A visit to Bodegas Fundador Pedro Domecq in Jerez

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets. That pretty much captures what happened last night, and carried on through the day. Our original plan was to head straight down to El Palmar, Y.'s favourite spot on the Costa de la Luz, for a couple of days of beach time. Since the weather wasn't cooperating, we decided that we'd pass the time in Jerez, the epicentre of sherry, and move on to the coast that night.


We stopped at essentially the first Bodega we saw, Pedro Domecq. Turns out it is also one of the largest in Jerez, and producer of Spain's famous and popular Fundador brandies.


Not having made a reservation, we joined the only tour going, in Spanish, but we managed all the same. Fascinating to learn about how the different types of sherry are made, including cut-away displays of barrels with the flor forming inside. A heavy scent of sweet sherry pervaded the whole town, really. Some of the sherries were ancient, having been in barrel for more than a 100 years old. We also saw a number of barrels that had been "assigned" to individuals - mostly famous people, monarchs and royalty. Despite my best attempts, I was not allowed to take this barrel.


However, to finish off the tour, there was a tasting for the 8 people in our group (including a young Japanese guy with an impressive command of Spanish), at the end of which, they left us with 3 bottles of sherry and as much time as we'd like. We actually ended up joining another couple for lunch back in town, super friendly people from Barcelona. We had a great, long long lunch (5 hours) with them, talking about our respective travels (they'd been to India recently, they were very keen to know more about our time in the Azores). When we told them we were going to Palmar / Conil, they pulled out the GPS and were shocked that they couldn't find any trace of the place. I guess they must have figured if we were off to unheard of places, we must be ok sorts, and so we left Jerez with a standing invitation to stay with them in Barcelona. Looking forward to that!