Epitome of cool or...? Meet the new sherries
Posted by Joelle Thomson on
The epitome of cool or a tipple of ridicule?
Sherry evokes many different images and includes a wide range of wines from bone dry to lusciously sweet. The name Sherry is also protected, at least within the EU where it can only apply to fortified wines made within the Jerez de la Frontera DO, a legally protected wine region in Andalucia in south west Spain.
International Sherry Week this year is... 7 to 13 November
This year's International Sherry Week is looming and will be held from 7 to 13 November and we will be marketing it here at Regional by celebrating the fortunes of this great wine with a tasting. We thought it would be worth sharing the reasons to drink sherry in advance of this year's International Sherry Week because there are so many.
Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana Manzanilla RRP $32.99 - buy here
Gonzalez Byass Tio Pepe Dos Palmas RRP $48.99 - buy here
Gonzalez Byass Fino RRP $37.99 - buy here
Why we should all drink sherry (dry, medium or sweet)
Dry sherry matches a wide range of food, especially salty snacks
It remains fresher about four times as long as other wines once open
It has a relaxing effect without the high alcohol impact of a full strength spirit
It represents exceptional value for money, offering complexity without high prices
Sherry is rarely sweet, despite its reputation as a thimble of sweetness at Christmas time...
Sherry comes from...
Andalusia, a region in the south of Spain with a hot tropical climate, incredibly low rainfall (typically 50 millimetres per year) and three well known wine towns. Jerez de la Frontera is the centre of the sherry industry and is flanked by two smaller towns; Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puero de Santa Maria.
Most sherry is made from the Palomino grape...
This fairly neutral little white number gains character from its aging process either in old oak or under flor yeast, a filmy white yeast that forms after a light fortification, producing very tangy tasting, dry wines. Nuttier, deeper coloured dry sherries come from long aging in old oak barrels known as butts. The PX (Pedro Ximenez) grape and Muscat are both used to make miniscule volumes of sweet sherries.
The best sherries are fino, manzanilla...
... amontillado and palo cortado. Not household names but exceptional quality wines that taste nearly perfect with seafood, slivers cured meat, olives and toasted almonds. This is the home of tapas. Sweet sherries taste divine with warm gingerbread.