When an icon visited an icon

JEREZ, Spain — Almost a quarter of a century ago, former Philippine President Corazon Aquino walked  the stone floors of the three centuries-old Bodegas Fundador in this Andalusian city as a guest of Fundador’s owners, the Domecq family. The Spanish flag waved proudly at the entrance of the bodegas, which look like a Catholic church on the outside and a mezquita (mosque) on the inside.

Jerez, a city known for its flamenco, sherry, horses and motorcycles, is also the home of Fundador Brandy, the oldest and most iconic brandy in Spain formulated in 1874 and popular with many Filipinos for the last 150 years.

“I remember we had lunch in the cloisters within the bodega,” recalls former Press Undersecretary Deedee Siytangco, who accompanied Cory to the bodegas. The cloisters are part of the 25,000-square-meter Fundador compound, which includes several warehouses, all with cavernous interiors straight out of ancient times, a museum, sprawling gardens and charming courtyards.

Cory was then the special guest at the October 1992 World Expo in Seville, and a side trip to Jerez was arranged by the Philippine ambassador to Spain Johnny Rocha and his wife Pilina. Cory was accompanied to the bodegas by her close friends Beatriz Zobel and Mercy Tuason, who was to become Philippine ambassador to the Vatican under President Noynoy Aquino, Cory’s only son.

“Cory had sherry during the toast, perhaps the first time she ever drank sherry in her life,” remembers Deedee.

It was an auspicious toast, because 24 years later, the Philippine flag now flies proudly alongside the Spanish flag outside the bodegas.

Bodegas Fundador, established in 1730, is now Philippine-owned. I’m sure the former President, had she known that milestone was in the offing in 1992 because of a visionary businessman named Andrew Tan, would have raised her glass in a toast and proudly said, “Mabuhay!”

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Like several members of royalty, including the current King of Spain Felipe, and bona fide members of American royalty, like Caroline Kennedy (JFK’s daughter) and Hollywood royalty Charlton Heston, Cory was requested to sign her name with white chalk on one of the 30,000 sherry casks in the bodegas.

Twenty-three years later, on Nov. 30, 2015, Dr. Andrew Tan, chairman of Grupo Emperador, which purchased Bodegas Fundador literally lock, stock, and barrel, signed his own cask. He wrote, “A new era begins.” Today, it stands alongside the cask signed by Cory.

Tan’s Grupo Emperador finalized the Fundador purchase on Nov. 30, 2015. In the Philippines, Nov. 30 commemorates a hero, Andres Bonifacio, who raised the Philippine flag in his life’s endeavors. Just like Tan does in his.

In a special ceremony in Jerez, known to be Spain’s brandy capital, Emperador was welcomed by the employees of Fundador and Spain’s local officials. The formal turnover was attended by Tan, Jerez Mayor Carmen Sanchez, then Philippine Ambassador to Spain Carlos Salinas and other city officials of Jerez.

In purchasing Bodegas Fundador, and by creating the global brandy giant Grupo Emperador, Tan raised and continues to raise the Philippine flag — literally and figuratively — on the world stage.

As Tan told Fundador employees when he first met them, “Saludos desde Filipinas (Greetings from the Philippines)!”

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Tan invited a group of print and broadcast journalists to tour the Bodegas Fundador in Jerez and visit its vineyards. Accompanied by Harold Geronimo of the Tan group of companies, we were warmly welcomed by Fundador executives led by Grupo Emperador managing director in Spain Jorge Domecq, a descendant of the Fundador founder Pedro Domecq himself. With the rising sun illuminating the vineyards, farm workers in bright red shirts picked the plumpest Palomino grapes from the vines.

Later, we were toured around the many bodegas in the Fundador compound, which were almost cathedral-like with their high ceilings and stained glass windows. The mezquita-like bodegas reverberated with a silence that was almost spiritual, with the scent of gloriously aging sherry in the thick air. Brandy actually is aged sherry, and sherry is aged wine. You can only make brandy inside sherry casks, and Jerez means “Sherry.”

Brandy was formulated by accident 150 years ago — sherry was left aging in casks after a buyer couldn’t afford to pay for his orders and when they opened the casks, voila! Instead of “spoiled sherry,” an intoxicating golden liquid befitting royal taste buds emerged.

In here, age does matter. A barrel of brandy is at the prime of its life when it is old, from three to five years at least. There are priceless sherry casks (an empty cask costs 500 euros) that have 50-year-old brandy aging gracefully in them. No one defies time.

“In 1983, I visited Jerez for the first time to know more about brandy. Fundador was my inspiration. That’s why I named my brandy Emperador, inspired by the name Fundador,” Tan recalled last year when he visited the Fundador headquarters.

“The brandy business has always been my passion. I have dedicated my whole life to brandy making. That is why today, I can say that I have achieved my greatest dream. This dream is about having Fundador become part of Emperador. Together, we will make the world’s largest brandy company.

“A new era for Fundador has just begun. This company was born almost 300 years ago. I have come here to grow and revive the glory of brandy and sherry making in Jerez, and to continue the legacy of Bodegas Fundador,” he concluded.

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Cory Aquino was no brandy drinker (she actually didn’t take alcohol) but she would have lauded Andrew Tan’s feat. He achieved his dream; he strengthened economic ties between two old friends, Spain and the Philippines; and he infused energy into an iconic brandy company.

Tan’s acquisition includes the iconic brands of Fundador Pedro Domecq, the Philippines’ largest selling premium imported brandy brand; Terry Centenario, Spain’s No. 1 selling brandy; Tres Cepas, Equatorial Guinea’s No. 1 brandy; and Harveys, United Kingdom’s No. 1 selling sherry wine.

According to Jorge Domecq, the turnover of Spain’s most iconic, largest and oldest brandy production facility to Emperador is a major milestone for the company.

“With the combined brandy production facilities of Emperador and Fundador, the world’s largest brandy company is born. We now have almost 1,500 hectares of vineyard land in Spain, around 1,000,000 sq. m. of cellar and bottling facilities, and four distilleries worldwide,” declares Domecq.

Just like the unassuming democracy icon, who first visited the iconic Bodegas Fundador in 1992, Andrew Tan did and does the Philippines proud. Truly, one can say, an icon bought an icon in Jerez. (You may e-mail me at [email protected].)