Esteban Bozzano Tassara was born in Voltri, now
part of Genova, in 1776 and arrived in Sanlúcar in 1803 where he set up a textile
business. He married a local girl, Josefa María del Villar. Esteban invested
heavily in the construction of a mass production textile factory and a large
workforce to operate the latest technology in cotton production. He knew a
great deal about this thanks to his study of the Industrial revolution in
England and his English business contacts. Despite considerable success he
decided to change direction and in 1831 he closed the factory and set up a
small bodega. In 1842 he put his technology skills to work inventing a
mechanical wine press which consisted of a normal lagar with a heavy roller to
crush the grapes. It is not known how long that lasted…
His son, Francisco Bozzano Villar established a
distillery with a small bodega in Calle Comisario. On Francisco’s death, his
son, Esteban Bozzano Pastor took over the business and expanded it greatly with
the purchase of the bodega of Luis Bache Domínguez in the barrio alto. This consisted of two
warehouses known as the First and Second of San Fernando in the Calle Puerto.
These bodegas are now known as San Luis and Santa Ana in memory of the original
owner and his wife.
When Esteban died the business passed to his
widow, María Luisa Prieto del Rio and her sons, and the name changed to Viuda
Esteban Bozzano, and on her death to Herederos de Esteban Bozzano, and the name
remained the same till the end. By the 1970s the old family business found it could
not compete with Rumasa and was declared insolvent in 1976, and a year or two later
it was acquired by the cooperative Caydsa, founded in 1969. The very tall distillery
chimney still stands today, but the distillery itself, like all the others in
Sanlúcar, has gone.
Among their Sherry Brands
were: Manzanilla Pasada
La Pinta, Manzanilla Olorosa E Bozzano, Solera 1888, Moscatel Superior, Oloroso Diplomado, Manzanilla Saeta, Manzanilla
Bajo de Guia (these latter two are still produced today by Caydsa from the
original Bozzano soleras)
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