Coñac "Derby" - Grand Prix José De Soto - (Jerez) Coñac, Brandy de Jerez Jerez-Xerez-Sherry Bottled circa 1930s, precinto 20 céntimos (Tax stamp) Cork stopper "In 1771 Don Francisco de Soto came from Santander and set himself up as a winegrower and warehouseman in Calle de Calderas in Jerez. At about the same time he bought a vineyard called Santa Isabel (also known as Las Palmas) which is owned by the company to this day. Later, at the beginning of the 19th century, his son Don Jose de Soto bought a new winery on Calle Benavente. After his death his son Don Francisco took over, and during this period the storage and aging capacity was enlarged. He was by now doing good business with the most important exporters of the time. Towards 1888 the winery started exporting in its own right. After Phylloxera, Santa Isabel was replanted and important rootstocks were introduced. The Ministry of Agriculture awarded it the only Diploma of Honor ever awarded to a vineyard. In 1920 Don Jose de Soto y Abad, a great proponent of planting vineyards in Jerez, expanded the business enormously by moving it out of town to the Finca Cerro Viejo surrounded by vineyard. He was president of the Jerez Chamber of Commerce for over 20 years, an alumnus of the University of Fine Arts in Cadiz and an Honored Son of Jerez in 1950. In 1945 the firm became a limited company which increased considerably its working capital"