Evaristo Babé - President of the Regulatory Council

The President

To explain in a few lines the distinct personality of a drink like Jerez Brandy is not an easy task. Not even for its President. But a good website can do a lot to make this task easier. This is precisely what we intend to do from the Regulatory Council website.

Jerez Brandy is a unique and exclusive beverage in which very rich and complex nuances come together, revealing a noble spirit of pure wine, and in which we can taste a long history and individual personality. This is why it became the first spirit to be protected in Spain with a Geographical Indication; this is why it enjoys, to this day, undeniable international prestige and recognition.

It is clear that, in the fascinating world of alcoholic beverages, there are more and more—and better—products, be they beers, wines or spirits, capable of satisfying the tastes of practically every consumer. What is more, within the third category of spirits—which comprises all those drinks that undergo distillation, such as brandy, whisky, gin, rum, vodka, liquor, etc.—there is a constant increase in supply, which is becoming richer and more diverse every day. And there are some spirits that have been garnering success and recognition among the most demanding customers for more than a century. This is the case of Jerez Brandy—rather unsurprisingly, as wine distillation has been practised in the Marco de Jerez for over two thousand years.

It is very important to know how to enjoy the good things in life. The purpose, the goal of producing alcoholic drinks is always the same: to provide enjoyment and pleasure to those who consume them. Enjoyment and pleasure that increase considerably when one appreciates the beverage and consumes it with moderation and responsibility. And drinking Jerez Brandy is an excellent way of enjoying those good things in life. With a superb quality, Jerez Brandy is enormously versatile, so it is only a matter of finding the right moment and way to drink it.

Jerez Brandy is a brandy—and as such, a wine distillate that is aged in wooden barrels for a certain period of time—that differentiates from others in that it must be produced and aged in the Marco de Jerez, following the genuine criaderas y solera system and using oak casks which must have been previously employed in the ageing of the exclusive and extraordinary wines of Jerez (Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado, Palo Cortado or Pedro Ximénez). This way, each cask imbues the wine distillate with rich and distinct notes.

The Regulatory Council of Jerez Brandy, the first that was created in Spain for a spirit, is the institution charged with ensuring compliance with the strict rules set forth in the Regulations of the Designation, and this guarantee is reflected in the seal that every bottle of Jerez Brandy must include. If the seal is not there, if the Jerez Brandy logo does not appear on the label or back label, it simply isn’t a Jerez Brandy.

In short, dear reader, we hope that this website will not only enable you to learn more about what may be considered the most important spirit among those produced in Spain, but also encourage you to visit, discover and enjoy the exclusive geographical region where it is made—the exceptional Marco de Jerez.

As I wrote at the beginning of this brief introduction, to describe in a few lines a beverage such as Jerez Brandy is not an easy task, even for the President of its Regulatory Council. The best way to discover Jerez Brandy is, without doubt, to enjoy it in any of its multiple forms. Alone or accompanied.

I toast—with Jerez Brandy, of course—to all of us who have the privilege of enjoying life with a glass of Jerez Brandy in our hands.