While Tío Pepe is a brand name for their fino sherries, González Byass is the name of the company and the brand of their wider sherry range.
Following on stylistically from the lighter styled dry sherries to richer styled dry and sweet, is González Byass Amontillado Viña AB. It begins as a Tío Pepe Fino ageing under the flor yeast but loses its flor and is subject to oxidative ageing which results in amber colour, increased concentration with richer hazelnut, saline notes. Next is the Alfonso Oloroso that begins with fortification to 18% abv and has no flor so is aged oxidatively for its entire life. It is aged for at least 8 years, resulting in a deep amber colour with aromas of walnuts, truffle and leather. The Leonor Palo Cortado has 12 years of age and it is fortified to 18% abv and it has a light mahogany colour with aromas of roasted hazelnuts and bitter orange.
Sherry can be made sweet when blended with sweet Pedro Ximénez (PX) Sherry. Cristina Medium is an Oloroso blended with a sweet Pedro Ximénez Sherry that results in 40g/l** of residual sugar. Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherries spend four years ageing separately in their soleras before being blended and aged for another three years before release. It is medium sweet with flavours of sultana raisins, dried figs and vanilla on the finish. Solera 1847 is a Cream Sherry with 128g/l** of residual sugar. It is a blend of Oloroso and sweet Pedro Ximénez Sherry aged four years separately and then four years together, which results in a perfect balance of rich nuttiness and sweetness. On the nose we have aromas of raisins, vanilla, oak and a slight hint of almonds. On the palate we have dried dates with caramel and roasted nuts on the finish. Nectar is at the very sweet end and exactly as described, a nectar of Pedro Ximénez grapes with 370g/l** of residual sugar. It is aged on average 8 years and is ebony in colour with a rich nose of raisins, dates, treacle and molasses.
In the VORS range, a rare collection of sherries, each Sherry is made in the same way as their younger counterparts but receives additional ageing to bring up the average age to 30 years by putting them in their respective VORS soleras where they gain their characteristic concentration and immense complexity.
Tío means uncle in Spanish, with the brand being named after the beloved uncle Pepe of founder Manuel María González Ángel. Manuel was only 23 years old when he began his business in 1835, in Jerez, Spain. Today, Tío Pepe is a globally recognised Sherry brand and is still produced by the fifth-generation descendants of Manuel. The Byass, in the company name González Byass, is the result of the partnership with their English sales agent and wine merchant Robert Blake Byass which began in 1844.
One of Spain's inspiring red wines made in an isolated DO zone in Cataluña inland from Tarragona, Jose Luis Perez and his family established themselves in the Priorat in 1981 and, along with René Barbier senior, Carles Pastrana (Clos de l'Obac), Dafne Glorian (Clos Erasmus) and Álvaro Palacios (L'Ermita). The estate owns 10 hectares of vineyard planted in the famous llicorella soil that gives the DO its distinctive character.
The non-French wine to win the diploma of honour of the Bordeaux Exhibition back in 1895 Marqués de Riscal was founded in Elciego (Álava) in 1858 by Guillermo Hurtado de Amézaga and from the outset has been a point of reference in the winemaking business at both national and international levels. Throughout its history, Marqués de Riscal has always been an innovating and pioneering cellar remaining a reference in a constantly changing winemaking sector. Since the beginning, the winery has always had a clear vocation to export wines which are original, fresh, elegant and easy to drink.
