A Sherry Evening

[OzPiper]

Dinner for 8 at a friend’s home last night

Sherry (and a couple of ring-ins) was the theme.
A few bottles brought home from Spain by my friend who hosted the dinner.

Finished quite late as conversation flowed, and we ended up solving most of the world’s problems by evening’s end

 

[hoipolloiglasgow]

Very nice. Good for you.

 

[Old Smokey]

Sounds like fun! I have a similar weekly night with my friends drinking bourbon or whiskey. I'm partial to Irish Whiskeys. Never had sherry before; how's it taste?

 

[OzPiper]

Never had sherry before; how's it taste?

Most people think of sherry as Aunt Mabel's pre-dinner tipple. And sweet.

There are many styles of sherry - mostly dry(very):

# Fino and it's counterpart, manzanilla (from the seaside town of Sanlucar de Barrameda) are light, (bone-)dry, refreshing. They age under a layer of yeast (flor) which gives them their "sherry character"
Excellent with oysters, anchovies, olives,

# Amontillados are aged finos and Manzanillas that have more developed characteristics
Great with seafood dishes, jamon, antipasti, fowl/birds

# Olorosos result when the protective layer of flor does not develop. These are "weight-ier" wines than finos with more pronounced aromas (hence the name).
Goes well with meat, stews, duck
Oloroso butts are much prized for use in ageing whisky

# Palo cortados start out life as finos, but the layer of flor dies off after a time. These are "in-between" wines with characteristics of both finos and olorosos.

# Pedro ximenez (PX) - extremely sweet and luscious. Can be enjoyed on it's own. A fresher, lighter one is yummmm with crema catalana.
Used mainly as blending material to sweeten dry sherry giving the much-maligned "milk" ("as sweet as mother's milk") or "cream" ("better than milk, so we'll call it cream !) styles

A wine for all occasions

 

[VDL_Piper]

True sherry weather headed your way mate, hailstones, wind and rain here today and it's a shock to the system let me tell you. Just added a healthy splash of this to my coffee to warm up a bit after shifting cattle.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

Now that sounds like my kind of dinner!!! I will be visiting Jerez in October, drinking some manzanilla with green olives

 

[Servant King]

we ended up solving most of the world’s problems by evening’s end

It's good to leave a few of them unsolved anyway...gives you a convenient excuse to do those festivities all over again!

 

[Old Smokey]

Most people think of sherry as Aunt Mabel's pre-dinner tipple. And sweet.

There are many styles of sherry - mostly dry(very):

# Fino and it's counterpart, manzanilla (from the seaside town of Sanlucar de Barrameda) are light, (bone-)dry, refreshing. They age under a layer of yeast (flor) which gives them their "sherry character"
Excellent with oysters, anchovies, olives,

# Amontillados are aged finos and Manzanillas that have more developed characteristics
Great with seafood dishes, jamon, antipasti, fowl/birds

# Olorosos result when the protective layer of flor does not develop. These are "weight-ier" wines than finos with more pronounced aromas (hence the name).
Goes well with meat, stews, duck
Oloroso butts are much prized for use in ageing whisky

# Palo cortados start out life as finos, but the layer of flor dies off after a time. These are "in-between" wines with characteristics of both finos and olorosos.

# Pedro ximenez (PX) - extremely sweet and luscious. Can be enjoyed on it's own. A fresher, lighter one is yummmm with crema catalana.
Used mainly as blending material to sweeten dry sherry giving the much-maligned "milk" ("as sweet as mother's milk") or "cream" ("better than milk, so we'll call it cream !) styles

A wine for all occasions

Well that is a do it all drink. I might have to find some to try. I'm a corn forward rye bourbon guy so venturing out isn't very normal for me. The missus loves wine but I've never been able to stomach it.

 

[shanez]

Good sherry is a thing of beauty. Aged is fantastic.

That being said, look for soleras for great quality/price ratio.

 

[OzPiper]

Good sherry is a thing of beauty. Aged is fantastic.

That being said, look for soleras for great quality/price ratio.

