SPECIAL REPORT Sherry Ben Narasin
Nothing stands out to a jaded gastronome like the sublime combination of a new wine discovery and a perfect pairing. Sherry is uniquely capable of providing such an epiphany, whether in its bone-dry or its lusciously sweet form. A taste of Sherry, wrapped in rich history and lore, can create an awakening that will linger in the memory of a dining guest long after the distinctive finish of the wine has faded.
JEREZ AND SHERRY
True Sherry originates from the bodegas of the Sherry Triangle—defined by the towns of Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa María, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda—on the Atlantic coast of southwestern Spain. There, quiet stone buildings breathe gently like sleeping giants, their vaulted ceilings filled with tradition. Ancient wooden doors sway with the winds, while sea breezes lift and settle dried-esparto-grass mats covering the open holes that serve as both windows and air-conditioning. With each breath, as the mats lift, the sunlight offers a glimpse of dense clay floors and blackened American oak barrels stacked high in towering, ancient soleras. “The older, the better,” says Javier Hidalgo, owner of Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana. “Many are older than your country.” The same is often true of the fiercely proud families who make the wines: Hidalgo’s family sold Sherry to both Napoleon and Wellington.
Despite the importance of family heritage, Sherry producers tend to follow their own distinct approaches, making it difficult to establish a consistent Denominación de Orígen (DO). “You have the rules of the DO, but in the bodega, each does different things,” says Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Colosía of Bodegas Gutiérrez Colosía. As with Port and Champagne, while the names Jerez and Sherry (an old British mispronunciation of “Jerez”) have gained broad international protection, the Spanish are constantly fighting to convince Americans that so-called Sherry produced in the United States is not real Sherry. According to César Saldaña, director general of the Consejo Regulador, Sherry’s regulating body, marketing and distribution can also be challenging: “Depending on which market we are in, you will find Sherry to be a different thing—a nightmare for a marketing person.”
SHERRY PRODUCTION
Virtually all Sherries are made by the solera method, which maintains the signature character of each bodega by always retaining some portion of the historic wine in the final blend. Whenever wine is removed from the oldest (lowest) row of the solera for bottling, it is replenished in consecutive levels from the barrels just above (in height and age), and new wine is added to the topmost (youngest) row. Some of the component wine in the final blends of older soleras may be more than a century old, although there is seldom an indication of age on the bottle due to the continual blending. In rare instances, a barrel will be set aside, independent of the solera, to become a vintage Sherry; these barrels are sealed with wax and left untouched until they are bottled.
All Sherries are fortified. As long as the alcohol level is below 15.5%, a layer of yeast known as the flor (“flower”) will form on the surface, protecting the wine from oxygen. As the wine moves through the solera system, the addition of new wine feeds the flor and allows more of the yeast to grow. When the alcohol exceeds 15.5%, however, the flor cannot develop, and the wine must be aged through controlled oxidation.
“Combining the two processes, you can get thousands of different types of wines,” says Fernando Hidalgo, export manager of Emilio Hidalgo. Although there are many styles of Sherry, nearly all made from the white Palomino grape, they can generally be divided into two categories: extremely dry or extremely sweet. “We don’t work medium,” says Borja Leal, assistant area manager of Bodegas Sánchez Romate. A few export-focused products, however, like Cream Sherry, fall in between.
DRY STYLES
Fino
Fino is the youngest and palest Sherry, aged entirely under the velo de flor, typically for two years. A few bodegas continue to age their Finos before bottling by refreshing the soleras with new wine, thus creating “old” Finos.
“The first cup of Sherry always is Fino,” says Leal. “You get a little bit hungry—it’s good for the palate.” In Spain, a tulip of Fino (the traditional shape of a Sherry glass) is “usually a drink with tapas,” he notes. But its perfect match is seafood: raw, cooked, or smoked, there’s little of Poseidon’s bounty that can’t be paired with dry Sherry. A Fino’s salinity makes it as fitting a tribute to a selection of fresh oysters as you’ll find. The nose often calls to mind a receding tide, complete with iodine from the seaweed and salt from the ocean spray. Manzanilla, a special category of Fino made only in the seaside town of Sanlúcar, and Sherry from Santa María both display distinct oceanic elements. “You can feel the sea in all our wines,” says Gutiérrez Colosía, whose bodega is in Santa María. Unfortunately, Sherry is not often recommended with seafood in American restaurants.
Another combination popular in Spain, but virtually nonexistent in the United States, is Fino with eggs. Marché in Menlo Park, Calif., offers a coddled egg on salad, with optional jamón ibérico shavings, that pairs exceptionally with the three Emilio Lustau Sherries the restaurant offers by the glass. The softness of the egg offsets the crisp dryness of the Sherry, and the flavors play well together.
