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Celebrate Versatility of Sherry
Sherry. Jerez. Xerez.
I’m sure you’ve seen the name, at least one of the three. But when was the last time you actually had a sip of sherry? While you are trying to recall, let’s talk about it.
The winemaking area where the eponymous wine is produced, Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, is located in the south of Spain and is one of the oldest winemaking areas in Spain and in the world, producing wines since 1100 BC. Nowadays, Sherry is known as a fortified wine – meaning that a neutral spirit was added during wine production to stop the process of fermentation. However, the fortification of Sherry is relatively a young phenomenon, developed in the 17th-18th centuries – until then, Sherry was simply known as a high-quality wine. After developing its unique style as fortified wines aged typically for 8 years using the solera method (the wine is partially taken from the barrel for bottling, and the barrel is topped off with the wine from the new vintage, repeating the process for many years), Sherry became one of the most popular Spanish wines, competing for the crown with Rioja. Phylloxera infestation at the end of the 19th century delivered a lethal blow to the Sherry wine industry, from which it never fully recovered.
Sherry wines are unique and even mysterious. Only three grapes – Palomino, Pedro Ximénez, and Moscatel, are used in the production of sherries. Actually, Palomino is used in the production of about 95% of all Sherry wines. Five different styles of dry Sherry – Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Palo Cortado, and Oloroso, are produced from the same palomino grape, each one with its own unique characteristics. Then you have a range of Cream sherries, typically combining one of the Palomino-based dry sherries with Pedro Ximénez, to achieve various degrees of sweetness. Last but not least would be Pedro Ximénez (typically abbreviated as PX) and Moscatel sherries, delivering oozing sweetness – but, when done properly, offering balancing acidity, and becoming heavenly nectar.
I discovered the world of Sherries more than 10 years ago, and really enjoyed that discovery for a while. Until for some mysterious reason (there is a mystery in Sherry, I’m telling you), I stopped enjoying most of them with the exception of PX. I was a bit confused as to why and how it happened and even shared my frustration and the attempted comeback in this post. Then a few months back, I poured myself a little glass of Oloroso from the leftover bottle from the past tasting (the beauty of Sherry – it can keep almost indefinitely after opening, don’t try that with wine), looking for the pre-dinner drink – and I was back in love. Pure mystery, but I’m not complaining.
Considering its range of styles, Sherry is one of the most versatile wines out there. You can pair it with your mood, as the expressions of the dry sherries are literally unmatched in the world of wine offering non-fruity complexity (nuttiness, salinity, herbaceousness, crisp acidity, and more); sweet sherries simply bring you into the world of hedonistic indulgences. You can also perfectly pair a whole dinner with Sherry, starting with a simple aperitif, as I did with the aforementioned Oloroso, and ending with PX, either by itself (good enough) or with a dessert (even better).
Oh yes, the dessert. This week, November 8 – 14, 2021, is designated as Sherry Week (#SherryWeek2021), a worldwide celebration of this unique wine. As part of the festivities, I received samples of the Sherry wines produced by González Byass, one of the purveyors of the fine Sherry wines. Moreover, the sherries were accompanied by dessert, and suggested pairings! I got a selection of pies from Tiny Pies to pair along with the Gonzalez Byass Sherries as follows:
- Apple Pie with Gonzalez Byass Alfonso Oloroso
- Pecan Pie with Harveys Bristol Cream
- Texas Two Step (a pecan and chocolate brownie pie) with Gonzalez Byass Solera 1847 Cream
- Cherry Pie with Gonzalez Byass Néctar Pedro Ximenez
Let me say first a few words about Tiny Pies. Tiny Pies company was born in 2010, in Austin, Texas, with its history starting from a simple question – quoting from the Tiny Pies website in the words of one of the founders, Amanda: “One day in 2010, my son, Andrew, innocently asked why he couldn’t take a piece of apple pie to school. I tried explaining to him that it wouldn’t be easy to eat. Andrew then suggested that we make a pie he “could eat with his hands””. The rest is history- today Tiny Pies operate 4 locations in Austin, and they also ship their pies countrywide, and yes, you can eat them with your hands.
