Harvey's Bristol Cream
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John Harvey & Sons is a brand (trading name) of a wine and
sherry Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...
blending and
merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...
business founded by William Perry in
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
, England in 1796. The business within 60 years of John Harvey joining had blended the first dessert sherry, dubbed ' cream sherry', which has changed little since 1880 and is known as Harveys Bristol Cream. The brand was sold to
Beam Global Suntory Global Spirits Inc., formerly known as Beam Suntory, Inc., is an American beverage company that is a subsidiary of Suntory, Suntory Holdings, a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational beverage conglomerate. The company produces ...
in 2010 and then to Grupo Emperador, Inc. in 2015, which is owned by Alliance Global Group 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 potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...
. 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 an outer suburb of the city of Bristol, England, on the southern edge of the city at the foot of Dundry Hill. It is a post-World War II development consisting largely of council houses. It is one of the poorer areas of Bristol, wi ...
, 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 Record Office, Bedf ...
(Ref. 40913) (online catalogue).


Bristol Cream and other products

Bristol Cream is a complex dark
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
' cream sherry' that has been blended and bottled in
Jerez Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Located in southwestern Iberia, it lies on the Campià ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
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 ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
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, Command ...
, 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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
and
Portuguese wines Portuguese wine was mostly introduced by the 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 were unfam ...
and from the early 19th century, specialised in
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, Command ...
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
sherry Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...
(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 yea ...
, including three sherry types:
Fino In computer science, FINO is a humorous scheduling algorithm. It is an acronym for ''first in, never out'' as opposed to traditional ''first in, first out'' (FIFO) and ''last in, first out'' (LIFO) algorithms. A similar acronym is "FISH", for ...
,
Amontillado Amontillado () is a variety of sherry wine characterised by being darker than fino sherry, but lighter than oloroso sherry. Amontillado wine is named after the Montilla municipality, in Andalusia, Spain, where the style of sherry originated in th ...
and
Oloroso Oloroso ("scented" in English language, English) is a variety of fortified wine (sherry) made in Jerez de la Frontera, Jerez and Montilla-Moriles and produced by oxidative Aging of wine, aging. It is normally darker than Amontillado. Oloroso is us ...
. Finally some
Pedro Ximénez Pedro Ximénez (also known as PX and many other variations; Andalusian Spanish, Andalusian pronunciation ) is the name of a white Spanish wine grape variety grown in several Spanish wine regions but most notably in the (DO) of Montilla-Moriles. ...
wine from sun-dried 'raisonified' grapes of the region is blended for
sweetness Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...
, 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 fea ...
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 equine coat color, genetic color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane (horse), mane and tail; the degree of whiteness can vary from bright white to yellow. The palomino color derived from the breeding of Spanish hor ...
grapes as the main source grape. This product has been bottled in Bristol blue glass since 1994. The bottle label offers
serving suggestion Serving may refer to: * "Serving" (song), by Miriana Conte, Malta's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 * Serving size * Providing a non-material good, as in the work of a servant * Supplying customers with food and drink, as in the work of ...
s. The brand was sold to
Beam Global Suntory Global Spirits Inc., formerly known as Beam Suntory, Inc., is an American beverage company that is a subsidiary of Suntory, Suntory Holdings, a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational beverage conglomerate. The company produces ...
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 comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...
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
Sherry Harveys Harvey, John Drink companies of England History of Bristol Defunct companies based in Bristol {{Wine-stub