The Tasting Panel magazine

June 2015

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june 2015  /  the tasting panel  /  49 González Byass and their wholly-owned U.S. importer, Vin Divino, are getting ready to take Sherry out of the shadows and into the spotlight. One of their strategies is to get customers to realize that Sherry is a wine. "I normally drink Sherry in a white wine glass," González says. "For a restaurant, that makes it easier to serve Sherries, because they always have white wine glasses [as opposed to Sherry glasses], and that also sends a message to the consumer that it's a wine. After all, it's the same degree of alcohol with which we drink a lot of our wines today, and if you leave it in an open bottle, it's going to oxidize. In other words, it's going to behave just like any white wine. For that reason, we now show bottling dates on the back of the label to help people understand that they should consume it before a certain time. That also helps our on- and off-premise clients to rotate their bottles properly, because sometimes, if you don't have a vintage date, they might put the more recent product in front and the older one behind." Another strategy to extend Tio Pepe's influence in America is to expand its use in cocktails. "Sherry is an acquired taste, to some extent," González admits, "but through cocktails, it's an easy way to discover Sherry. We're also seeing a lot of interest in the drier styles right now. We've been trying to be quite innovative and creative over the last few years with Sherries, such as with the Tio Pepe En Rama—a limited edition, unfiltered, unfined Sherry, which tastes as if you took it straight from the cask." Although González Byass has been a Sherry house since 1835, since 1972 they have expanded their portfolio to include some of Spain's most elegant yet enticingly underpriced wines, such as the silky Vilarnau MV Brut Cava ($12.99); Viñas del Vero 2008 Secastilla ($36.99), a single-varietal, old-vine Garnacha full of pep- pery red fruit; and their flagships Beronia 2008 Rioja Reserva ($18.99), offering the richness of blueberries and plums, as well as the Beronia 2006 Gran Reserva ($28.99) with marzipan earthiness. But, this is only the beginning. In fact, the best is yet to come. At San Francisco's Piperade restaurant, the González Byass team connected with Southern Wine & Spirits/American Wine & Spirits executives. Left to right: Christopher Canale-Parola, Area Manager Western USA & Canada for González Byass; Jack Brennan, EVP/GM, SWS of CA; Jon Newlon, VP/GM, American W&S of CA; Jim McGuire, Director of Sales, González Byass USA (Vin Divino); David Gainza, VP/GSM, American W&S of NorCal; Mauricio González- Gordon L.C., Chairman, González Byass Familia de Vino; Len Nowicki, President, González Byass USA (Vin Divino); Steve Harden, VP/ GM, SWS of NorCal; and Joe Milo, VP/Director of Imported Wines, American W&S of NorCal. PHOTO: HARDY WILSON Mauricio González paid a visit to Los Angeles restaurant La Paella, where he met with its proprietor Pasqual Franqueza, a huge sup- porter of the González Byass portfolio. PHOTO: CAL BINGHAM Beronia 2006 Rioja Gran Reserva. PHOTO: CAL BINGHAM

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