National Geographic: The Soul of Spain Page #3

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still prefers the old ways

Personally, I felt more at ease under

Franco than now

Nobody bothered anybody

You could bed down in the fields anywhere

Now you can't

In the last few years before Franco died

life was peaceful in the country

We ate well in the country and we could

save a peseta or two

Who saves anything nowadays?

Whether Juan, Pedro

or Antonio is in charge

the land is the same

We live off the land and die for

the land

It's always the same, always the same

Diego's land is Andalucia

In this southernmost region of Spain

under a brilliant sun and sky

olive trees and vineyards have thrived

for thousands of years

Only here in all the world

in a small area of chalky

moisture-retaining soil

is true sherry wine produced

In 1730

a French farmer founded a sherry dynasty

in the town of Jerez de la Frontera

Today, the heirs of Pedro Domecq

are the second largest producers of

sherry in the world

part of an elite referred to as

"sherry barons"

Still, even at age 77

Jose Ignacio Domecq enjoys driving

to work on a second-hand motorbike

purchased from his chauffeur

At the manor house that overlooks

some of the Domecq vineyards

he meets his eldest son

The manor was built around an

ancient tower

used during the Middle Ages to send

smoke signals to Africa

only 65 miles away

It provides a vantage point

from which the Domecqs can confer

about the 4,300 acres of vineyards

they cultivate here

One day the younger Jose Ignacio

will take control of their wine

and brandy empire is Spain and

the Americas

Domecq produces 10 million liters

of sherry annually

The most vital element in creating a

distinctive sherry is the human factor...

specifically, the human nose

In the bodegas where sherry matures

the Domecqs exercise the delicate skill

which has made the family masters of

the art of wine making for 250 years

We maintain our standardization of

quality

throughout the different generations

My father is known in the wine world...

...for the nose

not only because of the size of it

that is you have seen rather big

but because he's considered one of the...

...most important specialists in Europe

in the science of wine

The unique quality of sherry

derives from the solera system

New sherry is blended with more mature

sherry to take on its characteristics

Fortified with grape brandy and

repeatedly blended

it ages in oak casks until it reaches

maturity

The most venerable bodega holds casks of

rate sherry dedicated to the famous

Among them is one once reserved

for George IV

King of England

A cask was dedicated to Napoleon in 1812

And after the battle of Trafalgar

Admiral Lord Nelson's body was shipped

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