Sherry Business Flashcards
(7 cards)
Sherry players growing grapes
The total area of vineyards in Zona de Producción: 7,142 ha in 2020.
avg vineyard area: just over 3 ha
Members of co-operatives own 47% of the vineyards
shippers own 31%
independent growers 22%
Many shippers (Gonzalez Byass, Barbadillo, Estevez Group) have large vineyard holdings + but usually not self sufficient = need to buy from independent growers.
Bodegas de la Zona de Producción (Production bodega)
(incl. large coops)
press grapes, ferment into base wine
may fortify (dep. on style made and timing)
Aging bodegas may fortify too if needed
Often owned by company listed in other registers or independent (incl. coops).
Sell base wine to companies listed in one of ageing bodega registers
Can also sell their own wines: previously outside of 3 municipalities did not qualify for DO.
New 2021 regulations - wines can now be aged anywhere in the production zone and quality for DO status.
Bodegas de Crianza y Almacenado (Ageing and storage bodegas)
mature and for some styles fortify wines.
Also called almacenistas
small in scale, mature low volumes of wines
Matured wines must be sold to Bodegas de Crianza y Expedición
suffered from declines in sales the most - reduced demand shippers survived using their own stocks = no extra needed from alm.
1996 - ConsejoRegulador lowered min. stockholding from 12,500hL to 500hL to register as shipper = number of biggest alm. (El Maestro Sierra, Bodegas Tradición) became shippers and now market their own labels and brands
Bodegas de Crianza y Expedición (Ageing and shipping bodegas)
only bodegas
only they can sell from both DOs. also called “shippers”
permitted to sell but also mature wines - may arrive young from B.de.Prod. or come as matured from B.de.CyA
wines from almacenistas cna be blended with shipper’s own stocks to incr. volumes and add complexity
sold under shippers own brands
Lustau exception - long almacenista range (includes name on label) branded by Lustau
Sherry Consejo Regulador
First regulatory body in Spain - 1933
Keeps vineyard and bodega registers
Sets production parameters: max yields, min abv for base wines
oversees rotation of stock in bodegas
verifies authenticity of age-dated Sherries
promotional body (incl. International Sherry Week, educational courses for pros)
Sherry historically sied as generic term for fortified wine made with white grapes
so: mid 1990s - CR lobbied in EU to protect it for wines from 2 DOs
Sherry domestic vs exports
Domestic: 11,5mln in 2023 (44% of sales) - stable, most popular Manzanilla then Fino
Export:
UK largest (6,9mln L in 2023) - mostly sweetened; Holland 2,5mln L, Germany 1,3 mln L
No value data, however reports from UK suggest sales of premium-priced Sherries increasing, mainly driven by hospitality (modern tapas bars) and use in cocktails as well as by younger drinkers
Sherry recent developments
Unfortified light wines not allowed under DOs, made from Palomino/PX:
fresh youthful
biologically aged
partially oxidative
hopes it attracts new customers.
Since 2021 pago possible on label
