Gourmet Guide - a la carte
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1.
Federweißer – New Wine with Lots of Flavour
The wine harvest just coming to a close bestows us not only new wine ...read more
2.
Harvesting Cava in Penedès
Once the grapes are fully ripe at the end of August ...read more
3.
Punches – fruity thirst-quenchers
Along with summer comes thirst – and the time for punches ...read more
4.
Noilly Prat – more than just an aperitif
It is used extensively in making sauces because it goes well with fish ...read more
5.
Beer – a very special juice
Hardly any drink is as versatile and old as beer ...read more
6.
Sake – Diversity of Aromas
"Good sake is like the water of a pure mountain spring,” say the Japanese ...read more
7.
Eco wine – mystic power plants
In this era of globalization increasing ...read more
8.
Hope at the Cape
In spite of a century-old tradition, many successful periods ...read more
9.
Model pupil from the Languedoc
No wine coming from the family of the Baroness Philippine de Rothschild ...read more
10.
Vineland South Tyrol
For a long time wine from South Tyrol (Trentino Alto Adige) had a bad name ...read more
11.
Portugal’s red wines – moving up to the top
“Every Portuguese has his vineyard”, goes the saying in Portugal ...read more
12.
Franciacorta – effervescent Italy
Franciacorta is to Italy what Champagne is to France ...read more
13.
Prosecco – the sparkling Italian
A summer without Prosecco? Inconceivable ...read more
14.
Sherry – proud and elegant
It is as pale as straw and young, or as dark as toffee ...read more
15.
A place with plenty of time
In Lynchburg, Tennessee, bourbon is being made the same way ...read more
16.
Things are happening in Languedoc-Roussillon
Almost 40 per cent of French wine comes from the Mediterranean region of Languedoc-Roussillon ...read more

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DRINKING STORY
Sherry – proud and elegant
Sherry – proud and elegant
It is as pale as straw and young, or as dark as toffee and very mature, bone dry or creamily sweet. It can be drunk as an aperitif but also as a digestif. And yet sherry is still one of the most underrated quality wines in the world.


Sherry was “invented” by enterprising English merchants in the 16th century. To stop the Spanish white wine deteriorating during its long sea voyage from Cádiz to London they mixed in a little brandy. Well into the 19th century this drink was very popular in Great Britain. Queen Victoria was accustomed to drinking daily a glass of golden Domecq sherry with her lunch.


Sherry comes from the Andalusian province of Cádiz in south-west Spain. The countryside in the triangle between the towns of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda bears a resemblance to the Champagne region east of Rheims. The vines stretch out in endless rows across gently undulating hills like sand dunes of white, chalky soil rich in clay.

Fino, the pale
The basis for Fino sherry is a rather non-descript white wine made largely from Palomino grapes blended with a little Moscatel. After fermentation in the barrel a small amount of alcohol is added – which is the start of something exciting: gradually a creamy, greyish yellow skin of yeast forms on the surface called flor (“flower” in Spanish). This membrane seals the wine from the air, keeping it from oxidizing, and imbues the Fino with its characteristic lightly salty taste of bitter almonds.

The solera system
The barrels in the cellars of the sherry bodegas are stacked in layers of three or four. The topmost barrels, called criadero (nursery), hold the youngest wine. Maturing in the barrels at the bottom, called solera, is the oldest. Once or twice a year 20 to 30 per cent of the wine in the solera barrels is removed for bottling. The barrels are then replenished with wine from the next row of barrels above these, which in turn are topped up with wine from the barrels above them, and so on, until new wine is added to the top row of barrels.

Oloroso, the dark
Oloroso sherry is made without flor yeast. Immediately after fermentation it is fortified with brandy to attain 18% alcohol and then matured in contact with air. It is this oxidation process that gives it its deep caramel hue and spicy taste of dried fruits. Since evaporation annually removes two to three per cent of its volume Oloroso can contain over 23% alcohol. Old, well-matured Olorosos count as the most exquisite and expensive of all sherry types.