There’s a piece in the local rag today about bastard Anglo-Saxon Sherry.

Apparently the EU has signed an agreement with Australia banning “Sherry”, “Port”, “Chablis” and “Champagne” down under. I think the article might have left out Burgundy, or is that “Burgundy”. I’m not terribly up to speed with the process, as I was under the impression Australia had already been done, and not just for “Sherry” purposes. The article says a start was made on this in the UK in the 1960s, which is true. A suit was brought in England, in 1967, by four Jerez bodegas. The court accepted “Sherry” was an English corruption of the Arab name for Jerez, ie Sherish. Even so, the target of this case, “British Sherry”, lived on happily until 1996, when finally (and rightly) only wines produced in the Jerez-Xérès-Sherry DO could be called “Sherry” (but only within the European Union). The piece also says the UK was brought to its senses in 1971, when it joined the EEC (actually it joined in January 1973), but I’m not sure that had any effect at all. Spain joining the EU in 1986 probably had more of a bearing on things.

This process is a complicated business for some: Take the “bastard” Sedgwick’s “Old Brown Sherry” for example (it even has its own Facebook page, which is more than any real sherry can claim). Fondly known as “Obs”, this South African winter-warmer and sharpener for Rugby spectators has been around since 1916. Does this heritage not count for something, can an exception not be made? Another thing which stands out in the article is the large volume (relatively speaking) of “false” sherries sold in the affected countries vs the amount of real stuff imported from Spain; implying the banning of the word “sherry” will lead to some kind of turnaround. I’m pretty sure Sedgwick will simply call their wine “O.B.S” or something like that and flog it just as easily. I doubt much will change. It’s all just a marketing thing and in that respect many of the Jerez bodegas have been asleep at the wheel for years.

Finally, I do slightly regret the writer’s use of words like “bastardo” and “falso” in the article. Don’t forget, Jerez brandies were once sold as Coñac or even Cognac. And afterall, is imitation not the sincerest form of flattery?