Now, the sherries. Out of the four sherries I received, I was well familiar with 3 – Oloroso, Harveys Bristol Cream, and Néctar – instead of repeating my notes, you can find them in this post. González Byass Solera 1847 Cream Dulce (18% ABV, $17/375 ml, 75% Palomino, 25% Pedro Ximénez) was a new wine for me. At first, I got very excited about 1847 in the name, as I thought that maybe this is when the original solera was started and maybe it is still going (which would make it a 170 years old wine, not bad, right? :)). I asked the publicist this question, and the answer was a bit more prosaic but still worthwhile: The founder of González Byass, Manuel Maria González, founded the winery in 1835. His son turned 1 in 1847, so he decided to name the Sherry after the year he turned 1. Otherwise, the wines spent 8 years in solera, and each barrel is used for approximately 30 years. So one way or the other, but 1847 is not a random number.
Of course, I tasted the wine by itself, and it was delicious – dark amber color, complex and herbaceous nose. The palate was full of dried fruit, chocolate, and figs, with good acidity and perfect balance.
And now, to the pairing!
I obviously went along with the recommendations – here are my notes:
Apple Pie with Gonzalez Byass Alfonso Oloroso:
Interesting. Some contrasting notes, but not great. Best pairing – Pedro Ximenez. Worked perfectly, matching the cinnamon profile of the apple pie.
Pecan Pie with Harveys Bristol Cream:
Very nice. Excellent match on the nuttiness. Not so good with Cream 1847. Harveys complements perfectly and refreshes the palate after the bite.
Texas Two Step (a pecan and chocolate brownie pie) with Gonzalez Byass Solera 1847 Cream
Very good, pairing by the contrast. Sherry perfectly cuts through the sweetness.
Cherry Pie with Gonzalez Byass Néctar Pedro Ximenez
Not good. Néctar flavors clashed with the Cherry pie. Tried with all the sherries, and the only working was Harveys Bristol Cream, as it complimented the flavors of the cherry pie.
This was definitely a fun exercise – it is interesting to note that at least one of the 3 sweet sherries paired perfectly with the dessert – however, the Oloroso pairing with dessert was lost on my palate.
While I’m sharing my experience here, I’m really hoping that this would spark at least a little interest in you, my readers, to seek and try a sherry. Sherry wines are not gimmicks, they are versatile, inexpensive, and give you almost unlimited time to finish that bottle. No need to wait for Sherry Week 2022 to experience Sherry – visit your favorite retailer and give it a try. And then let’s compare notes…
Jerez – A Tasty Treat and Halloween Candy Solution
Yes, I know. Halloween is history now, so why am I even mentioning it?
Because I know that those Halloween candies are still lurking around, and will be for a while. And Halloween candy is not something which would make you crave the wine. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are wines out there which will help you get rid of the candies – with pleasure. What am I suggesting? Let’s talk about Sherry, also known as Jerez.
Jerez wines (officially known as Jerez-Xérès-Sherry) take its name from the town Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain, with the grapes coming from the vineyards surrounding the town. Jerez is one of the oldest winemaking regions in Europe, tracing its roots to more than 3,000 years back. Sherry is a fortified wine, and it came to being around the 8th century when the distillation process was invented. As a fortified wine Sherry can be compared to Port, however, the major difference is that Port is typically fortified in the middle of the fermentation process, to preserve the sugars in the wine, where Sherry wines are typically fully fermented, and then fortified, so with the exception of the particular style of Pedro Ximénez, most of the Sherries are dry wines.
There are many styles of Sherry wines, offering various levels of dryness, complexity, and oxidative qualities. Sherry wines are often also produced using the solera method, where the wines of the different vintages or constantly combined and resulting wines might represent a blend of hundred of vintages. The world of Sherry is quite complex, so if you want to read about all the different styles, this Wikipedia article contains a lot of good information.
González Byass started in 1835 in Jerez de la Frontera, in the heart of the Sherry country. Now in the 5th and 6th generation, González Byass is one of the major sherry producers, combining a number of Sherry brands under one umbrella. I had three sherries from González Byass to play with the candies – let me tell you how did it go.