Aged bottles (>30 yr old VORS) may seem expensive at 1st glance

Most are incredibly complex drops, and a little go a long way

They are cheap when you compare prices for similarly rated 30year old
Bordeaux or Burgundies

I often say that a great old Sherry is one of the true bargains of the wine world

 

[OzPiper]

Now that sounds like my kind of dinner!!! I will be visiting Jerez in October, drinking some manzanilla with green olives

I love grazing in tapas bars
Anchovies are polarising - some love it, others can't abide them
Me - I adore them
Fresh oysters, anchovies and fino/manzanilla are a match made in heaven

Enjoy Jerez

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I love grazing in tapas bars
Anchovies are polarising - some love it, others can't abide them
Me - I adore them
Fresh oysters, anchovies and fino/manzanilla are a match made in heaven

Enjoy Jerez

Amen, I love these two types of dry sherries especially during the hotter summer days as an aperitif.

 

[Sigmund]

I will have to hunt for some. Im near Spain so maybe next time Im there I will look. How similiar is Sherry to Banyuls? I know they are both fortified wines? Banyuls is typically red but can be white. Im not an expert at all but it seems like most the countries (at least in the south) have some version of forifited aged wines. Port, Sherry, banyuls, Murray, Moscato...They have differences between blends but to me Banyuls makes me think of Port. However, I have not tried them side by side.

 

[OzPiper]

How similiar is Sherry to Banyuls? I know they are both fortified wines? Banyuls is typically red but can be white. Im not an expert at all but it seems like most the countries (at least in the south) have some version of forifited aged wines. Port, Sherry, banyuls, Murray, Moscato...They have differences between blends but to me Banyuls makes me think of Port. However, I have not tried them side by side.

Banyuls is sweet, fortified wine
Most sherry, on the other hand, are dry.
While there is sweet sherry, most of what I drink is dry.

I do like Banyuls. Older ones are particularly good with cheese.

 

[mngslvs]

Every night after dinner I read and smoke. I sip amontillado sherry all the while, tiny sips every few minutes, which for me goes really well with tobacco, clears the palate and enhances the next puffs. I buy the stuff by the case. Used to be Sandemann, but that is now unavailable where I live, so now it is Dry Sack by Williams Humbert, around $17/bottle more or less.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

I love grazing in tapas bars
Anchovies are polarising - some love it, others can't abide them
Me - I adore them
Fresh oysters, anchovies and fino/manzanilla are a match made in heaven

Enjoy Jerez

When in Madrid, I go to this old sherry bar where they still prepare anchovies directly from the salt pack—cleaning them, rinsing them, putting them in really good olive oil… they’re out of this world . I usually have them with an oloroso.

 

[Grovius]

@Sigmund: the closest thing you will find in France are Jura vins jaunes, as both finos and manzanillas are aged under a layer of veil/voil/flor. They have notes of almonds, soft nougat, olives, sometimes herbs, sometimes orange blossom, fermenting dough... They are bone-dry and often (particularly manzanillas) salty, with notes of seaweed and sea water. When they get so old that they lose their flor, they become amontillados, with stronger notes of nuts and dried fruits. Olorosos and palos cortados avoid the flor ageing totally (olorosos) or partially (pc), and they have stronger notes of dried fruit and have a fuller body.

 

[kcghost]

Sherry and Port are just a wonderful combination!!

 

[OzPiper]

Every night after dinner I read and smoke. I sip amontillado sherry all the while, tiny sips every few minutes, which for me goes really well with tobacco, clears the palate and enhances the next puffs. I buy the stuff by the case. Used to be Sandemann, but that is now unavailable where I live, so now it is Dry Sack by Williams Humbert, around $17/bottle more or less.

Dry Sack was the very first sherry I tried (I was in my very early teens).
I remember not really liking it then.
Sherry is so different to most wine that it can be “challenging” for most palates trying it for the first time.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

This thread has me reminiscing…
The best Pedro ximenez I’ve ever had was in cordoba, decades ago. We went to the patio festival, spent all day looking at those beautiful patios in the old Jewish quarter, trailing geraniums spilling down everywhere, then went to this bar and had fried eggplant, salmorejo, olives.. pork loin. Then as a complimentary dessert, the waiter brought us glasses of Pedro ximenez, no idea what brand, but the stuff was heaven