Tuesday 28 February 2017

Bodegas: Esteban Bozzano

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)




The distillery produced fortification spirit and brandies Santo Grial, Tres leones, Rolando, Tres Diplomas (the latter two are still produced by Caydsa)

No comments:

Post a Comment