Fundador Pedro Domecq Wineries

These wineries are the oldest of Jerez, having the origin in the 18th century. The Fundador wineries' are composed by the wineries San Pedro, El Castillo, El Molino, La Tribuna, La Luz and La Mezquita.

La Mezquita's winery is a colossal building and is one of the biggest wine cellar of world. It was inaugurated in 1974, with the aim of celebrating the centenary of first Spanish brandy, Fundador.

Visiting this winery is a mix between history, architecture, art and wines which in 2005 won the award to the best winery of world by International Wines & Spirits Competition

The Beam Group is composed by three important wineries Fundador Pedro Domecq which was founded in 1730, Harveys which was founded in 1796 and Terry which was founded in 1865 in El Puerto de Santa Maria.

This Group has important brands in the wine sector due to Harveys is one of the most consumed sherry wine in the world and it is sold in the five continent; Fundador, the first Spanish Brandy, and Terry is one of the most famous Brandies of Spain.

The visitor can know the history of the three most important brands of the group. Also the visit include a tour of the different wine cellars of the 18th and 19th centuries, specially El Molino wine cellar where is located one of the older wine of Jerez and signing in barrels of famous people like, Alexander Fleming or King Alfonso XIII.

The visit begins with a video which explains the history, visit and wine cellar, then, a tour of wineries and a tasting of wines and brandies of the wine cellar: Terry Fino, Harveys Bristol Cream, Fundador and Terry Centenario. Finally, visitor can buy souvenirs or gifts in the souvenirs shop of the winery.

Visit

The duration is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Languages: Spanish and English. Other languages check.

Free Parking

The visitor can choose between some kinds of special visiting that can be consulted in the website or in the facilities

Price:

·         8€ visit+tasting

·         13€ visit+tasting+tapas

Schedules:

January, February, November and December:

·         From Mondays to Saturday 12:00, 13:00 and 14:00

From March to October:

·         From Mondays to Fridays 10:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00

·         Saturdays: 12:00, 13:00, 14:00

Special visit including La Mezquita wine cellar:

·         From Mondays to Fridays at 12:00

Special night visits: (July and August):

·         From Mondays to Fridays at 21:00 (Entry to Puerta de Rota)

Contact and location

Address: San Ildefonso, 3 Jerez de la Frontera

Telephone: 956 151 500

Web:  www.bodegasfundadorpedrodomecq.com

Email: visitas@bodegasfundadorpedrodomecq.com

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Williams & Humbert Winery

Introduction

Williams & Humbert is a centenary winery which represents tradition and innovation in the sherry wine market sector.  The current winery was built during the 70's and is one of the most impressive and biggest wineries of the world which also has the National Award of Architecture. The winery is located in good place, next to the city centre of Jerez, and surrounded of gardens, being one of the most attractive and famous wineries of the region.

History

The wine cellar was founded in 1877 by Sir Alexander Williams and Arthur Humbert.

From the inauguration to nowadays, the winery conserve some wines and brandies which are keeping in oaks barrels of high quality. During the 60's, José Medina created his own winery and got success soon based in the international market. He and the Dutch multinational Royal Ahold bought Williams & Humbert, their last acquisition that is the brand of all their products.

Nowadays, the wineries are located in Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlucar de Barrameda. The headquarters is the biggest winery of Europe and also has vineyards and a distribution company (Sovisur). The company sells its products in 80 countries and during the last years has diversified its market through ham and cheese.

Visit

Visitors can admire the huge ageing winery with 1 kilometre long where there are around 60,000 American oak barrels that can be observed from the spiral stair. Also there is a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with a candle which is turned on all days by the employees to ask for good work day; and a car Ford B of the year 1930.

Furthermore, the visitors will visit the most important room of the wine cellar, the Gran Duque de Alba room, where there is a museum of wine. There are all the tools used during the manufacture of wine, most of them from 18th century.

One of the most singular facilities of the winery is the horse facilities. The wine cellar offers horses' spectacles during the visits.

During the facilities, visitors can see some barrels which have been signed by famous persons who have visited the wine cellar. As examples, the Beatles, the Kings of Spain or the Queen of United Kingdom.

Finally, visitors have a tasting and aperitifs in which can admire the products of the winery.

The duration of the visit is around one hour and half.

Schedules: from Mondays to Fridays 10, 12 and 13:30. Afternoons and feast days only with reservation.

Contact:

Telephone: 956 353 400

Mobile phone: 677 452 256

Email: visitas@williams-humbert.com

Website: http://www.williams-humbert.com/

Address: Carretera Nacional IV Km 641 Postal Code 11408 Jerez de la Frontera

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Museos de la Atalaya

Museos de la Atalaya (Atalaya Museums)

The Atalaya Museums include the "Mystery of Jerez" as wine's museum and the "Palace of Time" as watches museum. In this cultural place is also celebrated conventions, meetings and cultural activities.

