The world has seen sense... sherry is cool!

The best sherry is a great, complex dessert wine

Sherry is now officially cool. This shows that, in this instance at least, the world eventually gets sense. Those of us sherry lovers who have been banging on about the stuff for decades are, of course, pleased; however, we are not the missionaries who have reversed the fortunes of this category of fortified wine.

The people who have made sherry cool are young and excited not just by food cultures, but by wine cultures too. And they are young enough to have forgotten when sherry — always sweet — was what people who didn’t really drink but who had not yet taken the pledge, drank in certain social situations. They have also forgotten — or, probably, never knew — the thimble-sized glasses that were used to serve this sticky brown stuff. I remember when I first went to Jerez back in the 1980s (with the late T.P. Whelehan and George O’Malley) and saw my first copita, the sherry glasses that they use there.

The parents of a school friend used to administer a modicum of Tio Pepe to us before Sunday lunch, so I knew the good stuff from an early age. And my motherin-law did the same, although rarely chilled.

It took me some time to associate sherry with food. It always seemed to belong amongst the aperitifs — and it remains one of the best drinks for opening the palate and sharpening the appetite. It was when the late Michael Broadbent told me that he liked fish and chips — from a chipper and eaten from the paper — with fino that I realised how good dry sherry can be when eating. That, and having manzanilla with baby squid on that first visit to Jerez.

In the meantime I’ve realised that good medium sherry can be enjoyed at the table too. A mildly sweet amontillado with chorizo roasted in red wine, is delicious. And a dry oloroso is transformed when drunk with juicy Iberico pork.

The best sweet sherry is a great dessert wine. It delivers wonderful complexity and is perfect with blue cheese and walnuts.