Jerez-Xérès-Sherry is a chalky triangular coastal region located on the hot, dry, barren moonscape of southwestern Spain, in the province of Cádiz, Andalucía, bordered by the towns of Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It also refers to the classic, undervalued, many-splendoured food-friendly fortified wine – a small quantity of neutral grape spirit is added to increase the alcohol once fermentation has been completed – produced in and around the town of Jerez.
Sherry is made mainly from the versatile, early-picked, pale-skinned Palomino Fino grape grown on the region’s unique limestone-rich, white, reflective, water-retentive ‘albariza’ soils.
The top-notch, multi-layered and readily available sherries below are listed in ascending price order per bottle. Try them with food this ISW. ¡Salud!
1) ELITE, UNCTUOUS, DECADENT, SWEET SHERRY MADE FROM SUN-DRIED/‘RAISINED’ GRAPES THAT’S NOT UNLIKE CHRISTMAS PUDDING!
Tesco Finest Pedro Ximénez Sherry, González Byass (Tesco, £6, 37.5cl)
For many years own-label sherries have represented the best-value bottles available in the UK. One of the planet’s most viscous, sticky and sweet wines after Hungary’s Tokaji Essencia, dark Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry is made from sugar-rich, sun-dried white grapes of the same name. It has a dense, almost syrupy texture, and concentrated, opulent flavours.
If you’re wondering what to pour with Christmas pudding or mince pies soon, look no further. Like dribbly, drunken, treacly plums, figs, dates, spicy Christmas cake and molten raisins at an all-night festival, covered in burnt toffee, honey and molasses, this is a keenly-priced wine to sip and then smile with. Once tasted, never forgotten. Serve lightly chilled between 10 and 13ºC in a white wine glass with Roquefort, Perl Las, Christmas pudding, pecan pie, mince pies, chocolate desserts or poured over vanilla/rum raisin ice cream – alternatively drink it alone as its own dessert! If kept in the fridge an open bottle will stay fresh for months. Bargain plus.
2) TANGY, COMPLEX, LIVELY, RICH-YET-DRY-WONDER FOR TRUE SHERRY AFFICIANADOS
No.1 Torre del Oro Palo Cortado Sherry, Lustau (Waitrose, 25% off, £11.99 down to £8.99 until next Tuesday, 75cl)
Palo cortado is the rarest style of dry sherry and this one is super sophisticated, gorgeous and intense, with astounding, figgy, orange peel, roasted walnut/almond, coffee, tobacco, vanilla and exotic spice aromas and flavours. It’s a regal sherry to have to hand and I cannot believe that a truly original, eccentric wine of this sophistication is such a bargain – it comes in a 75cl bottle too! You will be amazed and not shocked to hear that it is made for Waitrose by celebrated Lustau, one of just a few bodegas to release rare single-vintage sherries. The effect is little short of mesmerising. Jamón, Gorwydd Caerphilly, game, tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala and Parmigiano please. Will keep fresh for several weeks, especially if stored in the fridge. Serve between 12° and 14°C in a white wine glass.
Seize it on the spectacular week-long offer since from today to November 10, Waitrose is offering 25% off all wine and champagne priced £5 and over, when purchasing 6+ bottles.
3) BENCHMARK SINGLE-VINEYARD, BONE-DRY, TANGY, BARREL-FERMENTED FINO, ONE OF THE TWO MAIN SHERRY CATEGORIES
Valdespino Inocente Fino Sherry, Grupo Estévez (Simply Wines Direct/Whisky Exchange/Lea & Sandeman/Slurp, £13.99-£17.95, 75cl)
One of the world’s most appetizing wines, Fino is a bone dry, full-flavoured sherry that has aged under a protective, bread-like layer of the film-forming saccharomyces yeast ‘flor’ that flourishes and lives on top of Fino/manzanilla sherry in a butt (a barrel usually made from American oak) five-sixths full. Along with manzanilla, Fino is the brightest, palest, freshest and most delicate sherry, making top-notch food wines. This is one of the best, a zingy flavour grenade of a rare oak-fermented, 8-10-year-old-solera-aged sherry from a single iconic (Macharnudo district) vineyard – think sea salt, crisp apples, herbs, salted almonds, vanilla, yeast and brioche. It makes a great, appetising apéritif and is also just the ticket for all kinds of tapas, salted nuts, paëlla, sushi, tandoori/teriyaki salmon, fish and chips, cured ham, smoked fish, sashimi, Westcombe cheddar, fish curry and shellfish. Always drink fridge cold (like champers) and consume within a week once opened.
4) BREATH-TAKING AGED DRY AMONTILLADO SHERRY
Fernando de Castilla Amontillado Antique Sherry (Virgin Wines/WoodWinters, £25.99-£32, 50cl)
Naturally dry Amontillados are Fino sherries in which the protective layer of yeast has died, thus exposing the wine to oxygen. They have more body than Finos and are excellent with more robust cuisine. This sublime, nutty, autumnal example is over twenty years old and was on legendary El Bulli’s wine list. It’s a brisk and beautiful treat to astonish your palate with layers of raisins, hazelnuts, buttered brazils, toffee, fennel, cinnamon, orange peel and light caramel. Truly stimulates the imagination. Cigar possibly?
One for soups, mushroom risotto, asparagus, smoked fish, Manchego, aged Comté, cold game pie, braised rabbit, chicken liver parfait, albóndigas (meatballs) and jamón ibérico. Indispensable in a Bloody Mary too! Will keep for months once opened. Serve around 12-13°C.
Did you know?
Sherry is made using the solera system whereby a stack of casks containing increasingly older wines are repeatedly refreshed by blending with younger wines across several vintages, building more complexity and maintaining style consistency. Barrels are never emptied and never kept entirely full, with the older barrels getting topped off by newer ones, in a three- or four-tiered system. Any sherry on the market is therefore a blend of wines from several years. By law, just 30 percent of a solera can be drawn off for bottling each year.
Did you know?
Dry sherry is relatively low in calories. Enjoy it with tapas guilt-free – 50ml of dry sherry has just 58 kcal!
SIX OTHER SUPERLATIVE SHERRIES:
Buy the newest release of Fino/Manzanilla and consume ASAP, keeping it in the fridge. Pour all sherry into a regular wine glass. Wines are listed in alphabetical order by producer.
· Bodegas Tradición, Palo Cortado 30-year-old VORS (Lay & Wheeler, £69.94, 75cl)
· Emilio Lustau, Palo Cortado, Almacenista Cayetano del Pino (Noble Green Wines, £29, 50cl)
· Equipo Navazos, 72 ‘Pata de Gallina’, La Bota de Palo Cortado (VinCognito, £56, 50cl)
· González Byass, Tio Pepe Dos Palmas Fino (Master of Malt, £17.63, 50cl)
· Herederos de Argüeso, Manzanilla San León (Fareham Wine Cellar, £15.75, 75cl)
· Sánchez Romate, Oloroso Encontrado 1/5 (The Wine Society, £12.75, 37.5cl)
For more information about ISW, visit: www.sherry.wine/sherryweek
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