Gonzalez Byass

Gonzalez Byass sherry In 1835, infected by the sherry boom of his time, Manuel María González purchased a bodega (now known as La Sacristia) in Jerez. Although initially conceived as a pure trading house, he started to explore the production of wine and in 1844 the first own vines were added. In 1849 Manuel Maria Gonzalez created his own brand Tio Pepe, the first registered trade mark in Spain in 1888.

Then just a small solera with three criaderas, the name was a tribute to his uncle, José Ángel y Vargas, who strongly supported him and tought his nephew pretty much everything about vine cultivation and winemaking. Today Tio Pepe is distributed to more than 115 countries around the world as one of the best-selling Finos in the world.

In 1855 he built bodega La Constancia and the estate was so successful that González associated with his British trade representative Robert Blake Byass. This was the foundation for today’s largest sherry producer Gonzalez Byass. Nowadays the firm owns about 650 hectares of prime sherry vineyards, most of which in the Jerez Superior area, and extensive vine nurseries.

Bodega Tio Pepe

Gonzalez Byass - La Concha bodega
Not only was the Gonzalez family at the forefront of sherry winemaking, they’ve also participated in the introduction of the polo game in Spain, the first grass tennis court, the installation of the first electric lighting and running water in the plant, the first train project in Spain as well as numerous other industrial and cultural innovations. In 1862, when Queen Isabel II visited the firm, the construction of a new bodega called La Concha was commissioned from the engineer Gustav Eifel.

In 1888 the Byass family separated from the winery, but the name remained the same. The famous sombrero-wearing, guitar-toting bottle became the classic image of the Tio Pepe brand in 1935. The mascotte was designed by Luis Pérez Solera who was specialized in advertising for wineries.

In 1963 they constructed the great Tio Pepe bodega, holding 28,000 butts and built on 3 floors. Another bodega was built in 1972, Las Copas, with a capacity of around 80,000 butts. In 1998 the Byass family withdrew from the company. The company is now owned and run by the 4th and 5th generation of the Gonzalez family.

In 2004, Gonzalez Byass joined forces with Grupo Vips and opened 8 Tio Pepe restaurants in Madrid, but they were closed in 2011 due to the crisis. In 2008 the company acquired the well-known Viñas del Vero wineries.

Hotel Bodega Tio Pepe

Tio Pepe sign - Puerta del Sol Madrid The famous neon sign in Puerta del Sol in Madrid caused a bit of a stir when Apple bought the building and decided that the sign should be removed from the roof (probably to replace it with the apple logo). The bodega has found another rooftop in the same Puerta del Sol once again and the sign should be reinstalled after renovations.

In 2020 the company also opened the Hotel Bodega Tio Pepe, the world’s first sherry hotel, a small boutique hotel in the historic centre of Jerez, in between the bodega and the cathedral. It is a combination of four buildings that used to belong to bodega workers. Of course there are several options to enjoy food and wine in the hotel’s bar and restaurants as well.

Gonzalez Byass sherry range

Gonzalez Byass have an extensive range of sherries, from low-end products to high-end, old wines.

Elegante range: low-end supermarket sherries
Manzanilla El Rocio and Fino Gaditano, for the local market
Tio Pepe, one of the world’s most famous sherries and the archetype of Fino
Tio Pepe en Rama, the limited edition en rama version of Tio Pepe, launched in 2010 and bottled each year
Amontillado Viña AB, around 9 years old from a solera fed by Tio Pepe wine. This wine in turn feeds the Amontillado Del Duque solera.
Palo Cortado Leonor, a relatively new addition, launched in 2010. A wine of around 15 years old and the base wine for the Palo Cortado Apostoles.
Oloroso Alfonso, a dry Oloroso of around 10 years of age
Solera 1847, a sweetened Oloroso Dulce, from separately matured Oloroso and P.X. which are blended and then left to mature further together
Nectar PX, a young Pedro Ximénez which acts as a base wine for PX Noe
San Domingo Pale Cream and Cristina Cream
Croft Pale Cream, for export markets
The Palmas range: Una Palma, Dos Palmas, Tres Palmas and Cuatro Palmas. Four ‘snapshots’ of Fino Tio Pepe at a much older age, leading to the Amontillado Cuatro Palmas of 45 years of age.
VORS 30 year old range: Amontillado del Duque (dry); Palo Cortado Apostoles (from a solera started in 1862, blended with P.X. casks during the last stages of maturation); Oloroso Matusalem (sweetened); PX Noe (naturally sweet)
Añadas (single vintage wines, very rare, from different years between 1963 and 1994)

González Byass also produces Soberano (once in the D.O. Brandy de Jerez, now as a simple spirit drink mixer) and the iconic Brandy Lepanto.

Contact

Gonzalez Byass
Calle Manuel Maria Gonzalez 12,
11403 Jerez
Tel: (+34) 956 357 016
www.gonzalezbyass.es

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Tags: Bodega, Gonzalez Byass, Jerez

About the Author

Ruben is a Certified Sherry Educator who fell in love with sherry some 25 years ago, but switched to a higher gear in 2013 and started writing about it. Lived in Madrid for a couple of years, now back in Belgium. I also run a whisky blog over at www.whiskynotes.be