My sherry amour – the wonder of Andalucia
To celebrate Sherry Week 2021, from Monday 8 to Sunday 14 November, here are my top dozen choices.
Manzanilla
Alegria Manzanilla Superior Williams & Humbert Good value
Bready, yeasty aromas entice you into this deliciously tangy saline-tinged bone-dry aperitif with its green olive, orange peel, silky texture and almond notes. Aged for more than six years and such good value.
£8.75 for 75cl bt, The Wine Society
La Bota 93 Manzanilla ‘Navazos’ Equipo Navazos
Equipo Navazos release exciting ‘botas’ from dozens of casks looked after by oenologist Eduardo Ojeda. Loved its salty, minerally freshness and powerful tangy palate. £26.96 for 75cl bt, Drinkmonger, Edinburgh; £32, Virgin Wines
Manzanilla Origen en Rama Bodegas Callejuela
Herby, briny, earthy notes, citric fruit core and swirls of sea breeze freshness and piquancy. En Rama is ‘straight from the cask’ with no filtration.
£16 for hf bt, Drinkmonger, Edinburgh
Fino
Inocente Fino NV Bodegas Valdespino
Full rich Fino from a single vineyard in Macharnudo district. One of the few left which is barrel fermented with wild yeasts in 600 litre American oak butts. Toasty, vanilla, quite herbal, nutty – but still refreshing. £8.95 for hf bt, The Wine Society; £10.99 for hf bt, Oxford Wine
Tres Palmas 2014 Gonzalez Byass
This rare old Fino is a 10 year old version of Tio Pepe from a single cask selected for its thin veil of flor.
Additional ageing has given it deep colour, nutty aromas and a chalky minerality. Intense and dry.
£39 for 50 cl bt, Whisky Exchange; Lay & Wheeler
Amontillado Amontillado Vors 30 Year Old Bodegas Tradicion
Star buy
Brilliant mature Amontillado from the impressive Bodegas Tradicion. Loved its citric fruit, roasted nuts, cinnamon, tobacco, meaty with a salty edge and layers of flavour. £63 for 75cl bt, Justerini & Brooks
Palo cortado
Pedro's Almacenista Selection Palo Cortado Cayetano del Pino
Good value introduction to this lesser-known style, made by palo cortado specialist Cayetano del Pino. Expect light nutty notes, tangy palate with a bitter almond finish – more in the Amontillado mould. £15.99/£17.99 for 75cl bt, Majestic Wine
Palo Cortado ‘Clasico’ Bodegas Urium
Palo cortado is my favourite style from Urium. Try their elegant toffee citric 15-20 years old Clasico – more intense than Amontillado.
£29 for 50 cl bt & £34 for 75 cl bt, Luvians
Dry oloroso Antique Oloroso Bodegas Fernando de Castilla
Affordable introduction to unfiltered unblended untreated mature dry oloroso. Loved the rich nutty fruitcake notes, firm structure, glycerol texture of this 20 year old. £26.96 for 50cl bt, Drinkmonger, Edinburgh; Woodwinters
Sweet oloroso
East India Solera Bodegas Lustau
Very good sweetened oloroso; basically 80 per cent dry oloroso blended with 20 per cent sweet PX. Beautifully balanced lusciously rich cream style sherry.
£11.99 hf bt, Waitrose; £15.95 for 50 cl bt, Whisky Exchange; Luvians
Pedro ximenez Irresistible PX Sherry Bodegas Lustau
Star buy
Co-op have excelled themselves with this little gem. Deep dark colour, figgy raisiny and treacley delight made from sundried grapes.
£6 hf bt, Co-op
Cardenal Cisneros Reservas Especiales 20 Yr Old PX Bodegas Sanchez Romate
Grapes are dried on esparto grass mats for up to 21 days which enhances its sugar richness – then ageing for 15 years in cask. Hints of coffee, chocolate and succulent raisins. Sweet heaven.
£27.50-£30 for 75cl bt, The Whisky Exchange; Master of Malt
Edinburgh Cinema Club will be hosting a sherry tasting & screening of ‘Mystery of Palo Cortado’ on Monday 8 November at 6pm: £15, www. sherry.wine/sherryweek/events/filmmystery-palo-cortado-sherry-tasting