100,000 take part in International Sherry Week

The inaugural International Sherry Week, which took place on 2-8 June, has been hailed a success after attracting 100,000 participants via over 2,000 events.

The world’s largest event dedicated to celebrating the wines from Jerez, over 20 countries, including Brazil, Canada, Russia, New Zealand and South Africa took part in International Sherry Week.

Japan trumped the other participating countries in terms of its thirst for Sherry, with over 200 Sherry-themed events taking place there throughout the week.

“The event surpassed all expectations, with bodegas, enotecas, bars, restaurants and aficionados joining in on activities centred around Sherry, from tasting sessions and food and wine pairings to cocktails, all with the common aim of celebrating these unique wines,” said ISW founder Chelsea Anthon Penas.

The event was widely followed online, receiving over 1,200,000 hits on Twitter, with 2,700,000 people using the hashtags #isherryweek and #isherrylover.

Beltran Domecq, president of the Sherry Council, took part in tastings, talks and seminars in London during ISW, which also coincided with the inaugural London Wine Week.

Meanwhile, the first ever Twitter-based Sherry tasting took place during the week, with 15 wine bloggers from around the world participating using a tasting kit, while the winemakers were on hand in Jerez to answer questions via Twitter.

International Sherry Week was created in collaboration with the Sherry Council in order to celebrate Sherry on a global scale and promote Jerez as European Wine Capital 2014.

The Drinks Business is currently accepting entries for the second annual Global Fortified Masters blind tasting, which take place in September.

Sherry producers, brand owners and importers interested in taking part in the competition should click here.