Three top-notch sherries to sip with food this weekend
Two of the best meals out I had last year were sherry matching dinners. One, at Asador 44 in Cardiff, featured oak-roast beetroot, apple and toasted almonds with dry fino, then wild duck with roast salsify and hazelnuts with oloroso; the other, at Bar 44 in Bristol, offered cuttlefish croquetas with manzanilla, and scallops with jamón consommé with amontillado (among other dishes). It reminded me that sherry should always be served with food, its intense, savoury flavours producing some of the most exciting pairings in the world.
The dinners were masterminded by the restaurants’ owner Owen Morgan, one of the UK’s most inventive sherry connoisseurs, and during lockdown he has continued to champion Andalusia’s classic fortified wines with food with live tastings (@sherrymonster44 on Twitter and Instagram).
This week he gave me some more sherry pairing tips: dressed crab with dry oloroso, sashimi with manzanilla, sticky chicken wings with amontillado, British pork scratchings with fino…
And interestingly, he chills all sherries. Not just the dry, pale ones; every single one, even the super-sweet, treacly Pedro Ximenez. But not to the same degree – Morgan recommends a frosty 6-8C for the driest pale sherries, but less cool for others, up to 15C for the PX. (He also suggests a fun ‘She & T’ in summer: generous measure of fino or manzanilla in a glass full of ice, topped with tonic, a dash of bitters and slice of lemon – it’s incredibly refreshing).
Here are three to chill – and to sip with food, of course.
Try these...
Waitrose Blueprint Fino Pale Dry Sherry Jerez, Spain
(15%, £7.69 for 75cl)
Waitrose has a fine range of own-label and branded sherries – start with this great value one if you’re new to it. Dry, with flavours of lemon peel and cooked apples, a note of fresh bread and lingering, palate-freshening finish. Try it with fish and chips…
Hidalgo La Gitana Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain
(15%, Sainsbury’s, £8 for 50cl; Waitrose, £11.59 for 75cl; Majestic, £11.99 or £7.99 in a mixed six)
More delicate than some, with a preserved lemon hint, soft yeasty depths and a salty dab at the end. Good to sip with toasted almonds or with seafood.
Pedro’s Almacenista Palo Cortado Jerez, Spain
(20%, Majestic, £17.99 for 75cl or £15.99 in a mixed six)
The Pedro’s sherries from Majestic are wonderfully concentrated and complex; this pale amber palo cortado is aromatic with the scent of walnuts and brazils, with an orange oil note to its flavour and tangy, dry finish. Charcuterie a must.
