ICONIC TASTE
Sherry
Wednesday
34
E
very Wednesday, at 3pm the cry “Sherry Wednesday!” rises from my lips. It’s an afternoon treat that’s become a ritual whether I’m at home or settling into a dreamy corner exploring the world. I realised late in life that I wasn’t drinking enough sherry – and while this may sound like a good problem to have, when you consider that sherry is the best value and most underrated fine wine on the planet, there’s no time to lose. Just a few weeks ago, strolling through a golden sunset in Jerez, I found myself meandering by monuments, crumbling alleys, civic squares and birds chasing the light. I’d spent a blissful day in the company of one of my wine heroes, Antonio Flores, the cellar master at González Byass. His life is woven into the bodega, infused with the serenity of the barrel halls where the sandy floor feels like soft fudge underfoot and the roof is so dark and tall that it feels like dawn and dusk have finally settled their differences and built a home together in the sky. The signatures of dignitaries and Hollywood legends adorn the
With a rich heritage and an abundance of flavour, there is much to enjoy about the complex taste of sherry as Olly Smith discovers
shadowy barrels. Spielberg is there, Roger Moore over here. And look, is that… Orson Welles? I ask Antonio his first memory of the winery. He points towards a little arched door that would look at home in the cloisters of Ely Cathedral. “I remember my father once left that door open and I ran through the barrels, I’ve never looked back”. He was three years old. Born on the premises, Antonio is a senior player in the world of wine at the peak of the sherry triangle and training his daughter, Silvia, in the art of blending. For that’s the core of sherry. In wine, we talk about terroir – the ‘somewhereness’ of the drink that makes it unique. We speak less about the human hand in that ‘somewhereness’ and in the case of Antonio, there’s a sense in which he is the bodega – in the same way that a great chef knows his recipes backwards and instinctively moves through the kitchen, indivisible from the moment. In the case of sherry, the landscape plays a vital role, with the chalky albariza soil gleaming through the grapes – whether bright Palomino, fruity Pedro
iconicluxuryhotels.com
Ximénez or scented Moscatel. The thing is, with the combination of aging and fractional blending, sherry relies more than any other wine on the invisible aspect of its ‘somewhereness’. To weave the best bottles into being, the most crucial element of all is time. And it’s well worth the wait. Let’s take flavours first. Whether you’re a fan of a dry Martini or a wedge of juicy fruitcake, there’s a sherry for you. Manzanilla and Fino are the dry light ones – serve chilled with olives or savoury nibbles. Pedro Ximénez is sweeter than treacle, which I love to sip with Christmas pud, while Amontillado and Oloroso are the nuttier tangier ones that I adore for their unique and provocative complexity. But you can taste all the styles of sherry and decide all that for yourself. Right now, I want to take you back to the bodega in dusky Jerez. I am there, whispering and chuckling with Antonio as we blend Las Palmas – the top bottles of González Byass. These four bottlings are named palmas after the chalk strike made by the cellarmaster on the barrels. In this case, one to four denotes the level of richness,
