While sherry country is grubbing up surplus vineyards, there have been a number of sales and mergers in the marketplace over the last twelve months.

Pernod-Ricard has sold all the Domecq Jerez sherry brands and soleras to Osborne.

This includes Amontillado 51-1ª, Botaina, Capuchino, La Ina, Rio Viejo, Sibarita, Venerable and Viña 25 which will now appear under the Osborne label.

The generic ‘Domecq’ and ‘John Harvey’ brands will, however, remain with Pernod-Ricard and Beam Global respectively. Domecq Bodegas also includes the former Bodegas y Bebidas wineries in Rioja and beyond.

In another move, newcomer Valdivia, which was founded in 2003 by investors outside the wine industry with money from the construction industry, has been sold on to Garveys in its entirety.

Meanwhile Rainera Pérez Marín has been bought by Marqués del Real Tesoro, owned by Bodegas Estévez.

Rainera Pérez Marín is the producer of La Guita, the Manzanilla classic, which has suffered a period of declining sales within Spain and and has been dogged by rumours of financial problems.

If Estévez runs true to form the brand will be maintained as a separate entity, as has happened with Tío Mateo and Valdespino.

Written by John Radford

Explore More
John Radford
John Radford
Decanter Magazine, Wine Writer & Co-chair of Spain for DWWA

John Radford, writer, broadcaster and Spanish wine specialist, died on 19 October 2012, aged 65. He was co-chair of Spain for the Decanter World Wine Awards since its inception and a longstanding Decanter contributor. He started out in wine retail at Vintage Wines in Nottingham, and soon discovered that he had a gift as a wine educator and communicator. He spent 13 years as a presenter on BBC local radio, while building his reputation as an expert on the wines of Spain. In 1998 his first book, The New Spain, won the Glenfiddich and Lanson awards. He followed this up with The Wines of Rioja and Cook Espana, Drink Espana (with Mario Sandoval). In 1996 was elected to the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino.