Sherry is a wine, usually fortified with grape brandy, made from grapes grown in a large triangle of vineyards surrounding the city of Jerez. Almost all of them are dry, and all are aged to maturity before being released. Two of the wines below are 20 years old or more.
In Jerez, sherry is going through something of a revival, with a group of small producers releasing some thrilling, complex wines. Sadly, it remains a minority interest in Ireland, and I don’t see that changing, but that fortunate minority can enjoy a growing array of fantastic sherries, many of them new to the market. In addition, many producers are making lighter table wines at 12-13 per cent ABV, fascinating non-sherries with real character. I adore both styles.
A fino sherry is best enjoyed chilled with an array of tapas. The combination of fino or manzanilla with ibérico ham is one of the greatest food and wine matches I know of. The Tio Pepe below is one of the great wines of Spain; inexpensive, reliable, refreshing and delicious. An amontillado is an aged fino with flavours of grilled nuts and polished oak. Oloroso is deeper in colour with caramel, walnuts and dried fruits. Most have a saline, umami flavour. If you like Marmite and soy sauce, you will probably enjoy sherry.
In addition to the wines below, look in Marks & Spencer for its own label fino sherry, at €12 an amazing bargain, and the excellent Valdespino Don Gonzalo 20-year-old Oloroso (€54.95, Corkscrew, Backrock Cellar).
Tio Pepe Palomino Fino NV, Gonzalez Byass
15% abv, €16-18
Light and bone dry with fine green apples and briny green olives. Great value for money. Enjoy with charcuterie, nuts, firm cheeses and fried fish.
Very widely available in wine shops and supermarkets
Primitivo Collantes Amontillado Fossi
17.5% abv, €36
Toasted almonds and hazelnuts with orange peel, an attractive rounded fruitiness and a saline dry finish.
From Green Man, D6W; 64wine, Glasthule; MacCurtains, Cork; Morton’s, Galway
Palo Cortado VOS Bodegas Cayetano del Pino & Cia
21% abv, €49.95 for a 50cl bottle
An incredibly complex wine, packed with flavour and full of character. Toasted walnuts and hazelnuts, orange peel, dried fruits and citrus with a long, tangy, dry, savoury mineral finish.
From O’Briens
Williams Colleción Añadas Amontillado en rama 2011
20.5% abv, €63.95
Taut, fine, deeply woody with toasted walnuts, mahogany furniture and savoury dried fruits. Long and bone dry. A small glass with blue cheese and walnuts would do nicely.
From Redmonds, D6; Bradley’s, Cork
