by Javier Urieta
JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, Spain, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The wines of Jerez from the Gonzalez Byass winery possess a variety of styles with varying flavors, colors and aromas and are now looking to explore the Chinese market.
Gonzalez-Byass is present in 115 different countries and their wines are considered to be high-quality items in countries such as Britain or Germany.
"China is a very important market; it's a key market," Gonzalez-Byass' Director of Marketing for Asia, Rosalia Gao, told Xinhua.
She highlighted that China is "the biggest nation for us and we want to continue investing in order to continue growing and position ourselves as the market leaders in such a competitive area."
Gonzalez-Byass began to export their wines to China some eight years ago when they opened their first office in Shanghai and since then they have witnessed "growing interest" for their products.
Gao stresses it is a highly competitive market and the company is working to open a space by trying to coach their potential clients.
"We organize masterclasses and a competition called the Tio Pepe Challenge, in which the best bartenders in the country battle it out to produce the best cocktail (using their wines) in all of China," she said.
Although they are looking at modern marketing techniques to explore China, Gonzalez-Byass is one of the most oldest wineries in Jerez de la Frontera; a town with a tradition of wine production where the atmosphere at times literally smells of wine.
The winery was built in 1835 and even now maintains the traditional way of working with the grapes from the region, known as "soleras y criaderas": a pyramid system for maturing wines according to age, which is unique to sherry.
"The grapes are harvested and then crushed to release the juice, which goes for the first fermentation in our winery on the outskirts of Jerez. After that, we put the wine into barrels, which we called 'botas'," Victor Alvarez of Gonzalez-Byass explained to Xinhua.
The wine in the "botas" is then left to mature in the dark, cool and slightly damp cellars to reach its maximum potential: Time and patience are now the winemakers' main tools.
Gonzalez-Byass forms part of the city's culture and is a key destination for visitors to Jerez, including many celebrities. Thousands of barrels in the cellar are signed by personalities from the world of cinema, art and sport. People such as Michael Jordan, Frank Sinatra and of course the Spanish Royal Family have all put their signatures on barrels stores in the aptly known "Cellar of the Kings."
In 2010, Gonzalez-Byass celebrated their 175th anniversary and was given the prize as Best Winery in the World in the International Wine and Spirit Competition, thanks to the intense aroma and dry flavor of its Tio Pepe wine.
