole new market, and
Domecq organised a suitable solera to age it on the same lines as the Sherry,
and the first commercial Jerez brandy, Fundador, was launched in 1874 and is
now, nearly 150 years later, the firm’s most emblematic product.
A bust of Pedro Domecq greets visitors at the
entrance in Calle Espíritu Santo, while homage is also paid to a more recent
Domecq, the legendary oenologist José Ignacio Domecq who died some 20 years
ago. Known as “la nariz” (the nose) his tasting ability was formidable, and the
museum proudly shows the red Moto Guzzi motorcycle with a basket fixed to the
rear on which he came to work with his beloved dog Paco.
The museum devotes a space to the firm’s
achievements and recognition and here one can see all sorts of medals and
prizes along with the bottles which won them, not to mention royal warrants and
exclusive commemorative bottlings for the British royal family, including a
special bottle for the wedding of Price Charles and Lady Diana, “the wedding of
the century”.
Another impressive part of the exhibition is
that devoted to the technical and business side of Sherry. There are old sales
ledgers, XVII century bottles, all kinds of Sherry glasses and old bottling
machines and, on entering the adjacent bodega, a huge majestic old copper still
so tall it almost touches the roof. The next space is dedicated to Harveys and Terry
and shows how things were done in the old days of commercial splendour and how
Harveys began importing wine to Bristol and ended up exporting it from Jerez as
one of the top names with the flagship brand Bristol Cream. The exhibition
continues with Terry, famous for its Centenario, the brandy with the yellow net
on the bottle, the legendary horses, coaches and riders’ clothing.
What looks like a normal staircase connects two
bodegas at different levels, but there is a story. King Alfonso XIII was visiting
Domecq and it was decided that for security reasons, an interior connection
would be built to avoid the need for the king to be on foot in a public street.
The glass from which Alfonso drank has been preserved in the bodega El Molino
which contains a large number of butts signed by all sorts of famous people,
right up to the present king, Felipe VI. These bodegas are steeped in the history
and development of Sherry and Brandy de Jerez and it really comes to life in
this museum.
