In association with the Regulatory Council of Sherry Wines Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla - Sanlúcar de Barrameda - Sherry Wine Week 2015 has been taking place Dublin this week.
Sherry Wine Week is an international fiesta celebrating this unique southern Spanish wine; thousands of restaurants, wine bars, hotels and merchants across the world are holding tastings and other Sherry-themed events, spreading the word about how perfectly this wine matches such a wide variety of dishes, from cheese and olives, to meat, fish, seafood, game, and desserts.
Sherry is a wine which can only be produced in the “Sherry Triangle” – the towns of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlúcar de Barrameda in the province of Cádiz, south-western Spain.
DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry is the oldest DO in Spain and celebrates it’s 80th Anniversary this year. With 2,800 wine growers, wine has been produced in the area since Roman times, and Sherry has been exported since the 16th century and is documented as the first wine to be introduced to the America’s.
Tio Pepe €15.99
Stockists: Super Valu, Dunnes, Tesco ,OBriens , Independent off trade
Produced by one of the most famous Bodegas in Jerez Gonzalez Byass, Tio Pepe is one of THE best know Palomino Fino Sherry. In 1835 in Jerez, Spain, Manuel Maria Gonzalez, an ambitious 23 year old, set the company that was ultimately to become Gonzalez Byass. Young Manuel was mentored in this by his uncle, José Angel de la Pena, (affectionately known as Pepe), already a renowned authority on sherry and its production. In 1837 Manuel gave the first, tiny bodega (cellar) over to his uncle so that the older man could create a delicate sherry to suit his own personal taste. Later, Manuel sent a couple of barrels of his uncle’s new, dry wine over to his London agent, Robert Byass. José Angel’s wine proved to be a great success and in 1849 Manuel named what is now the world’s best-selling Fino after his uncle (tio being Spanish for uncle)
Fino Sherry is a dry style of sherry, with an almost salty finish. It is made from the Palomino grape which is low in acidity and sweetness and is ideal for the production of Fino sherry. The Fino style is bone dry, the wine develops in a unique way thanks to an unusual yeast called flor. The wine is made and then fortified by adding spirit to 15.5% ABV. It is then put in a barrel that is filled about ¾ full. A film of oatmeal white flor grows on the surface of the wine, protecting it from the air and keeping the colour pale. Flor feeds off the wine and affects its colour and flavour in various ways, it gives the Fino a sharp tang and pungency. Fino is aged using a fractional blending system which basically involves topping up the barrel with a younger wine in order to keep the nutrients fresh and the flor alive. The flor is a living yeast which continues to feed on the nutrients in the crushed grapes.
Fino is a fresh light style of sherry. Once opened the bottle must be consumed within a few weeks. Fino sherry is the ideal wine to serve with Tapas, savory nibbles which include, ham, cheese, olives, fried fish are all a great food match with Fino sherry.
Tio Pepe accounts for nearly a quarter of all sherry sales in Spain.
Barbadillo Amontillado €14.00
Stockists: Ardkeen Stores, Waterford; Devenney’s, Dundrum; Hole in the Wall, Phoenix Park, JC Savage, Swords; O’Driscoll’s, Cork; La Touche Wines, Greystones.
Amontillado developes out of fino. After Fino has been in barrel for six years or more, the flor begins to fade and die and the wine comes in contact with air, turning it amber coloured and giving it a nutty flavour, while still retaining the pungency and tang. Amontillado are true dry fine wines. All Sherries have to be wood aged for a minimum of three years, but the finest wines are aged much longer. During this time, they pass through a solera system, a traditional method of gradual blending. When Sherry is needed for bottling, only about a quarter of the wine from the most mature barrel is taken out. After the sherry has been removed, the barrels are then filled up from slightly younger wine until each has been topped up.
Antonio Barbadillo is the largest of the Sherry companies based in Sanlucar de Barrameda, the seaside home of the sherry style known as Manzanilla. The company was originally founded in 1821. Their Amontillado is very well know, rich soft with nutty, toffee flavours. A great wine to serve with food, especially mushroom risotto and any type of soup, stew or cheese.
Other sherry styles: Oloroso is fortified to 18% ABV, flor does not grow, the aged wine style gradually develops as the wine has contact with the air, via the solera system, Oloroso is a rich nutty style of sherry with lots of strong nut/toffee flavours.
Cheaper sweetish styles of Cream Sherry are Fino sherries that have been darkened and sweeted up with poor quality Oloroso.
Details of forthcoming Sherry events in Ireland during November - more info in the wine diary www.jeansmullen.com
Fri, 06 Nov 17:00 - 19:00 Bring Your Own Sherry Tasting
Purely for the love of sherry, bring your own favourite bottle to share at Stanley's and toast International Sherry Week together. A great opportunity for sherry aficionados and newcomers alike. Stanley's Restaurant 7 St. Andrew's St, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 485 3273 to book.
Wed 18th Nov, 2015 Lustau Sherry Dinner @ Ballymaloe House, Co Cork
Ballymaloe House delighted to be welcoming Manuel Lozano of the famous Sherry producer, Bodegas Lustau for a Sherry dinner at Ballymaloe House. The cost per person is €75 including dinner paired with Lustau Sherry with each course. Lustau has a long connection with Midleton Distillery and at the end of the Lustau Sherry dinner at Ballymaloe they will raise a glass of Redbreast 21 year old Whiskey by way of a toast at the end of the meal to the local connection between Midleton Distillery in East Cork and Bodegas Lustau, in Jerez. www.ballymaloe.ie
Wed 25th and Thurs 26th Nov, 2015 Sherry Tasting & Film Screening
Showing of the Spanish documentary film “El misterio del palo cortado” at Denzille Private Cinema
13 Denzille Lane, Merrion Square North, Dublin 2. More information from Sara Crespo Marketing Director Spanish Economic and Commercial Office +353 1 661 6313 screspo@comercio.mineco.es
