30.11.17 New Saca of Goya XL; Sherry Casks Big Business

This is only the 4th saca of this superb Manzanilla which is not released regularly but only when conditions are exceptional, and then only from very few carefully selected butts. It comes from the family reserve Manzanilla solera which was located in an old underground bodega called La Casa near Sanlúcar’s Bajo de Guia. When the firm relocated to the new bodega on the Chipiona road in 1989, the solera had to be moved and all the old butts were repaired, stave by stave, so it took a while for the wine to settle, but it soon returned to its former glory. It is a Manzanilla pasada with an average age of over 10 years, bottled en rama and in very limited quantities.

The multi million euro business of seasoning Sherry butts for the distilling industry is steaming ahead according to figures presented to the latest meeting of the Consejo Regulador. Since the Consejo established a voluntary certification system in 2015, some 50,000 butts have been seasoned officially, mainly for Whisky and Rum distillers. The Consejo has long been worried that many “Sherry casks” were seasoned elsewhere, illicitly using terms which are protected by the Sherry Denominación de Origen. Currently some 65,000 butts are being seasoned under Consejo supervision.

The Consejo issues traceability cards for those butts which have been seasoned by one of the 12 firms which have registered for the scheme. Each card, which is stapled to the butt, is printed with a QR code which contains information like the name of the cooperage, the type of oak, the type of wine used for the seasoning and the period of seasoning. The minimum period is one year, but the average is more like three years. Spirits aged in butts without the card cannot use protected terms such as “Sherry cask”, Manzanilla, Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado or Pedro Ximénez on their labels. A certain prestige is, of course, attached to labels bearing the words “Sherry cask”.

29.11.17 New La Guita En Rama; Covijerez 50th Anniversary

The iconic Manzanilla La Guita has launched a second saca bottled en rama in October 2017. It follows the excellent 2015 saca, and like its predecessor, it is made from a very carefully selected solera butts from the firm’s two bodegas, La Misericordia and Pago Sanlúcar Viejo. The wine has not been subjected to any filtration or stabilisation, so it best reflects the character of the coastal vineyards of Sanlúcar and of La Guita itself. As with the previous saca, the label has a picture of a Sanlúcar landmark and this year it is the tower of the XIV century church of Nuestra Señora de la O.

The largest of the seven cooperatives in the Sherry zone, Nuestra Señora de las Angustias –also known as Covijerez - has been celebrating its 50^th anniversary. The occasion was attended by the members along with many other members of the wine trade as well as the mayor and the agriculture minister of the Junta de Andalucía. Founder member and past president of the coop, Pepe Sierra was elected honorary president in recognition of all he has done for the institution. The event also saw the premiere of a lovely new film about the vineyards of Jerez and the coop itself, which was founded in 1967 and now counts 200 members with some 1,000 hectares of vineyard. Last year’s turnover was some 8 million euros and the coop has its own Sherry brands: Fino Sin Pecado, Mira La Mar and the Romerito range. The film is in Spanish and can be seen here:

http://www.diariodejerez.es/jerez/Covijerez-Jose-Sierra-presidente-aniversario_0_1195380741.html

Mayor Mamen Sanchez, agriculture minister Rodrigo Sanchez haro, Pepe Sierra, coop president Salvador Espinosa

Bodegas: Internacionales

The modern golden era for Jerez lasted a little more than a decade from the early 1960s till the oil crisis of 1973 and during this time Sherry was virtually selling itself. Marketing had become lax and overproduction became a problem as demand fell, with stocks eventually reaching nearly 50% more than could be sold. Many bodegas were insolvent. During this period José María Ruiz Mateos, founder of Rumasa, began buying them up at rock bottom prices in order to have enough wine to fulfil his contract with Harveys, buying a total of 16.

Inevitably, these bodegas were in various locations, and it was decided that great efficiency savings could be made if as much as possible were in one place.  Ruiz Mateos was confident that  he could increase sales by cutting prices. To this end a massive 50,000 square metre (5 hectare) bodega was completed in 1974 to provide all the winemaking, bottling, office and storage facilities required. It was the largest bodega in Europe - and one of the largest in the world - and dealt with the wines of 6 subsidiary bodegas: Diestro, Otaolaurruchi, Misa, Varela, Pemartín and Bertola. Many soleras were consolidated and famous names became mere labels before disappearing altogether, but luckily those subsidiary bodegas with better facilities continued as before.

The building itself is cleverly constructed using hundreds of interlocking octagonal concrete cones on pillars which conduct rainwater down to underfloor drains. The radical design won the national prize for architecture but is not a million miles away from the concept of González Byass’ Las Copas bodega. One good thing to come out of Internacionales, or BISA as it was known, was the excellent range of Duke of Wellington Sherries created by Beltrán Domecq González, but unfortunately they only lasted as long as Internacionales itself.

Rumasa had a huge effect on Jerez and the Sherry business changed beyond recognition. The trade saw much modernisation and the vineyard area more than doubled while sales were beginning to collapse, so the firm began to cut prices more aggressively and worry less about quality, and were accused of dumping, which did great harm to Sherry’s reputation. The bubble burst in 1983 when the government accused the labyrinthine firm of not paying taxes and took it over, selling it off in various viable parts. In 1985 the Rioja magnate Marcos Eguizábal bought Internacionales, along with Diez Hermanos, expanding the former to almost 70,000 square metres. In 1994 Grupo Medina bought the bodega and installed Williams & Humbert there. Medina part owned the firm, which had also once belonged to Rumasa, and now own it outright. The bodega houses some brands inherited from Rumasa days such as Lacave, Don Zoilo, and Gran Duque de Alba.