Cured meats are a staple Spanish pairing for Sherry, which makes the growing popularity of salumi in America yet another reason for offering Sherries by the glass. On the other end of the menu, the firm texture and saltiness of aged Manchego cheeses are a perfect foil for the feathery-dry, iodine-laced characteristics of these wines.
Amontillado and Oloroso
The more robust and developed dry Sherries stand up to heartier dishes and are often paired accordingly in Spain. Amontillado is a Fino Sherry that, upon completion of its maturation, is fortified above the 15.5% alcohol level and moved to a new solera to continue aging oxidatively. A darker color and more nuanced flavors result from the added complexity of time and oxidation. Amontillado is typically served, “of course, with meat,” says Gutiérrez Colosía. It works well with smoked salmon, ham, cheese, and waterfowl, or even poured on top of game soup.
Oloroso is a Fino, typically from the second press, that follows the oxidative path (without flor) from the start. A few producers have begun selling Oloroso dulce, which is more truly Cream Sherry: a blend of Oloroso and sweet Sherry. A dry Oloroso works well with meat and robust cheeses (particularly Roquefort and Manchego), but the best Oloroso pairing is with jamón ibérico. Javier Hidalgo recommends both Amontillado and Oloroso with “beef cheeks, fried eggs, heavy meats, game, oxtail, trotters, and old, dry cheese.” But even difficult-to-pair foods, such as Asian cuisine, artichokes, asparagus, and vegetable dishes, can be matched with these dry Sherries.
Palo Cortado
Historically, Palo Cortado was a Sherry with characteristics of both Amontillado and Oloroso: “Amontillado in the nose, Oloroso in the mouth,” according to Leal. Barrels with these characteristics are marked to be pulled from the line and aged independently. Occasionally, a new wine considered good enough to be a Fino is aged oxidatively in an effort to make a Palo Cortado from the outset. Being a special beast, Palo Cortado is best enjoyed on its own, but its nutty quality makes it a good pairing with “roast almonds and walnuts,” says Javier Hidalgo.
SWEET STYLES
Pedro Ximénez
Pedro Ximénez (PX) is made from grapes of the same name (in legend, at least, a descendant of Riesling) that was once used extensively to sweeten dry Sherries. Although PX is gradually being supplanted by the more resistant Palomino in Jerez, extensive plantings still exist in its traditional home, Montilla-Moriles, east of Jerez near Cordova.
To make the dessert form of PX, the grapes are dried in the sun on esparto-grass mats, thus concentrating their sugar and flavors. The result is a dark, thick, viscous fluid rich in scents of raisin and caramel. Even a modestly priced PX Sherry (and Sherry is so underappreciated that the values are almost laughable) makes a superb combination with a rich chocolate dessert. There’s a reason children flock to chocolate and raisins in all their various movie and candy-aisle forms, and a molten-chocolate cake with a glass of PX is no less alluring to the child in all of us. If you’re feeling really decadent, pour the PX over vanilla ice cream.
As an alternative to Port or Madeira, PX stands up well on its own. “PX can and should be offered ‘solo’ for dessert,” says Frank Klein, co-owner of San Francisco’s Fish & Farm resturant. “On our dessert list, under the dessert items, we always have one ‘Drink Your Dessert’ category and put a PX in there.”
In addition, the sweetness of the wine contrasts well with the saltiness of cheese; a pairing with a rich, marbled blue cheese can be a special treat. According to Klein, “PX is great with cheeses, honeyed nuts, ‘burnt’ dessert, or a semisweet dessert that isn’t citrus-based.”
Moscatel
Moscatel (Muscat) grapes are dried in the sand to make a dessert Sherry that is slightly lighter in color and viscosity than PX, more fruit-forward and fresher, without the raisined notes. For a different take on the meal’s final match, consider a luscious Moscatel with bread pudding, tarte tatin, or a custard dessert. Marché offers a croissant bread pudding, topped with caramelized apples and cream, that pairs hand-in-glove with Moscatel.
Cream Sherry
Sweeten an Oloroso with PX, and you get the hybrid known as Cream Sherry. These Sherries, originally designed for the British sweet tooth, are currently marketed (under new DO rules) as Pale Cream, Medium, and Cream varieties.
Like PX, any sweet Sherry offered by the glass can stand in for dessert. Some Spaniards even add it to their coffee.
Drinking Sherry is drinking history and pride. “The savory flavors in Sherry make for a great starter drink,” says Klein, “as an icebreaker to toast the start of a meal. Sherry ends up being a great ending to the meal as well.” Sommeliers who convey the heritage of Sherry to their clients can surprise and delight them, leaving them with aromas and flavors that linger in their memory long after the wine’s finish.