
22 Sep 2016 DGB leads the local Sherry revival: launches authentic Spanish Sherry range
The range comprises of a Pale Cream, Medium Dry and Cream Sherry, each produced and bottled in Spain and fully imported for sale in the country under the Douglas Green brand.
On the back of the current global Sherry revival, this move by DGB was also born in the wake of South Africa’s trade agreement with the European Union of October 1999 that came into force in May 2004.
It dictates that within 12 years from this date, the term “Sherry” can only be used for authentic Sherries from Spain’s Sherry Triangle — the only wine-growing area in the world permitted to label its products as Sherry.
The Sherries were sourced from the bodegas (wine cellars) of Caballero in Spain’s foremost Sherry districts, Sanlucar de Barrameda, Puerto de Santa Maria and Jerez de la Frontera.
DGB says Caballero, a world-renowned Sherry producer, is known for setting the benchmark of quality for Sherries around the world and counts being named 2011 Best Spanish Wine Producer and 2014 Best Sherry Producer in the prestigious International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC) among its impressive list of accolades.
Retiring DGB marketing director Jacques Roux is a Sherry devotee himself and was instrumental in launchingt the range: “In recent years, Sherry has made a magnificent comeback, thanks to a wave of high-end releases that have reinvigorated interest in the category among foodies and fine wine drinkers,” he says.
“We have been watching this with interest, and the upshot of it is that we are now seeing an increasing resurgence of the various styles of Sherry on wine lists and in craft cocktails.
“We knew the timing was right to introduce a superior range of Sherries into the South African market, while striking a sought-after balance between exceptional quality and an affordable price point.”
The Sherries are aged in wood and are pure non-vintage Sherries made in the traditional criadera method where flor yeast is allowed to slowly permeate the young wine before blending in the solera method. (Flor is the veil or thin layer of indigenous yeast cells that forms on top of Sherry to protect it from air contact).
With young and mature wines of a uniform quality blended in the same style, for slow and consistent maturation, the benefit of the solera method is that it delivers a consistent quality each and every time.
The Sherries retail in the R130 range currently.
Source: DGB