Palo Cortado 21%, Fernández Gao

Appearance

Bright chestnut - mahogany fading to amber with copper highlights.

Nose

Aromatic and forthcoming with beautiful faintly sweet notes of almost honeyed hazelnut and almond, turrón yema tostada, faint background notes of fine oak and even a trace of incense. This is an extremely refined and elegant wine which one could sniff for hours. Some Palos Cortados show a slight Oloroso tendency and others a little more Amontillado, and this one is more Amontillado.

Palate

Beautifully rounded on entry with sublime sweet nuttiness following through. It is fairly light and super elegant and complex with hints of exotic woods yet has no tannic rough edges and has a very long refined finish. Lovely.
Comments

This excellent Palo Cortado has an average age of some 20 years which is a lovely age where you can really taste what the wine is like before it takes on too much concentration and wood  flavours. This "new" bodega will surely be successful with wines of this quality. Juan Carlos Sánchez Gago is a very talented and keen young oenologist and the firm really deserves that success, and they are off to a good start. This wine earned 92 points from Wine Enthusiast and a Gran Oro at the New Wines Competition.

Price
30 euros per 50cl bottle ex bodega

 

Palo Cortado DA 18%, De Albariza

Appearance

Deep old burnished gold to amber with bright golden highlights.

Nose

Very attractive and interesting nose, still with some Fino characteristics like a hint of flor bitterness, salinity and traces of apple along with some oxidation, caramel sweetness, dried fruit and wax. It is still young but you can see where it is going, and it is definitely on the right road.

Palate

Medium bodied and quite tangy with a certain texture, traces of blonde tobacco, rancio and early signs of nuts. It is at a lovely stage between young wine with lots of appley oxidation, and a mature one with great refinement. It is really tasty and has great length.

Comments

This is probably the only organic Palo Cortado, and it comes from albariza vineyards in Trebujena, available exclusively, and in tiny quantities, from the great new wine and local produce shop in Sanlúcar, De Albariza, run by Antonio Peña. It spent just a few months under flor before being fortified and aged in butt for about eight years. It was made very well by someone extremely competent but who would rather remain unnamed. Naturally it has no DO having been matured in the production zone, but it is certainly a very good "Sherry".

Price
18.75, De Albariza

CJ Tinto Roble 2015 14%, Cortijo de Jara

Appearance

Very deep black cherry red with the faintest hint of brick in a red/pink rim.

Nose

Well ripened black fruits, bramble and cherry with some ripe red plum, with slightly toasty smoky notes and hints of balsam and vanilla. It smells very ripe, from a hot place, with a hint of jam yet there is a note of freshness.

Palate

Full bodied yet the tannins are moderate and there's plenty of fruit and that smoke note. There is a decent acidity and it balances well though a few more months in bottle would round it off. A very decent wine, especially for the price.

Comments

Made from mostly Tempranillo with some Merlot and Syrah, this attractive wine belongs to the DO Vinos de la Tierra de Cádiz. The estate grows many olive trees - and even chickpeas -  as well as vines and all are grown virtually organically. The grapes are fermented separately in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks and the wine is racked off for "coupage" or blending and aged in barrels for 6 months before bottling at the cortijo. The term "roble" which translates as "oak" is used for wines between the "Joven" or the young, unoaked style and "Crianza" which has a minimum period of 1 year in oak.

Price
5.00 euros, Licores Corredera

24.11.17 Peter Sisseck to Produce Sherry

Peter Sisseck, producer of the famous and expensive Pingus from the Ribera del Duero is to get involved with Sherry. Born in Denmark, Sisseck studied viticulture and oenology at Bordeaux, where he worked with various well-known châteaux. He also worked in California before coming to Spain and working as a consultant at Hacienda Monasterio in Ribera del Duero. He bought three parcels of old vines also in the Ribera del Duero and totalling five hectares, and in 1995 began to produce the now almost legendary Pingus, a wine which sells for over 1,000 euros a bottle. During his time at Hacienda Monasterio he became friends with its president, Carlos del Rio González Gordon, also a board member of González Byass, and now the two are partners in a new venture in Jerez.

(L-R: Peter Sisseck, Angel Zamorano and Carlos del Rio Gonzalez Gordon. foto el mundo)

Just a few days ago they bought a bodega from Sanlúcar bodeguero Juan Piñero, the one in Calle San Francisco Javier, Jerez, which houses Fino Camborio. The original solera belonged to Fernando A de Terry and disappeared via Rumasa, Harveys, Allied Domecq and Pernod Ricard and Piñero bought the brand name. He bought the bodega and its wines in 2006 from the almacenista Ángel Zamorano who had built up his business from scratch since 1974. Zamora had some 200 butts of good Fino and Piñero contracted Ramiro Ibáñez to improve it. He separated the best 65 butts and a new Camborio was launched. From then on, all the butts were refreshed with wine from Viña Callejuela in Sanlúcar.

Peter Sisseck and Carlos del Rio González Gordon have also bought 10 hectares of albariza on high ground in the pago Balbaína which will supply mostos for the criaderas, and over the years the resulting wine will become a single vineyard Sherry. Sisseck considers that good Fino is the best white wine in Spain and the plan is to produce an outstanding example, perhaps two. It is still too early to speculate on wine styles or brand names, but this is a venture to watch out for.