The Atalaya's facilities have large gardens, a neoclassical palace of Victorian style for the Palace of Time and an old winery for the Wine's Museum.

The Atalaya's gardens were designed according to the French landscaping of the 19th century, and have been declared as Spanish Property of Cultural Interest as historic gardens.

The watches museum (The Palace of Time) is considered as one of the higher value collection of Europe. It was inaugurated in 1976 with a 152 pieces inherited by Countess of Gavia. Currently the museum has 302 pieces.

In the museum is shown the watch making techniques of United Kingdom, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Also, it has to be highlighting the architectural value of the building and the artworks of its interior.

Regarding to the Mystery of Jerez, it is located in an old winery and it is a multimedia museum and didactic centre where is shown the history of the Jerez's wine, the evolution and the social, cultural and economic impact. Principally, it includes the vineyards characteristics, the varieties of wine, the weather, the production system...

Visit, contact and location

Address: Cervantes, 3

Telephone: 956 182 100

Web: www.elmisteriodejerez.org

Email: info@elmisteriodejerez.org

Tickets: (Guided visit of 50 minutes)

Individual: 6€

Group: 5, 5€

Reduced: 3€ (Retirees, students and children)

Guided visit from Mondays to Fridays: 9:30- 10:30 - 11:30 - 12:30 - 13:15

(Afternoons and weekends, only for groups with advance booking)

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International Sherry Week

Between 2^nd and 8^th of June will be celebrate the International Sherry Week in Jerez de la Frontera. This event will organize activities of promotion and diffusion of the culture and the moderate consumption of the Sherry wine.

The International Sherry Week is the evolution of the World Sherry Day in which the last year was organized more than 300 events in only one day. These events are independents and they are organized by sherry's fans that use the International Sherry Week's platform to promote it.

This year has the particularity that the Regulatory Council of Sherry collaborated in the organization and also, this year, Jerez is the European Wine City so this event will achieve higher international participation and promotion.

Many national and international chefs support this International Sherry Week, as Frank Camorra (Australia), Ryo Sakai Ardoak (Japan), Hannes Desmedt y Helle Cattelein (Belgium).

If you are interested in the events, you can visit the official web site in which appears all the activities of this week.

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Vinoble

Vinoble

The 8^th International Exhibition of Noble Wines will celebrate from 25^th to 27^th of May in its usual place, the Alcazar of Jerez. It is the only one dedicated exclusively to the fortified, dessert and natural sweet wines, and in its last edition, Vinoble was visited by 11,500 people approximately. (It is celebrated each 2 years)

Beside the official activities, it organizes others activities linked with this kind of wines, as for instance gastronomic activities. Also, the exhibitors have exclusive rooms where they carry out business, private tasting etc. This year, due to the proclamation of Jerez as European Wine City 2014, this event will have more importance.

In this exhibition, will take part 700 fortified, dessert and natural sweet wines of 13 countries. It will have 56 stands, 46 for Vinoble and others 10 for Gastrovinoble which is one of the novelties in this edition.

The Event's programming will have 18 wines' tasting and 3 round table. There are activities which have sold out all the tickets. There are others interesting activities as: The history of the German Wines of small manufacturers, route by a Osborne's wines of 18^th century, South Africa wines, Sauternes and an Italian representation.

This year, 11 Masters of Wines will participate, as example, Lisa Granik, Sarah Jane Evans, Pedro Ballesteros, Peter McCombie, Tim Atkin and Chris Donaldson.

Regarding to Gastrovinoble, the novelty this year, it will be the 25th and 26th of May. The chefs, Ricardo Costa, Ángel León, Marcos Morán and Dani García will participate in this event; all of them have one Michelin Guide Star. They will present their gastronomic proposals of pairing with noble wines. Furthermore, it will carry out others activities like: a tasting of Iberian Ham harmonized with five fortified wines, a show cooking of the Italian chef, Enrica Barni who will cook Italian dishes using Italian sweet wines, tasting cheeses of the Way of Santiago, a show cooking of Jonathan Kjølhede.

Tastings and panel discussions

Sunday 25^th of May:

·        11:00 Sicilia in its pure state: Marsala and Passito di Pantelleria, by Giovanni Giardina, IRVO Sicilia. Place: San Fernando

·         12:00 A walk by the fortified wines of the World, by Pedro Ballesteros MW. Place: La Mezquita

·         13:00 Four decades of Wehlener Sonnenuhr through the Martin Kerpen wines, by Martin Kerpen. Place: El Molino

·         18:00 The art of the amontillado: a draught from Paradise, by Jesús Barquín and Tim Atkin MW.

