The Effects of the Peninsula War on Thriving Sherry Houses

Sherry houses at the end of the 18th century were operating in an age of increasing prosperity; stimulated by a new influx of British and French merchants, and interrupted only occasionally by the wars, plagues, upsets, and minor disasters to which Spain was always accustomed. Of all these troubles, the Peninsular War was by far the worst. Andalusia was a battleground, occupied alternately by the French and allied soldiers.

The armies were relentless in their demands for wine, particularly the French. William Garvey had no time for them at all, and moved with his whole family to Cadiz, which was occupied by Spanish and British garrisons. His account books contain a vivid entry: \"Wine robbed by the French soldiers, 30 arrobas.\" Such conduct was enough to make any vintner trying to succeed at a business they felt strongly about angry. Sir Francis Darwin described how stores of the finer wines were bricked up, but the French bribed undesirables to show them where these were and then would pillage to their heart\'s content.

Thousands of gallons of sherry were lost, and stocks were seriously depleted, but the fine harvests and abundant yields of the Jerez vineyards soon enabled the shippers to recover, once the war was over and the greedy French expelled. In fact, they more than recovered, and the years following the Peninsular War were the most prosperous and glittering in their whole history which seemed to somewhat make up for all the goods stolen during the war.

Thousands of gallons of sherry were lost, and stocks were seriously depleted, but the fine harvests and abundant yields of the Jerez vineyards soon enabled the shippers to recover, once the war was over and the greedy French expelled.