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.