·         Place: La Mezquita

·         18:30 Denomination of Origin of Malaga: perspective about the raisining by Aurelio Molina Place: El Molino

·         19:30 Round Table: The British fever of sherry: true rebirth or flash in the pan?, by Sarah Jane Evans MW (moderator), César Saldaña, Margaret Rand and Peter McCombie. Place: La Mezquita

·         20:30 Flamenco & Sherry by Tio Pepe Place: Patio de Armas

Monday 26^th of May:

·         10:30 The perfect vintage: Oporto Vintage 2011, by Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto. Place: La Mezquita

·         11:30 The Pedro Ximenez, the jewel of Montilla-Moriles, by David Seijas and José Ignacio Santiago Place: El Molino

·         12:30 Round Table: valueing noble and fortified wines by Paz Ivison (moderator), Victor de la Serna, Andrés Proensa, Carlos González and José Luis Murcia. Place: La Mezquita

·         13:00 A current perspective of Tokaj wines, by Christopher Donaldson MW. Place: San Fernando

·         18:00 Vintage of Palos Cortados by Antonio Flores, González Byass. Place: La Mezquita

·         18:30 Italy from north to south, by Nicoletta Negrini. Place: San Fernando

·         19:30 Round Table: Flor, Solera & Caliza, by Álvaro Girón (moderator), Paco del Castillo and César Cánovas. Place: La Mezquita

Tuesday 27^th of May:

·         10:30 Osborne Rare Sherry Collection: the tasting of the thousand years, by Ignacio Lozano & Ivan Llanza, Osborne. Place: La Mezquita

·         11:00 Malvasías of Canary Islands, by Canarian Institute of Agrifood Quality. Place: El Molino

·         11:30 The sweet wines of local varieties of Georgia, by Lisa Granik MW. Place: San Fernando

·         12:30 Ageing and oxidation in Champagne, by Peter Liem. Place: La Mezquita

·         13:00 Fortified wines from South Africa, by Tim James, Grape South African wine pages. Place: El Molino

·         18:00 The sweet wines form Veneto, by Juancho Asenjo, elmundovino. Place: La Mezquita

·         19:00 Sauternes and Cadillac, by Sweet Bordeaux. Place: San Fernando

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Gonzalez Byass Wineries

Gonzalez Byass Wineries

Gonzalez Byass's Wineries was founded by Manuel María González Ángel in 1835. The businessman bought a small winery and begun to export his wines. A year later, Manuel María González was associated with Robert Blake Byass, London businessman.

The wineries are world famous, not only for its wines, but its world awards as The Best Winery of the World by the International Wine and Spirit Competition or the best tourism wine centre 2014.

This winery is one of the most visited tourist attraction of Jerez de la Frontera, being visited by 240,000 visitors per year, and due to this, it is also the most visited of Europe and one of the most visited of the World.

There are some curious things in the  visit like mice drinking sherry, barrels of wine that have been signed for famous, athletes and politician of all the world and some Kings and Queens of Spain. Also there is Royal Winery of La Concha, built in 1869 and designed by the famous French engineer Gustavo Eiffel.

During the visit, the tourist will know the facilities, but also there are other tourist attraction like the history of the wineries, sherry and the city, Equestrian and flamenco spectacles and wine tasting.

Contact and location

Address:  Manuel María González, 12

Telephone: 956357000 

Fax: 956357003

Email: nacional@gonzalezbyass.es

Website: http://www.gonzalezbyass.com/

Visit

Languages: Spanish, English, French, German and Dutch. 

Visit duration: 1 hour and half

Visit timetable from Monday to Saturday.

·         Spanish: 12.00 - 13.00 - 14.00 - 16.00 - 17.00

·         English: 12.00 - 13.00 - 14.00 - 17.00

·         German: 12.15 - 14.00 - 16.00

Visit timetable Sunday:

·         Spanish: 12.00 - 13.00 - 14.00

·         English: 12.00 - 13.00 - 14.00

·         German: 12.15 - 14.00

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The "Tio Pepe" Wineries receive the award to the best tourism wine centre 2014

The "Tio Pepe" Wineries receive the award to the best tourism wine centre 2014

The "Tio Pepe" wineries have received the award to the best tourism wine centre 2014 which presents the magazine "The drinks international" from United Kingdom.

These wineries are visited by 200,000 people yearly, and due to this, is the most visited winery of Europe and one of the first ones of the World.

The "Wine Tourism Awards" recognise the innovation and excellence in the wine tourism which is growing in all the wine regions on the World.

The jury has highlighted the large number of attractions, facilities and activities which can perform the visitants. During the visit, there is a route to the winery, the city and the sherry wine history in 8 languages, as well as, flamenco and equestrian shows, wine tasting guided by experts etc.

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