First, the dry wine – Gonzalez Byass Alfonso Jerez Oloroso Seco. As it is a dry wine, it expectedly didn’t work too well with most of the candies, but I found some options:
Gonzalez Byass Alfonso Jerez Oloroso Seco (18% ABV, $25, Palomino 100%, aged for 8 years in solera)
Light amber color
Hazelnuts, sapidity, herbs
Hazelnuts, clean acidity, Rosemary, beautifully complex
Worked best with Payday because of explicit saltiness – not really with Reese’s or KitKat
The bottle on the right is directly from the wine fridge and it is ready to drink – the Harveys letters are blue
I recently wrote about Harveys – after years of personal neglect, this became a gateway wine for me to warm up again to the world of Jerez. As Harveys is quite sweet but not super-sweet, it provided the best pairing option for the majority of candies.
Harveys The Bristol Cream (17.5% ABV, $20, 80% Palomino, 20% Pedro Ximénez, a blend of 7 yo Fino, Oloroso, PX and Amontillado Soleras)
Dark amber color
Light herbaceous nose, a touch of dried fruit
Dried fruit on the palate, good acidity, refreshing
Nice with Reese’s, works well with KitKat, excellent with Payday
Nectar is seriously sweet wine (residual sugar of 370 grams per liter), but it is nevertheless very balance and delivers tremendous pleasure. The Pedro Ximénez (usually abbreviated as PX) is one of my most favorite dessert wines in general. The Pedro Ximénez grapes are dried on the mats for 2 weeks before pressing, losing 40% of liquid and becoming practically raisins – this explains the depth of color you can see in the picture above.
Gonzalez Byass Nectar Pedro Ximénez Dulce (15% ABV, 25%, 100% Pedro Ximénez, aged for about 8 years in solera)
Very dark amber color, almost black
Dried figs, dates, inviting.
Dried figs all the way, delicious, clean acidity on the finish, perfect balance
Great with KitKat, complements
Excellent with Reese’s, okay with Payday, Butterfinger – not so much
There you are, my friends. Don’t sweat the Halloween candies – pair them with a good Sherry. Or you know what – you can actually dump the candy – Sherry should be enough to keep you happy. Cheers!
Seeking Peace with Sherry
Sherry, a.k.a Jerez or Xerez can be considered a graduation wine for the all-encompassing wine lover (pun intended or not, but I believe Sherry is actually a part of the last exam for the WSET diploma candidates, so you can read whatever you want into this). While Sherry has a very long history, it completely lost the clout it had in the 17th–18th centuries, and today it is more of a wine for the people in the know, a sort of the secret handshake for the true wine aficionados. “Do you like Sherry”? “Of course” – that answer would instantly create the bridge of understanding between the participants in the dialog.
Sherry is fascinating. It is not just another white wine. It offers a very complex taste. Sherry production involves some elements of magic – identified as Flor and Solera. Sherry usually undergoes the long aging process in the barrels. Sometimes, the thin veil, a layer of yeast is formed on top of the wine aging in the barrel – this layer is called Flor. Flor is thick enough to protect the aging wine from the oxidation, but it also requires a very specific level of alcohol in the wine in order to survive. If the wine will finish its aging while protected by the flor, it will become a fino or manzanilla Sherry. However, the formation and survival of the flor is the thing of the mystery.
And then there is Solera. In the solera method of aging the wine, which is often used in the production of Sherry, the set of barrels is always topped off with the younger wine, moving wine from one barrel to another as the wine ages. The barrels are never emptied and never washed, thus if the solera was started 100 years ago, there will be traces of the 100 years old wine in your glass – how cool is that?!
Now, it is time for the hard truth. 7 or 8 years ago, I truly enjoyed the range of Sherry wines, starting from the driest fino and manzanilla, and all the way to the “liquid sugar” Pedro Ximenez – here is the article I wrote back in 2011; I also talked about Sherry in the Forgotten Vines series of posts. Today, I’m avoiding dry Sherry like a plague, as I’m unable to enjoy it much. When I’m offered to taste a sample of the Sherry, I usually have to politely decline. Talking to the fellow bloggers who are raving about their love of Sherry, I usually try to avoid making eye contact as much as possible, so I don’t have to share my opinion.
