WTN: In praise of sherry

Is sherry now the most underrated wine type in the world? It is very versatile ranging from bone dry Fino and Manzanilla to unctuously sweet PX with categories in between like this Amontillado, Palo Cortado and Oloroso seco and dulce. From better producers, it is invariably classy with unique personality. A big advantage is generally modest prices (this one cost €21). A disadvantage as a food wine is high alcohol (18% here).

NV Gutierrez Colosia Jerez-Xérès-Sherry Amontillado - Spain, Andalucía, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry (18/01/2022)
It is many years since I last had an Amontillado. When I was young it was ubiquitous in households, particularly of more elderly relatives and friends, was described as "medium" and was offered out of dusty decanters as an apéritif alternative to "dry". I had forgotten how good it could be. This one was complex, quite dark and quite full bodied. It was drier than many wines described as "sec" or "trocken" but with a round generous undertow showing slight hints of sweetness. Aromas on the nose followed through onto the palate and I could detect raisins, walnuts, candied fruit and, of course, the typically sherry/Jura flor/voile touch and on the palate there was an underpinning of saline minerals and a touch of fine bitterness towards the finish. Shape on the palate was both generously broad and long. We drank it with a melted Mont d'Or cheese dish and Serrano ham and it went very well with both as well as with Stilton cheese on the next day. Very good, nearly excellent.
Posted from CellarTracker

Is sherry now the most underrated wine type in the world?...From better producers, it is invariably classy with unique personality. A big advantage is generally modest prices (this one cost €21). A disadvantage as a food wine is high alcohol (18% here).

Yes, this has been my view on things for a while. The QPR is very hard to beat. But that still doesn't mean I want to buy and drink them as table wines! (Because of the alcohol...)

[Jenise]

Tim, you made me laugh at the idea of "elderly relatives and friends". In childhood, really cheap jug-wine level dry sherry was my mother's only cooking wine. I grew up with that flavor in steak marinade and braised game meats (my father was a dove hunter). Then in my 20's I moved to England where sherry was the drink for the blue hair crowd, especially at the sweeter, Harvey's Bristol Cream end.

Both experiences colored my view and though I appreciate a good amontillado now, I had to get over thinking it only for little old ladies. In fact, several years ago a Spanish friend and importer put on an in-store sherry tasting and I joked with him that I would come but perhaps would bring a cane with which to fight my way through the crowd of little old ladies. He laughed but said oh no, it wouldn't be like that in Bellingham. And then there I was at the store in the back area talking to friends and looked over where Basi was pouring and there at the tasting bar, 2 or 3 deep, was a crowd of little old ladies dressed like they'd just come from church. You know how it is when something's hilarious in a place where you're not supposed to laugh, like a funeral? Well, he was struggling not to explode.

This one sounds lovely.

Fortunately none of our ageing Victorian friends and relatives went in for Bristol Cream, IIRC. However, dry and medium sherries out of dusty room temperature decanters were not very appealing drinks, especially the former which IMO needs to be drunk chilled within at most a handful of days from opening. I am convinced that the old fashioned image of sherry together with the bad way in which it was usually served were the root causes of the lasting disaffection of the British public. As Rahsaan points out, high alcohol hinders its resurrection as a table wine.

I'm a big fan of Lustau's Sherries, especially their almacenista line. They're hard to find around here these days. But the New Hampshire state liquor stores carry Lustau's dry amontillado Los Arcos and sometimes their Jarana dry fino.

-Paul W.

I am also a Sherry fan. I generally prefer a dry like Manzanilla, Palo Cortado or Fino, but am sometimes lured by a well made Oloroso.

Our selection could be better here but the good ones do show up and I grab them - have 6 or 7 Lustaus that are really nice.

Perfect food combo = grilled prawns (gambas), olives and warmed cashews.

[Jenise]

I used to frequently buy Lustau's Palo Cortado when I shopped at places that carried that kind of thing which, of course, I haven't in two years. Bob LOVES sherry. When I met him, Dry Sack on the rocks was his favorite aperitif and literally every good bar/restaurant stocked it. Not so any more, though at home he's since gamed up to better versions of amontillado.