1876 Facts About Sherry by Henry Vizetelly

Tlie Bodegas in the old Moorish Quarter of Jerez. 63

Vn.—The Bodegas in the old Moorish Qhaetee of Jerez. A Great Jerez Shipping Establishment—The Offices, Press-house, and Cooper age—The Stahles,the Shipping Bodega,and the Sample-rooms—Maturing of the Commoner Wines—^The Bodega de la Union and its Annexes Huge Tuns known as Los Apostoles—The Parte Arroyo and Seuor Gonzalez' Blind Bargain—The Constancia Bodega and the Eomano Wine—The Bodega de los Ciegos and the A.B. Wine—The Bodega Vieja and Seuor Gonzalez'"Piano"—TheBodega dela Bosa and the Methusalem, Noah,and La Reyna Wines—The Bodega Reservada, with its Napoleon III., Muscatel, and Fragrant Tio Pepe Wines—The Blending Cellar, Cask- steaming Apparatus, and Distillery—Railway Incline—Other Bodegas of the Firm at Puerto de Santa Maria, San Lucar, Seville, and Montilla SenorDomecq's Bodegas—Steaming and Gauging the Casks—The Cooper age—-Fine Amontillado and Oloroso—The Famous Napoleon Wine,and its Christening hy MarshalSoult—Other Remarkable Wines—Seuor Domecq's Criaderas—The Bodegas of Vergara, Robertson, and Co.—^Visit paid to them hy Ferdinand VII.—Superior Wines of the old Jerezano Type. During tlie year 1873 there vrere exported from Jerez alone no fewer than 68,500 butts, or nearly 7-| millions of ftallons, of sherry. "While about seven-eighths of this large quantity of wine went to the United Kingdom and the colonies, a like pro portion came from the bodegas of about twenty Jerez firms. The establishment of one of the principal of these,that of Messrs. Cosens and Co., I have, already described, and I now propose speaking of the remaining ones, indicating in a measure the specialities for which each is remarkable. Borty years agoanew firm ofsherryshippers establishedthem selves at Jerez in a very modest way,for their first year s ship mentscomprised merely ten butts ofwine. During 1878,however, their shipments had risen to 10,000 butts,and to-day the firm of Gonzalez,Byass,and Co. are the owners of the largest estab lishment in all Jerez, where colossal establishments are the rule. Descending a flight of steps leading from the terraced Alameda vieja, one finds oneself in front of a pillared gateway giving access to the premises of the firm in question, which cover an area of sixteen acres, and comprise, in addition to