On Monday 25th we were part of the jury in the international contest of cocktails with wines of Jerez Tío Pepe Challenge, this contest brings together every year more than 400 professionals from different parts of the world (Germany, Mexico, United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, Colombia and Chile) with the aim of exploring the diversity and potential of the wines of Jerez in the production of unique, creative and breakthrough cocktails.
The jury was composed of Pedro Rebuelta, Vice President of González Byass, Antonio Flores , Winemaker and Master Blender by González Byass, Boris Ivan , International Brand Ambassador of González Byass, Óscar Guitart, sommelier, François Monti, journalist specialized in cocktail and Josep Maria Gotarda of Ideal Cocktail Bar and president of the Spanish Association of Mixologists.

In the semi-final of monday it was decided to grant the access to the international final, which is going to be held in Jerez on May 17 at the Bodegas González Byass, Eduardo Barrios, from Wine Cocktail Masters, thanks to his cocktail: Jerezade. We want to congratulate him from here! Eduardo is the founder of Wine Cocktail Masters, a cocktail catering where he continues to work to this day developing new forms of consumption of wines and spirits.
As a prize for his victory, in addition to going to the final, he will have a place for V Sherrymaster by Tío Pepe , which will take place in this winery in Jerez on 6 and 7 of September.

This year more than a hundred bartenders have been presented for the Spanish semifinal, among which 10 were the ones who, after passing an online test on the world of sherry and presenting cocktail proposals, agreed to the grand finale where they had to demonstrate their knowledge of these millennial wines through three tests. The first, a recreation of the classic cocktail, Sherry Cobbler ; The second, the elaboration of an own recipe based on the wines of Jerez of González Byass and, finally, the final test: Tío Pepe’s service using the venencia .

Here is the recipe and ingredients to make the Jerezade:

Jerezade

• 5 cl. of Amontillado Viña AB.
• 2 cl. of Brandy Lepanto Solera Gran Reserva P.X.
• 5 cl. of White grape must.
• 2 cl. of Marie Brizard’s orgeat syrup.
• 1 dash of chocolate bitter from bitter truth.
• Garnish with a roasted cinnamon stick and an almond blossom.
• Mix all the ingredients in the shaker, shake and serve in a glass of double Martini.

Finally we leave here some photos of the event, and now we can only wait for the international final!