LUXURY LIVING DINING u
There is no mystery about the best finos, starting with the classic Domecq La Ina( now owned by Lustau, the bodega with the widest range of sherries in the area) followed by Tio Pepe, Inocente and Tio Mateo. There used to be dozens of small sherry houses each with their own excellent brand, but these days the business is concentrated into a half dozen major firms.
Regrettably sherry sales figures in Spain have been heading south for years, and there was at one time real concern about the future. In recent years practically the only time sherry was traditionally drunk was, and still is, at Andalucian ferias, and although the quantities are huge, they cannot support the capital-intensive production methods necessary for the wine. Most bodegas have vast stocks and have to see an annual rotation. Otherwise the traditional solera system that blends wine from different years and makes it so special and unique cannot be maintained as it needs to be.
Fortunately there are now signs that sales are picking up again, above all in overseas markets. Britain is showing a renewed interest in the stuff and even young people have started drinking it. But the biggest boost is from celebrity chefs who are using it increasingly in signature dishes, and two awardwinning London restaurants, Moro and Fino, offer tasting menus to combine with different varieties of sherry. The increase in popularity of tapa bars has also helped, and what is happening in Britain is being replicated in the USA.
Oriental eateries are also promoting sherry. As an accompaniment to most eastern cuisine it has no rival, and even with Indian food it can stand up for itself much better than ordinary wines- although beer and cava will always be best.
So there you have it, sherry the unsung hero of Andalucian ferias
“ If I had a thousand sons, the first human principle I would teach them, should be to forswear potations, and to devote themselves to Sherry”
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Another story, again true, is that if you take a barrel of manzanilla to Jerez, inland, and vice-versa, the manzanilla will become fino and the fino will become manzanilla. Which is why every large Jerez producer has a maturing warehouse in Sanlúcar. Miracles of that wonderful living creature which is wine.
So, if we are going off to the feria, which brands do we order? Well, as at any time, the better-known brands are usually the safest. Solear, from Barbadillo( who also produce the ubiquitous best-selling white table wine, Castillo de San Diego) is a top-ranker. La Goya, from Delgado Zuleta, is termed a manzanilla pasada( or, in the modern idiom, manzanilla fina) and is excellent, although not easy to find. Argüeso is one of the oldest Sanlúcar bodegas, and their wine is superb, but harder to get hold of outside the immediate area. La Guita, perhaps the best-known manzanilla of them all, now belongs to the Estevez Group, and is the most consumed wine in many local ferias starting with Seville. It sells all it can produce with hardly any going for export.
There is no mystery about the best finos, starting with the classic Domecq La Ina( now owned by Lustau, the bodega with the widest range of sherries in the area) followed by Tio Pepe, Inocente and Tio Mateo. There used to be dozens of small sherry houses each with their own excellent brand, but these days the business is concentrated into a half dozen major firms.
128 LUXURY LIVING