🍷 González Byass

González Byass is a sherry house in Jerez de la Frontera. According to the house and Wikidata, it was founded in 1835 by Manuel María González Ángel; shortly afterwards the Englishman Robert Blake Byass joined him. The house says six generations of the family have been involved over almost 200 years.

According to the house, its flagship is Tio Pepe, a fino aged for about four years in criaderas y solera, alongside its range of sherries and the brandy Soberano. The family group also includes wineries in other Spanish regions, among them Beronia in Rioja and Vilarnau in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia.

According to the house, Tio Pepe is made from Palomino Fino and also appears as an unfiltered En Rama bottled in spring and as the Colección Las Palmas selection of longer-aged wines. Its range includes Amontillado, Oloroso, Palo Cortado, Medium, Cream and Pedro Ximénez, with the V.O.R.S. wines Del Duque, Apóstoles, Matusalem and Noé; Croft Original, a pale cream introduced in 1970, is made from Palomino Fino and aged in American oak under the solera system.

The house also lists the brandy Soberano, aged in American oak casks that previously held sherry under the solera system, and Lepanto, a sherry brandy distilled from Palomino Fino in copper stills by the Charentais method. Among its wineries it names Finca Moncloa in Arcos de la Frontera, founded in 2000 and focused on the native Tintilla de Rota, Beronia in Ollauri, La Rioja, founded in 1973 and part of González Byass since 1982, and Vilarnau in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, founded in 1949, also part of the group since 1982, with 20 hectares of certified organic vineyards.

Sherry (Jerez-Xérès-Sherry) is a protected designation of origin (PDO) in the province of Cádiz. It is made mostly from Palomino and aged in oak casks of up to 1,000 litres, dynamically in criaderas y solera or statically by vintage; the strength is 14–22% vol., and it may be bottled only in its zone of origin.

Why it matters to you. Fino, Oloroso, VOS and VORS are terms set by the rules, while “Tio Pepe” is the house's own brand. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.