When I was offered a sample of a Cream Sherry, my first reaction was “no, I’m not touching the Sherry”. But then I thought “hmmm, Cream Sherry – this should be a premixed liqueur, like Baileys and Cream – I can probably do that”, so I agreed to review the wine.
When the bottle showed up with all the explanations, I quickly realized that I was wrong in all of my assumptions.
First, there is no cream in Cream Sherry. It is simply a special style of Sherry – not dry, but not as sweet as Pedro Ximenez would be. The wine I got was Harveys Bristol Cream – and there is a slew of fun fact I would like to share with you, both about the Cream Sherry style and about this particular wine (courtesy of González Byass, a producer and importer of this wine):
“Did you know that Harveys Bristol Cream…
1) …was first created and registered in 1882 by John Harvey & Sons in Bristol,
England, creators of the “cream” Sherry category?
2) …is not a “cream” liqueur, like Baileys, but a Sherry? They decided to call it
a cream Sherry because the richness rivaled that of cream.
3) …is a blend of more than 30 soleras of Sherries aged from 3-20 years? And
it’s the only Sherry made from 4 different styles of Sherry: Fino,
Amontillado, Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez.
4) …is the only Spanish product with a Royal Warrant from the Queen of
England since 1895?
5) …first came to the United States in 1933 and quickly became a best-seller.
6) …is best served chilled? We think it’s perfect at around 50°-55°F.
7) …is defined by its blue glass bottle and now has a label with a logo that turns
blue when Harveys reaches its perfect temperature.
8) …can be stored in the fridge for up to one month? Although it rarely lasts
that long.
9) …pairs really well with cookies, especially Oreos?
10!…is the number one selling Sherry in the world?”
Secondly, I happened to enjoy this wine! Beautiful mahogany color, more appropriate for cognac or nicely aged scotch, a nose of hazelnut and a touch of fig, plus unmistakable Sherry salinity. The palate shows caramel, burnt sugar, hazelnuts, a dash of sea salt and perfect, clean acidity, which makes this wine a real pleasure to drink. Add a fireplace to this wine over a cold winter night, or a cigar on the deck in the summer, and you got your thirst of guilty pleasure fully satisfied.
Will this be a pivotal wine for me to find Sherry love again? I can’t say it for sure, but I will definitely try. If anything, I’m now at peace with Sherry. And I’m off to pour another glass.
Forgotten Vines: Jerez, a.k.a Sherry
During 2011 I wrote a number of posts for the project called The Art Of Life Magazine – of course talking about my favorite subject, wine. The project closed and even web site is down, but as I still like the posts I wrote, so I decided to re-post them in this blog. Also, in that project, posts were grouped into mini-series, such as “Forgotten Vines” you see here – I will continue re-posting them from time to time.
Also, note that the series was written for a slightly different audience – I hope none of my readers will take offense in the fact that sometimes I’m stating the obvious…
I hope by now you learned a lot of secrets of the wine world – from great Rioja to second labels, French Sparkling wines, and wines of Languedoc. While there are still lots of secrets to discover, let’s take a break and change the subject a little bit. After all, we are on the hunt for unique experiences, aren’t we? What do you say if we will look for something which is hard to find? Would that be unique enough? Keep in mind, we are still talking about wines, not UFOs.
What will make a wine “hard to find”? Limited production would be one of the major factors – if there are only 100 cases made, and wine is good, of course, it will be hard to find (needless to say it will be also appropriately reflected in the price). Putting limited availability and cult factors aside, what if we simply forgot that some kind of wine exists, would it be then “hard to find”? Of course, it would. And believe it or not, with all the glut of wines coming into the world daily, there are still wines which are almost forgotten, which now became quite rare and “hard to find”. Let’s name the names: I’m talking about wines which had their glory days in the 16th through 19th centuries, and these wines are Jerez (also known as Sherry), Madeira and Marsala (yes, of course, you know Chicken Marsala dish, but Marsala was there first, before someone decided to cook chicken in it). Let’s explore those “forgotten vines”, as they are really worth it – but you will be the judge.
