Sherry has not really been setting the world alight of late. My parents drink it as if it's going out of fashion which maybe it is but I have to admit that I may be in danger of turning into my parents as I am finding the joys of sherry beckonning me. Somewhere there is a marketing department working like mad to convince us that sherry is actually cool rather than something to keep the O.A.P.s quiet.
My view is that in the world of wine, sherry holds a unique place and one that is worthy of being maintained by attracting a new audience. I am not talking about the commercial brands who compete with each other to hit price points in supermarkets but the unique wines that exist at not that much more money at the upper ends of the market. The fact is that compared with Bordeaux, where the gap that exists between the bog standard wines at the bottom of the market and the rarified heights that the likes of Petrus can achieve, sherry shows a much smaller spread between the ordinary and the extraordinary. Pay two or three times the price of a bottle of supermarket claret and you will get something better but you are still in the lower reaches of the Bordeaux range. Applying the same sort of formula to the world of sherries brings you some wonderful and rare wines. Sherry might just be cool if one considers the value that you can get still for the best bottles.
Having found myself in Spain recently it seemed to make sense to investigate this in a small way. I have never been to a sherry house before and so I was particularly interested to have the chance to go round the cellars of the family owned Hidalgo in Sanlucar de Barrameda. Hidalgo's chief seller is their proprietary brand of Manzanilla La Gitana; so much so that the full name of the company is now Hidalgo la Gitana. There are two chief sources of sherry; one being Jerez and the other being Sanlucar de Barrameda. The wines that are matured in the cellars of Sanlucar are called manzanilla and the distinguishing difference between the two is that Sanlucar de Barrameda is on the coast and so the salty tang that comes from the sea breeze that drifts through the cellars finds its way into the barrels and imparts a salty edge to the wines. This is particularly evident in the light refreshing La Gitana which really does have a distinct flavour that is savoury.
We set about tasting from various barrels, many of which were so ancient that replacing them is a nightmare if they happen to be in the middle of the impressively high stacks which form the solera. There is one barrel conveniently located at ground level with a tap in it that is the workers' barrel. The perk here is that any of the workers can come and draw a small cup when they are in need of refreshment from this barrel. Straight from the barrel this manzanilla had an earthy character and a slightly golden edge to the colour; a mouthfilling fruit with the classic salty tang. I then tasted the wine after it had been bottled as La Gitana and was amazed how much difference the filtration makes. The colour was lighter and the body of the wine too was less intense. Evidently the effects of the flor that grows on top of the wine in barrel and that give it its extraordinary character are so strong that if they do not filter thoroughly at bottling the flor can grow back in the bottle once its opened while the extra colour could give the impression that the wine is no longer fresh and is prematurely aged.
The real stars though await at the end of the tour by which time one is taken into a smaller and even more aged cellar where the wines have been maturing for decades. The entry level for these oldies are the VOS bottlings (Very old sherries) which have a minimum of 20 years in the solera. The degree of intensity these wines achieve is amazing. My favourite was a Palo Cortado cuvee named after one of the original customers : Wellington. Hidalgo managed to play both sides by also selling to Naploeon who is equally honoured by a cuvee bearing his name but either by coincidence or national pride I was drawn to the Wellington.
A Palo Cortado is basically an unplanned accident. Sometimes barrels that are intended to be an Amontillado will run out of the protective layer of flor and will develop into something between an Amontillado and an Oloroso. In the case of the Wellington solera the result is a perfect pre dinner drink with a wonderfully dry finish but allied to notes that normally describe richer wines, nutty and with an orangey edge but refined and tangy. The perfect way to awaken an appetite.
Impressive though the 20 year old wine was, this too was but an aperitif preceeding the top wines which are the Viejo VORS or "old very old rare sherry". These are the first growth equivalents of the sherry world where the wines have a minimum 30 years age before they are released from their barrels and bottled for sale. The extraordinary thing about this bit of the tasting is that the wines have great richness and complexity but remain clean. The word tangy kept appearing in my tasting notes but alongside christmas cake comparisons and nutty edges. It's a neat trick to fool the mind into thinking that what you are about to taste will be rich and fruity but for the palate to then finish completely dry. The Palo Cortado performs this conjuring trick in spectaular fashion with the nose promising sweetness with caramel, figs and nuts but the palate then takes you in a totally different direction with citrus and fresh fruits leaving the mouth enlivened. The most impressive thing though is the sheer complexity and length of the finish. Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate agreed too giving this cuvee 97 points.
One more thing that I learnt while visiting the bodega is why so little sherry is sold as a vintage wine. The 1986 Oloroso that is the only vintage currently on offer started life as 9 barrels when it was vinified in 1986. By the time it came to bottling and selling it recently this had shrunk to a mere 3 barrels worth. The angels seem to have taken more than their fair share of this through evaporation. One can see why it makes more sense to use the normal solera system to top up barrels when the rate of attrition is that intense.
Maybe I'll just give up the struggle, realise that I am turning into my parents after all and sit back and enjoy the benefits that that brings.
Please click here to view Farr Vintners' current range of Sherry
