If the “sh” word brings you groaning to your knees and reaching for the fridge for a glass of something you believe will be more drinkable, its time to think again and here I, Helen Brotherton of FineWineWorks on my next evangelical mission to make you look again at this woefully misunderstood wine!   Sherry has long been tarnished with memories of a brown sticky liquid from the back of Aunt Hilda’s sideboard and only surfacing for Christmas and Funerals!  Restaurants and bars have also exacerbated this by serving room temperature stale Harvey’s Bristol Cream in a strange shaped glass called a “schooner” up to the brim so the journey from the bar to back to the table to deposit said beverage in front of Grandma becomes a precarious balancing act ending with tacky fingers.

Sherry is a wine from the DO (like French AOC) in Southern Spain of Jerez, just south of Cadiz and the wines therefore are protected under EU Wine Laws. Back in the 50’s and 60’s one could find similar style fortified “look-alikes” everywhere from South Africa to Australia called “Sherry”.  There was even a healthy trade in bulk shipments for bottling in the country of sale – all now disallowed by Brussels. No bad thing, though, as you are guaranteed that anything with the magic word Sherry on it, will indeed have gone through an extraordinary process to provide an amazingly diverse range of styles and flavour sensations.

A beginners guide:

Produced mostly from a rather dull grape variety, Palomino, some of the “magic” comes from the soil – white chalky limestone called Albariza, from around the region of Jerez.  A neutral base wine is fermented and at this stage is called simply “mosto” before the classification and decisions are made by the Capista (cellar chief) as to the ultimate destiny of the wine.  If it is to be a Fino or Manzanilla it will be fortified (strengthened) to around 15%ABV by the addition of Brandy – this allows a blanket layer of natural yeast called “flor” to develop on top of the wine in cask.   The interaction with the yeasty process that follows gives us our startlingly bone dry Fino’s (think Tio Pepe well chilled) a real savoury tang, making them a marriage match in heaven with salty nibbles like salted nuts, olives and anchovies.  An extra salty character can be found in the similar tasting Manzanilla’s plus a nuance of seaside aromas from their maturation home, the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda.  Next, a naughty Amontillado – this is where the layer of Flor has developed unevenly, so allowing some oxidation and therefore some nutty character to evolve. Amontillados can be Dry but are often sweetened a little with Moscatel grape juice to offer a more Medium style.  Classically, an Amontillado is the perfect accompaniment to a light Soup such as a Consommé or Broth.