Is there something common between those wines except that they are forgotten? Yes, they are all fortified wines (to complete the list of fortified wines we need to add here Port – but Port will be a subject of a separate discussion), which means that they all had an addition of pure alcohol which acted as a preservative and affected the way the wine will be aging. Fortification also allowed the wines to be transported over long distances in the barrels, keeping them fresh.
Now, let’s extend the pleasure. Let’s talk about these wines one by one. And for no particular reason, let’s start with Jerez. Jerez wines come from Spain, and of course, the name is linked to the name of the place – a town called Jerez de la Frontera. The history of the wine goes all the way back to the beginning of the past millennia, with glory years spanning from 16th to the end of 19th century – an epidemic of phylloxera, a grapevine louse, devastated the region in 1894, and Jerez wines never made it all the way back. If you are interested in learning more about the history of the region, you can take a look at Wikipedia pages.
Jerez ( which is also often called Sherry) is produced mainly from the grapes called Palomino Fino and Pedro Ximenes, and it can be made in a variety of styles from very light to dark and heavy. There are a few interesting notes about making the Jerez. First, as we mentioned before, the wine is fortified with the addition of the brandy. As brandy added after the wine is fermented, typically Jerez is a dry wine – sweet versions are produced by blending in some sweet wines. Once brandy is added, Jerez goes through the aging process, which is called the Solera method. In this process, the wine is aging in the system of the barrels, where the youngest wine goes into the first barrel; however, when the new wine is added, some of the wine which was already aged for a while is moved to the next barrel. Such a process can continue for many decades, so the resulting wine obtains a tremendous level of complexity. Depending on the level of alcohol in the wine, a thin layer of yeast called Flor can develop in the barrels, protecting the wine from oxygen and allowing it to mellow out and obtain a very low level of acidity.
Enough talkin
g – time to open a bottle. Let’s start with Don Gonzalo Oloroso VOS Jerez. This wine had been aged for at least 20 years (this is what VOS means). Very complex nose of nuts and caramel. Salty and gamey on the palate, with a hint of applewood smoke and again great complexity. This wine would perfectly complement the cheese and cured meats, but it is very pleasant to sip by itself.
The next wine, Bodegas Toro Albalo VieJisimo Solera de 1922 comes from a region called Montilla-Morales, which is neighboring Jerez and also can produce wines of Jerez style. Are you paying attention? 1922! It is not every day you can drink the wine which is almost 90 years old, and not go broke after the first sip (this wine costs less than $40/bottle). It is even better when such a wine gives you great pleasure. This wine shows an exceptional nose of immense complexity and pronounced herbs, such as oregano and sage. Similar saltiness on the palate as the previous wine, with excellent acidity, very balanced and complex at the same time, and very dry.
I hope I told you enough to make you want to try Jerez – you should definitely do it, and I’m sure you will not regret. And if you will be blown away – please let the rest of us know – as we would want the same. Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #18: Wine and Independence Day
While last week’s quiz was definitely influenced by the hot weather, I want to still have one more quiz related to the history of wines, just to finish my imagined series. It also will be very appropriate, as in a few days we will be celebrating Independence Day here in US.
Imagine it is July 4th, 1776. Declaration of Independence is presented and voted for at the meeting of Continental Congress representing 13 colonies, signifying independence from the Great Britain. The room is cheering, and the glasses are poured for celebratory drink. Do you know what exactly was poured in those glasses?
Have fun! Cheers!
Wine and Time
Of course time had being here forever, always moving, and always in one direction (someone, please prove me wrong!). Wine had being around for about 8,000 years, first appearing in the ancient Georgia (no, not the one down south, but the one from the Caucus region, on another continent). Wine is one of the few products literally not changed for such a long time in its form and its production methods – sans reverse osmosis machines, electrical presses and micro-oxygenation boxes. Considering such a long history, you can imagine that relationship between wine and time is very complex, and you would be right.
