#newwinethisweek Week 22 – Fino Sherry, Jerez
To coincide with International Sherry Week, Mike has decided to plump for Fino as this week’s selection…
http://pleasebringmemywine.com/2014/06/03/nwtw-week-22-fino-sherry-from-jerez/
It’s a funny old thing sherry; as much maligned as it is adored. I must be honest that I am not a big fan but I haven’t really tried a great deal of the stuff either so I’m willing to learn (though I do love a glass of Pedro Ximinez with a piece of cheesecake after last autumn’s visit to San Sebastian!).
There are many wine aficionados who swear by it, no more than the massively talented Zelda Sydney, who writes (or should that be draws?) the magnificent Illustrated Wine blog; in fact she loves it so much so that she has created a great new piece to coincide with our sherry week:
http://theillustratedwine.wordpress.com/2014/05/31/fino-manzanilla-abridged-condensed/
Sherry is made principally using the Palomino grape grown near the town of Jerez in Andalusia, Spain (Pedro Ximenez or Moscatel grapes are added to make the sweeter styles). It is a fortified wine that can be made in a great variety of styles.
The Palomino grapes are harvested and pressed before the juice is fermented in stainless steel vats to produce a dry white wine with 11% to 12% alcohol. The wine is classified after fermentation; if the wine has fine flavours and aromas it is deemed suitable for Fino (or Manzanilla in the cooler climate of Anlúcar de Barrameda). The base wine is then fortified with grape spirit to reach 15.5% and the wine is placed into under-filled barrels to age for a minimum of two years, where a flor (a layer of yeast) develops to protect the wine from too much oxidation.
This style of sherry should be drunk young and apparently in a single sitting (!) and you should expect a bone-dry wine with yeasty, salty flavours and notes of Mediterranean herbs and almonds.
But that’s enough theory; here are some wines that are easily available:
Tesco Finest Fino Sherry (Tesco £6.00, 500ml)
Waitrose Manzanilla Fino Sherry (Waitrose £6.99, 750ml)
M&S Fino Dry Sherry (M&S £6.99, 750ml)
The Society’s Fino (The Wine Society £6.25)
Have a sip and follow the link to pleasebringmemywine.com to place your vote!
You can see the full #newwinethisweek leaderboard here.
Posted on June 3, 2014, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Confessions of a Wine Geek
Sherry is one of the geekiest alcoholic beverages, and it is a lot of acquired taste. Looking forward to your posts!
I will be truly objective and will give it the very best chance!
As most of you know, Sherry isn’t really my thing… But that is the point of #newwinethisweek; to try new things and to gives oaths another chance. I went of the Tesco Finest Fino at £6 for a 500ml bottle.
Everyone keeps telling me that you have to drink Fino with food, so we went for good old tapas. Some salted almonds, cured meats, fabulous anchovies in vinegar and wonderful Manchego cheese. I tried the wine before eating anything and I was reminded why I don’t get on with sherry; there were none if the apples, lemons that were advertised on the label, just a wine with a delightfully fresh texture but a very dry palate with flavours of grapes and nuts. Full stop. The food certainly rounded the flavours out but I was left with a hot finish and far too much alcohol.
I really appreciate the intellectual properties of sherry and the work that goes into it, but I don’t enjoy it and feel I am drinking it for the sake of it, as opposed to the love of it. In truth, I was so glad I had my emergency bottle of Albariño to hand… The acidity and fruit was a breath of fresh air… Sorry Fino! 5/10
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