John Harvey & Sons is a brand (trading name) of a wine and

sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

blending and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

business founded by William Perry in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England in 1796. The business within 60 years of John Harvey joining had blended the first dessert sherry, dubbed '

cream sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

', which has changed little since 1880 and is known as Harveys Bristol Cream. The brand was sold to Beam Global in 2010 and then to Grupo Emperador Spain S.A. in 2015, which is owned by

Alliance Global Group Alliance Global Group, Inc., styled on its logo as AllianceGlobal and also known as Alliance Global, Inc. (AGI), is a large holding company with business activities spanning the food and beverage industry (including both production and restaurant ...

of the Philippines.

History

In 1796, the first iteration of Harvey's wine-trading business was established in Denmark Street in Bristol. This was owned by William Perry, who went into partnership with Thomas Urch.Bristol Record Office, 'Catalogue of the Records of Harveys of Bristol, Wine Merchants', Arrowsmiths, 2004 In 1822, Urch's nephew (John Harvey I) joined the firm as an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

. By 1839, John Harvey was senior partner in the Bristol branch of the family business and by 1871, the whole business was known as John Harvey & Sons. Bristol Cream sherry exports to America boomed from 1928 onwards with Jack Harvey making trips there as often as he could. From 1962, the business was known as Harveys of Bristol Ltd, and in 1966, the firm including all subsidiaries was bought out by Showerings, Vine Products & Whiteways Ltd. After 1960, the business relocated from Denmark Street to Whitchurch Lane,

Hartcliffe Hartcliffe is the name of both a council ward and an Outer Suburb of the city of Bristol in the United Kingdom which lies within that ward. The ward contains the areas of Hartcliffe and Headley Park, as well as small portions of Withywood and B ...

, at which point the Denmark Street cellars became Britain's only wine museum, with an adjoining restaurant. Both closed in 2003. By 2016, the bar Harveys Cellars was located on the same site in Denmark Street. The records of John Harveys & Sons are held by

Bristol Archives Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...

(Ref. 40913) (online catalogue).

Bristol Cream and other products

Bristol Cream is a complex dark

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

' that has been blended and bottled in

Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

since 1796. The brand was wholly owned by John Harvey & Sons of Bristol until the 21st century acquisition. John Harvey's descendants continued making Bristol cream since the takeover of the company's main brand. Since 2019, it is made and bottled in Spain. Some residual assets or shares of the business such as in

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

s are owned by former board member Joseph Harvey, the youngest of John Harvey's male descendants. The business specialises in blending and exporting the

fortified wine Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Commanda ...

, sherry. It originally sold a wider mix of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and

Portuguese wines Portuguese wine was mostly introduced by the Romans (wine), Romans and other ancient Mediterranean peoples who traded with local coastal populations, mainly in the South. In pre-Roman Gallaecia-Lusitania times, the native peoples only drank beer ...

and from the early 19th century, specialised in

s which traveled better consistently. During the 1860s and 1880s John Harvey's sons John and Edward developed in the company's cellars what was dubbed a new type of sherry: cream

(in flavour and texture). This became the main product: Harveys Bristol Cream. The blend starts with wines from fifty different

soleras ''Solera'' is a process for aging liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, and brandy, by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many ...

, including three sherry types:

Fino Fino ("refined" in Spanish) is the driest and palest of the traditional varieties of sherry and Montilla-Moriles fortified wine. They are consumed comparatively young and, unlike the sweeter varieties, should be consumed soon after the bottle ...

Amontillado Amontillado () is a variety of sherry wine characterised by being darker than fino but lighter than oloroso. It is named after the Montilla region of Spain, where the style originated in the 18th century, although the name "Amontillado" is somet ...

and

Oloroso Oloroso ("scented" in Spanish) is a variety of fortified wine (sherry) made in Jerez and Montilla-Moriles and produced by oxidative aging. It is normally darker than Amontillado. Oloroso is usually dark and nutty. Unlike the fino and Amontillado ...

. Finally some

Pedro Ximénez Pedro Ximénez (also known as PX and many other variations) is the name of a white Spanish wine grape variety grown in several Spanish wine regions but most notably in the '' denominación de origen'' (DO) of Montilla-Moriles. Here it is used to ...

wine from sun-dried 'raisonified' grapes of the region is blended for

sweetness Sweetness is a Taste#Basic tastes, basic taste most commonly Perception, perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasure, pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds ...

, for the richness or 'creaminess' of

aftertaste Aftertaste is the taste intensity of a food or beverage that is perceived immediately after that food or beverage is removed from the mouth. The aftertastes of different foods and beverages can vary by intensity and over time, but the unifying fe ...

that is the hallmark of the product. Since its inception, it has been generally reviewed as one of the major four types of sherry, although less so in some parts of Spain.The Wine, Beer, and Spirits Handbook
The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes, Joseph LaVilla, John Wiley & Sons, 2009 The business eventually began buying its own vineyards to invest in fermenting and fortification premises locally and to protect the quality of source material. The business uses its estate vineyards in Jerez Superior and uses all of its

Palomino Palomino is a genetic color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail; the degree of whiteness can vary from bright white to yellow. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called t ...

grapes as the main source grape. Harveys Bristol Cream Cap

This product has been bottled in

Bristol blue glass Bristol blue glass has been made in Bristol, England, since the 18th century, with a break between the 1920s and 1980s. History During the late 18th century Richard Champion, a Bristol merchant and potter, making Bristol porcelain, was workin ...

since 1994. The bottle label offers

serving suggestion Serving suggestion is a disclaimer used on food packaging. The phrase is used as legal fine print with a picture of the product. The picture attempts to portray the manufacturer's food in the most favorable or appetizing way possible, sometimes ...

s. The brand was sold to Beam Global in 2010 and to Grupo Emperador Spain S.A. in 2015. A 1984 commercial for Harvey's Bristol Cream showed actor/comedian

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

at a poolside party drinking Harvey's Bristol Cream sherry. He then says to "throw away those silly little glasses" whereupon the other party guests toss their sunglasses in the swimming pool.

References

External links

*
Records of Harvey's of Bristol
Harveys Harvey, John Drink companies of England Beam Suntory History of Bristol Defunct companies based in Bristol Sherry {{Wine-stub