First, time is a necessary part and an attribute of the wine making process. For the vast majority of wines, if you read winery’s description of the wine, you will see something like “aged for so many month in …”. Sometimes the wine is aged in stainless steel tanks. Sometimes the wine is aged in clay vessels (very popular in Georgia now, the vessels are called Kvevri and produce very distinct wines). Lots of red wines are aged in oak barrels – American oak, French oak, Hungarian Oak, new oak, old oak – variations are endless. For many wines, duration and the type of the aging is a sole decision of winemaker (no pressure, but this decision will greatly affect quality and the taste of wine, and will define success and failure for it). For some of the wines, aging in a specific type of barrels is mandatory before the wine can be released – Rioja Gran Reserva should be aged for a minimum of 2 years in oak barrel and 3 years in the bottle to be officially designated as Rioja Gran Reserva. Barolo must be aged for 3 years, at least two of them in the oak barrel, and Barolo Riserva should be aged at least for 5 years. During the aging process, the wine is changing. Oak imparts very specific flavor, which we, humans, tend to like. Oak aging also acts as a preservative and helps wines to live long life.
Once all the aging is complete (in the tanks, barrels and bottles – whatever the aging was), wine is released – and this is when the second phase of the wine and time relationship kicks in.
This second phase is as tricky, if not trickier, as the first. Have you heard the phrase “needs time” in relation to the particular bottle of wine? If you will look at the wine reviews in Wine Spectator or any other publication which provides wine reviews, you would often see one of the phrases “Drink now”, “Best 2014-2020”, “Best after 2013” – these are the suggestions for how long the wine should be kept in the cellar before it should be consumed.
Why is that? What with all this aging? Why not open the bottle right away and just drink the wine? What was discovered at some point (don’t ask me when, but it was long time ago) is that wine actually changes its taste as it spends time in the bottle (the aging). And it doesn’t just change the taste arbitrarily, it tastes better. Young wines are often sharp, or somewhat single-toned in their taste – you might get pronounced acidity, or only sweetness, or lots of white apples – but only white apples. During aging, trace amounts of air are making its way into he bottle, and they lead to the wine changing its taste, improving to the better in majority of the cases – it becomes complex, bite softens up, bright and diverse fruit tones compensate for the pronounced acidity and the wine brings a lot more pleasure compare to the young wines. Mature wines deliver more pleasure – this is the whole philosophy behind wine aging.
Simple and easy, right? Well, this is were everything becomes complicated and confusing – as not all the wines should be aged (do not try to age Beaujolais Noveau, please) and also it is very tricky to make sure you would drink the wine at its peak – as whatever comes up, goes down in mother nature. This is where time transforms from the friend to the foe – and as a foe, it is merciless. After reaching maturity and staying there for a while, the wines are typically starting their decline in the taste (wine loses fruit, become very acidic, may be oxidized – and it stops delivering pleasure). Different wines made in the different styles will have different peak times and different lifespans. Some of the Jerez, Madeira and similar wines can go on literally for the hundreds of years. Good Rioja, Barolo or Bordeaux can be perfectly aged for 50 years or longer. Simple Cote du Rhone might only last for 3-5 years, same would be true for many of the Chardonnay wines. There is not crystal ball telling you precisely how long the wine will last and when will it taste the best – human trial and error is the best way to find that out. Of course there are many factors which might help you to decide whether to age the wine and if yes, for how long – the winery, the winemaker, the region’s wine style, success of the vintage and many others – but in the end of the day you would need to do the work (err, I meant the wine drinking) as the wine ages to find out when it tastes best to you.
So, does it worth to age wines if you don’t know what will happen to them in the end? For anyone who is into wines, and who had an opportunity to try a mature wine, the wine which reached its optimum taste, I’m sure this is a no-brainer question – yes, of course, and please, please give me more.
How one can experience aged wines? You got a few options. First, you can age it in your own cellar. Second, you can buy aged wines, either in a good wine store, such as Cost Less Wines in Stamford or Benchmark Wine Company. Note that you have to buy aged wines only from the trusted source – not aging the wines in the right conditions will simply ruin them, so you have to trust your source. Third option is to attend a wine tasting, such as PJ Wine Grand Tasting, where you can taste really amazing wines. However, you don’t have to wait of the Grand tasting, which takes place only once a year. If you live in a close proximity to Stamford, CT, you can attend a wine tasting at the Franklin Street Works gallery on Thursday, January 19th at 5:30 pm (here is the link for RSVP). The event is free and open to all. Here are the wines which will be presented in the tasting (the list might change at any time):
2003 Riesling, Mosel Saar River, Germany
1998 Merlot, Italy
2009 Stag’s Leap Hands of Time, Napa Valley
2009 Stag’s Leap Hands of Time, hyper-decanted using Nathan Myhrvold’s methodology.
So you should come and experience the relationship between time and wine for yourself – there is a good chance that you will even enjoy it! Cheers!
