Wine Shipping Supplies

In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain. He was one of the most controversial and far-reaching episodes in the history of Europe, which historians are still wrangling over. But that does not really affect Jerez. Thirty Aranzadi of sherry vineyards were confiscated from Jews and given to the Royal Convent of Santo Domingo. Spain, as elsewhere, the religious houses were among the pioneers of viticulture. The great monastery of La Cartuja, or Charterhouse, was founded outside Jerez in 1475 and in 1658 it was reported as having flourishing vineyards that gave excellent wines. The street called Bodegas formerly led to the wine stores of the old monastery of Veracruz.

Before long, a mass of foreigners came to fill the void left by the expulsion of the Jews. " They were, for the most part, Genoese, Bretons, and English. Some acted as money changers, while the Genoese took over the tanneries and formed their own trade guild. The English were mostly merchants, and many of them were interested in wine. From the earliest days, the merchants of Jerez exported their goods from the quays of El Portal on the Guadalete a mile or two of the city.

This river port continued in use until entry of the railway four hundred years later, and the goods have been taken at sea on barges. There is still a street called Barqueros, where some of the barge masters had their offices, but the provision has never been entirely satisfactory: the banks were still falling into disrepair, and the river silted up.

The archives contain many references to Jerez at the beginning of wine to be shipped abroad. Since 1485 there is a record of wine shipped from Puerto de Santa Maria de 'Plemma, which is in the realm of likely England'-Plymouth. Before that date, the vintage was already subject to strict control and the greatest crime of all was to water the wine on bar tables ( http://www.thirstycoasters.com/servlet/-strse -738/A-Day-in -Paradise/Detail ).

The size of a butt, for example, was fixed at thirty-arrobas exactly as it is today. The coopers were amongst the first guilds recognized, and in 1482 it was stipulated that wine casks must be made of good wood that was not tainted by any kind of fish, nor with oil. While a wooden barrel that could damage the wine should be burned and a fine imposed.

At the end of the fifteenth century there were in Andalusia the greatest emotion of all: Nine months after the conquest of Granada, Columbus discovered America. All his efforts, his intrigues with the Church and the monarchy, his triumphs and disappointments, the elaborate preparations for his travel, the travel itself, all have been focused on Andalucia.

From Andalusia he gathered his forces, and several of his men from the towns of sherry. He sailed from Sanlucar de Barrameda on his third voyage to discover the island of Trinidad in 1498, and Sanlucar has rapidly established itself as a major port for the new American trade, it was the port from which Pizarro set about sailing twenty-five years later on his way to the conquest of Peru. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, who discovered Florida, was the son of a winemaker Jerez.

The ships were well supplied, and supplies fine wine and beverage coasters have been essential ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSoAwLgfwn0 ). for Broad.