THE XECO STORY

#FINOFIENDS

XECO is the brain-child of three 30-something 'fino fiends' who have long shared a love of fine sherry - and a frustration that this love wasn't shared by their friends. The solution? Find better friends (kidding!) OR - find a way to bring a ‘Next Generation’ sherry to their friends and the world, finally giving this marvellous drink some long overdue recognition. With 30 combined years of experience in the drinks industry, the trio share more than just a love of this wonderful Spanish wine - they also have a deep understanding of how it’s made and of the wonderful traditions upon which it is built. In early 2016 they set out to create a new brand of Sherry to put a contemporary edge on an age-old product, and in doing so help to dispel some of the myths around the category, while encouraging a new generation of discerning drinkers to give Sherry a second look. To do so, they teamed up with a magnificent Spanish Sherry house ('bodega') that has been producing Sherry wines since 1876. So, although the name may be new, the wines have a long and distinguished lineage. ​​​​​​​

THE FOUNDERS

Jot the year ‘2013’ down in the books. Notable in history for Japan winning the 2020 Olympic bid, the mighty Nelson Mandela passing away at at the ripe old age of 95, and Yahoo buying Tumblr for a cool 1.1 billion dollars… and on the tiny but mighty island of Hong Kong the future founders of XECO - Alexa Davies, Beanie Geraedts-Espey and Polly Aylwin-Foster – met for the first time. Sailing the waters of Hong Kong on a birthday junk (or local sailboat) the three ladies quickly moved past the pre-introductory small talk and hit upon the following: A) they were all drink industry veterans B) they would all rather be holding a glass of their favourite Spanish tipple right now, so where was it? Friendships and business partnerships can happen quickly, and the three ladies got to know each other in the hallowed streets of Lan Kwai Fong (and a few more salubrious places too). Slowly the idea of a modern day Sherry began to take shape. Beanie was an ‘hispanophile’ and had been passionate about the wines of Jerez since she held her first Marketing role as a fresh-faced intern at Gonzalez Byass some 15 years earlier. Alexa and Polly had studied Sherry during their WSET and both agreed that these beautiful wines were wholly under-appreciated. In an attempt to educate their friends, the trio hosted a five course Sherry pairing dinner, shortly before Beanie and Alexa returned to London for good. It was a resounding success with over 80% of the attendees arriving with a negative perception of these jewels of Andalucia and leaving as Sherry converts. Afterwards, the trio sat about polishing off the bottles and came up with the genesis of the idea which would later become XECO. These founding ‘XEQUITAS’ are represented via the 3 Botas logo which is also emblematic of the unique Solera System used to make Sherry.

Beanie at XECO
Contact Beanie
Our resident Spanish speaker, Beanie is our M.D. based in London and is also in charge of managing our production down in the Sherry triangle in Andalucia. A life-long Fino devotee - her first ever job was marketing Tio Pepe! - Beanie drinks hers straight from the fridge (in a glass, we hasten to add) but is also quite partial to a simple Spritz with tonic, over ice.
Alexa at XECO
Contact Alexa
Alexa manages our UK, European and US sales operation, likewise from London, and loves nothing more than introducing new people to some XECO Sherry magic. Alexa is the queen of the XECO Pink Lady and is rarely without a bottle of pink grapefruit syrup to spice up the latest event in her whirlwind social calendar. She is often seen picnic’ing with a bottle of XECO down in Devon where it pairs most delectably with fish and chips.
Polly at XECO
Contact Polly
Polly lives out in Hong Kong and manages our growing Asian export markets which currently include HK, China and Japan. She is forever hopping on and off planes to spread the Sherry word, and together with her husband Nick drinks the Monti in a myriad of ways - latterly throwing some into a coffee affogato for good measure.

The story behind the labels

Aside from Spain, nowhere is so closely associated with sherry than England. Trade has existed between the two countries since the 13th Century and although we haven't always seen eye-to-eye on everything, the one thing we've always shared is a love of sherry. We wanted to celebrate this, so we’ve drawn up a cast of characters from both countries' rich histories, all of whom have been inspired to write about, drink and indeed even steal sherry wines. (Follow-us to see how the Cast evolves - and we'd also love to hear your suggestions for new fine English/Spanish pairings.)

Alfonso-X-and-Henry-III
Cervantes-and-Shakespeare
Catherine-of-Aragon-and-Henry-VIII

ALFONSO X &
HENRY III

In our view, there is no better barter than that which was brokered between Alfonso X and our king Henry III - sherry wine for English wool.  Alfonso X lived up to his name, “The Wise”, as following the Treaty of Alliance in 1254, sherry entered the English consciousness as a go-to ‘tipple’ for any occasion. Even today, the English consume only marginally less sherry than the Spanish!

CERVANTES & SHAKESPEARE

Leading lights of the English and Spanish literary worlds, these two quill-wielding luminaries coincidentally died within a day of one another in April 1616. Many a line was devoted to their mutual love of sherry wine, also known as ‘Sack’, such as “If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I would teach them should be to (…) addict themselves to sack.”

CATHERINE OF ARAGON & HENRY VIII

Daughter of the Spanish regents, the beautiful Princess Catherine was only 3 years old when she was betrothed to Arthur, Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the English throne. When Arthur died, she married his younger brother, Henry VIII and became the first of his (in) famous 6 wives in a renowned, ill-fated, English-Spanish alliance. She reportedly complained, "The King, my husband, keeps the very best wines from (...) Jerez for himself."