Tasting Some Of The Oldest Wines Ever: Jerez
Once again this year I was lucky enough to seize a great learning opportunity – a wine tasting seminar at PJ Wine store in New York. This time the subject of the seminar was Jerez, also known as Sherry (or Xerez). Jerez is one of the most interesting wines in the world, as its production methods (aging, in particular) are very different from most of the other wines for two reasons:
1. It is left to purposefully oxidize for many years during the aging process (something winemakers are desperately trying to prevent while making and then storing regular wines).
2. It is constantly blended with the older wines through the method called Solera, sometimes going back for a few hundred years (you can find some additional information about Jerez in this post at The Art of Life Magazine).
During the seminar we tried 8 different wines from Sanlucar – the area which is located close to Jerez, but has more marine influence as it is located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and next to the Guadalquivir River on the right. This location creates unique conditions for Flor – an algae-like film which grows on top of Jerez in the barrel and protects it from oxidation – where Flor can grow all year around (this is the not the case in Jerez, where Flor doesn’t last a full year). Another important factor is Albariza soil, which is a chalk-based, similar to the soil in Champagne, which adds an additional acidity to the wines.
Here are the tasting notes for the wines as we tasted them.
1. Vinicola Hidalgo “La Gitana” Jerez-Xeres-Sherry Manzanilla NV:
Completely unoxidized. The nose of flor, but very clean, nice, beautiful acidity, a hint of white fruit, very dry. Goes well with bocorones, white vinegar cured mackerel.
2. Bodegas Hidalgo Pastrana Manzanilla Pasada – 92 pts (Wine and Spirits): greater intensity on the nose, touch more fruit intensity. Touch of oxidation, aged for about a year. Great with green olives.
3. Vinicola Hidalgo “Napoleon” Jeres-Xers-Sherry Amontillado NV– 90 pts (WA)
same as the first wine, but with oxidation. Very nice, a lot more complexity,
4. Bodegas Hidalgo Jerez Cortado Wellington, VOS +20 years – 91 pts (Wine and Spirits)
Wow – soft, beautiful, but pales out next to number 5
5. Bodegas Hidalgo Wellington Palo Cortado, VORS +30 years
Palo Cortado is the finest example of oxidized sherry. Phenomenal wine, solera started in 1750, soft, smooth, tremendous flavors, nuts, a hint of saltiness, roasted figs – outstanding…
6. Bodegas Hidalgo Faraon Olorosso – 91 pts (WA)
Very nice, soft, smooth,
7. Bodegas Hidalgo Alameda Cream Sherry NV – 91 pts (WA)
Very nice, round, soft, sweet, but balanced enough. some baked apples.
8. Bodegas Hidalgo Pedro Ximenez Viejo Triana:
Wow! Figs, plums, jam, phenomenal concentration on the nose, same on the palate. This is liquid fig jam, balanced, good acidity – outstanding! This is the blend of 100 vintages, through the Solera method. My personal favorite from the tasting.
On the next picture, you can compare the intensity of color between Pedro Ximenez (much darker) and Cream Sherry wines:
And here are the correspondent wines:
All the wines were very good, however I would say that first Manzanilla, then number 5 Palo Cortado and last Pedro Ximenez were my favorites, with Pedro Ximenez being simply unforgettable. Most of these wines are available from the PJ Wine and they are all very affordable.
This was definitely a great experience, and I will be glad to repeat it again (and again). Until the next time – cheers!
P.S. PJ Wine Grand Tasting Event will take place on Friday, November 18th, at Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. If you want to experience 2006 Cheval Blanc, 2000 d’Yquem, 1990 Mouton-Rothschild, 1985 Haut-Brion, 1952 CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva, Krug, Cristal, Dom Perignon and hundreds of other wines – all in one night at one place (!!), don’t miss this event!
