UKBG Thames Valley and South West Area
The UKBG Thames Valley & South West Area trip to Jerez, Spain, to learn all about sherry.
Lie back and think of Spain and what comes to mind? Sunshine. Sea. Sherry. Jerez. Tio Pepe. Harvey Bristol Cream. As the group discovered, there is more to Andalucia than the palate can ever experience.
Armand Fasola is full of good ideas and this visit to Spain was one of his best.
Eighteen UKBG members keen to know more about sherry caught an Easyjet flight to Jerez (it wasn’t as late as their BA aircraft on their last big trip to Portugal!) and discovered the beauty of the area where some of the world’s best sherries come from.
Francesco Oglialoro, Mateo Lusano, Sebastin Guillou, Giani Albanese, John Deegan, Morgan Fubiani, Davide Trupia, Salim Kourhy, Peter Roger, Terry O’Brien, David Goldsmith, Valeria Rodriguea, Fabien Garrigues, Jorge Gertrude, Peter Savage, Mirko Falconi and Jacky Vanille accompanied Armand on this exploration of Jerez culture.
The first visit was to Beam Wine Estates’s Bodegas Harvey Bristol founded in 1796, where they were met by the gracious hostess, Mary Dowdall and also commercial director Beltran Domecq. (Harveys Bristol Cream sherry is the world’s best-selling sherry. By the 1860s, a rich, dark sherry, Harveys Bristol Milk was much admired. Harveys was in the process of introducing an even finer wine when, as the story goes, an aristocratic lady visiting the cellars was given a taste of the new blend. She was much impressed and declared, "If that be Milk, then this is Cream." And so was named the blend destined to become the world’s favorite sherry and the first in a new category: Cream Sherry.)
The second day visit was to Bodegas Gutierrez-Colosia, Sanlucas de Barrameda and Boedgas Herederos Arqueso, then Bodegas Sanches Romate (where they have the oldest cellars and the newest bottling plant), sponsored by the UK company Eaux de Vie, with Bruce Perry as amiable host.
The third day involved a trip to Bodegas Gonzáles Byass (Tio Pepe’s home) where Andrew Sinclair from the UK and Spanish host Oriana Abbondanza greeted the touring bartenders. A visit to Emilio Lustau in Jerez was also arranged. The final visit was to Bodegas Hidalgo-La Gitana, sponsored by Mentzendorff, and hosted by Timothy Holt.
Tastings were arranged at each vineyard, and the UKBG gave a demonstration of individual bartender’s skills, making a cocktail using sherry. The aim of these trips is to provide more information on all products available. As with all grape products the soil and the local weather have an effect on the final product. A field trip emphasised these criteria, and a introduction to the Solera system were both educational.
Monday and Tuesday evenings were spent at a restaurant where several flamenco dancers introduced a true flavour of Spain. An over-indulgence of frivolity meant some bartenders were not able to easily wake up the next morning but they lived to taste another day.