Spanish Wine Festival, In Pictures
About 10 days ago, I attended Spanish Wine Festival, organized by PJ Wine in New York. I can give you a summary of the event using only one word: Overwhelming. It is challenging to produce any kind of detailed summary, because there are literally no bad wines in such a well organized tasting event. There are some wines which will leave you indifferent, then there are some which are great, but not ready, and then there is great amount of wines where you go from “wow” to “wow, this is great” and to “wow” again. Therefore, I will simply give you a report in pictures. No, I didn’t get a picture of each and every wine I tried. All the wines shown below are personal favorites, and they are all highly recommended. And the good thing is that PJ Wine regularly carries most of them.
Well, let’s go.
1999 Vega Sicilia Unico and 2000 Vega Sicilia Unico, from Ribera del Duero. These are the wines to be experienced – balanced and luscious:
2006 Clos Mogador, Priorat – powerful and balanced:
Lopez de Heredia Vino Tondonia Rioja – 1976 Gran Reserva, 2000 Rosado and 1993 Blanco: 18 years old White Rioja and 11 years old Rioja Rosado – both are fresh and vibrant. Wow! And Gran Reserva – beautiful and mature wine, which will still keep going for a while.
Bodegas El Nido line, including flagship 2006 El Nido – gorgeous layered and balanced, and requiring another 10 years to really blossom:
Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero, including full Malleolus line – wines of incredible balance and elegance:
More Rioja – Rioja Imperial Gran Reserva 1995 and 1999, as well as CVNE Vina Real Gran Reserva 2001 –
1997 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904, 1995 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 890 and 2001 Vina Ardanza Reserva Especial – probably the best Rioja wines. Period. Classic and amazing.
Representing Toro: 2007 Numanthia and 2007 Termanthia, silky smooth, balanced and powerful:
More Rioja – 2004 Martinez Lacuesta Reserva, great wine from the great year:
Starring Garnacha from Campo de Borja – 2008 Alto Moncayo and 2007 Aquilon – beautiful, soft and spicy:
Jerez, a.k.a. Sherry is coming back – take a note of it. All Barbadillo wines were simply delicious, and Colosia Amontillado was also right in the league:
I would like to thank PJ Wine folks profusely for arranging such an amazing line up of wines for the event. And if I can make a suggestion, myself (and I’m sure, hundreds of other wine lovers) would really enjoy PJ Wine Grand Tasting event in the Fall – we can only hope that PJ Wine will be kind enough to organize one…
About Coffee, Plus Some Updates
Why coffee? 
First, this is the answer to the last “What is it” post – it is actually Kona coffee berries (picture taken at Greenwell Farms in Kona, Hawaii). The reason to chose that picture was simple – I was fascinated by a number of similarities in coffee production and wine making – in both cases I’m talking about very good coffee ( Kona is one of the best coffee types in the world) and very good wines. Coffee berries are picked by hand, and also they are picked selectively – only individual ripe berries are taken from the bunch, and the rest is left to ripen. Coffee beans have their skin removed (sounds familiar?), and then they are left to dry under the sun (same as the grapes used for production of Amarone, one of my favorite wines). Once the coffee beans are dried and cleaned, they are left to rest for at least a month or two, before they will be roasted – and this is the step which is enforced by the years of experience and tradition, and nobody asks for explanations – this have to be done just because it has to be done. Again, the same element of mystery and tradition as in production of a good wine. And last, but not least – complexities of the final beverage. Good coffee, similar to the good wine, has layered complexity and brings a lot of pleasure. Anyway, I will look for more obvious picture for the next “what is it ” game.
Now, let’s talk about updates. First, the Treble certificate from the Wine Century Club has finally arrived! Not that I want to brag, but let me share the picture with you:
‘nuf said – getting to the Quattro level will not be too easy, so don’t expect to see a picture of another certificate any time soon.
Lastly, I’m continuing writing posts for The Art of Life Magazine. Last two posts were in “Forgotten Vines” series, talking about Jerez (Sherry) and Madeira, both wines are hard to find, but worth seeking – you can find posts here and here.
That’s all for now, folks. Cheers!
Expectations…
Last Bottle Sign Up ($10 credit)
Talk-A-Vino 
