CHEAP and CLASSIC - Sherry Wine
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2024
- Support me on my PATREON: / konstantinbaum
Follow me on ...:
/ konstantinbaum_mw
www.threads.net/@konstantinba...
/ konstantinbaum_mw
Check out my website:
www.konstantinbaum.com/
baumselection.com/
I use this wine key: Forge de Laguiole Ebony
I have used this glass in this Video: Riedel Veritas Champagne
I have tasted the following wines in this Video:
Gonzalez Byass Tio Pepe Fino Muy Seco Sherry, Andalucia, Spain
www.wine-searcher.com/find/go...
2018 Bodegas Luis Perez 'La Barajuela' Cortado Sherry, Andalucia, Spain
www.wine-searcher.com/find/lu...
Barbadillo 'Principe de Barbadillo' VORS 30 Anos Amontillado Sherry, Andalucia, Spain
www.wine-searcher.com/find/ba...
Lustau 'Solera Reserva' Dry Oloroso Don Nuno Sherry, Andalucia, Spain
www.wine-searcher.com/find/lu...
Cream Classic Fernando de Castilla Sherry, Andalucia, Spain
www.wine-searcher.com/find/fe...
Gutierrez Colosia Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Andalucia, Spain
www.wine-searcher.com/find/gu...
The 100 Point Scoring System (from www.robertparker.com):
96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 - 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 - 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 - 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 - 69: A below-average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 - 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.
It is the wine you either love or hate, one of the most unique and historic wine styles, and on top of that it is also usually a real Bargain.
Sherry has a very long history and even though the region started producing wine a couple of thousand years ago, the wines are still often misunderstood. I just recently traveled to Jerez - the heart of the Sherry production - so today we are going to dive deep into the wine that has some salivating and some wrinkling their nose.
I wasn’t aware of how rich the history of Andalusia is, but the region has some of the oldest evidence of human civilization in Europe.
The city of Cadiz is the oldest still standing city in Western Europe and the Andalusia was the starting point for Christopher Columbus’s voyages to America.
Trade and Sea Travel were also an important factor in the development of the region’s favorite wine: Sherry.
Winemaking in this area started in 1100 BC when the Phoenicians arrived and when it soon after became an important trading hub the wine became an indispensable factor of keeping the crew entertained on long voyages.
Sherry developed a reputation for aging well and that was important at a time before Chateau Bottling when wine was transported for months or even years in barrels.
The name is another sign of its reliance on export markets as it is an English corruption of the name of the city of Jerez. England was and continues to be a very important market for the wine.
When I walked through Jerez, visiting the wineries it was evident that Sherry used to be a product of national pride making the producers rich during the times of boom. At Gonzalez Byass, for example, I got to see the pavilion and rooms that were built especially for the visit of the Spanish queen.
But there were ups and downs in the history of Sherry and currently, the wine is probably better than ever but not in very high demand.
There are several different styles of Sherry and we will taste a broad selection of them today. All of them are fortified by the addition of alcohol and matured in old wooden barrels - the so-called Solera - for an extended period.
An important difference between the styles is the activity of a yeast, referred to as flor. Flor can grow on wine when it is stored in a barrel and not filled to the top. The yeast grows in the headspace of the barrel and forms a layer on the wine.
From my perspective, forever a wine of Spanish romance, linked to that evening in 1972 when I and my companion wandered through the gates of the (now vanished) Rafael O'Neill bodegas in Jerez and were met by a woman of a certain age. She extended her hospitality, escorted us through the premises, and turned out to be the owner, a descendant of the eponymous Rafael O'Neill, an Elizabethan adventurer.
She offered that I should represent a line of her wine in England, but I was too new to Spain (and England) and too poor to respond to the offer. But (though it shocked me on first tasting) sherry had made its mark. When I tipped back that first glass of amontillado manzanilla under the awnings of the beach restaurant in Sanlucar, with a freshly killed shark lying on the sand outside the back door, I was a lifetime convert.
Sherry is such an underrated and undervalued wine. Like most people in the UK 🇬🇧, my introduction to Sherry was with wines like Bristol Cream - mist often produced by the oldies at family gatherings. Then about 10 - 12 years ago I tried the real things and fell in love with their different styles.
Such a food friendly drink, there is a Sherry for pretty much every course of a meal. My favourite combinations are Fino or Manzanilla En Rama (unfiltered & straight from the cask) with shellfish or dry cured meats (particularly Lomo cut straight from the tenderloin), Palo Cortado with well hung game in a casserole or pot roast or with Tandoori Chicken and well aged Oloroso with a good, rich lamb curry or chilli con carne.
Completely agree. Sherry is the best food partner with any meal. I will say this; Harvey's make a lot of money out of Bristol Cream and it's a tasty little sherry for the money and loved by the masses. Don't let that put you off Harvey's because their top end stuff is superb. The Amontillado VORS is a particular favourite and still great value. The Oloroso and Palo are cut with a drop of PX but still superb. However, I adore that pure Amontillado VORS which has won a barrel of awards. I love Valdespino too but their VORS is twice the price. Harvey's regular Pando fino is worth a try as well.
Of note is the pending (maybe approved by now?) removal of the requirement for fortification if the wine can reach 15% or 17% ABV (depending on final style) through natural fermentation.
Wines from Jerez you shouldn’t really treat them like wine, but like medicine, the real impact of this golden gift is not at the palate but into the heart, when you drink Jerez you become a better person, your spirit goes higher and you feel really life is something you are not as a human being able to decifre
I love the punishing bone dry austerity of a good Fino or Manzanilla. Also would put Tio Pepe a notch or two higher - phenomenal quality given the huge production. Also enjoy La Gitana and almost forgot to mention the En Ramas... Love the highly knowledgeable presentation on this channel. Kudos.
I love sherry. Thanks for doing an episode on this wonderful fortified wine that is great to sip and great to cook with and great to sip while cooking with it.
I love Sherry especially Fino & Manzanilla. We drink SMALL glasses with outdoor lunch of olives, cheese, serrano ham - magic! PX is perfect dribbled over VG vanilla ice cream. I drank a lot of camomile tea in Spain while I tried again and again to perfect my pronunciation. It turns out VINO Manzanilla gets you the Sherry, just Manzanilla gets you tea! As a passionate lover of wine, I much enjoy your videos, and appreciate your time and skill in making them, thanks!
"Copita de manzanilla" 🙂
I.e., if you specify it's a glass you should get the wine
@@jonikaranka3393 Thanks, Vino did work for me, but Copita de … is better!
And if you want the tea, say "una infusión de manzanilla."@@jonikaranka3393
An advice: if you only start with wine tasting and doubt if you wish to spend 30+ euros for Vin Jaune from Jura, try frist any Fino or Manzanilla for 5-10€. You'll get almost similar style and aromas for only third of the price :)
I love sherry, I've been drinking it for years. For everyday drinking I like wines from El Maestro, Barbadillo and Alvear (from Montilla).
For special occasions I have a few very old bottles from Valdespino and Manuel de Argüeso, which I bought in the 1980s and some more recent exotica from Equipo Navazos.
I'm also no lover of sweet sherries - too many memories of my father's Bristol Cream! - but an eye-opener over Christmas was Lustau's East India Solera. A seriously good sweet(ish) oloroso, it tastes of leather, walnuts and cedar wood and is only half the sweetness of a typical sweet sherry. My wife (who has a notoriously sweet tooth for wine) described it as "a wine which tastes as though it was sweet but isn't anymore". She didn't mean it as a compliment, but what the heck does she know? I immediately bought six bottles of it. Not for everyday, but definitely a lovely winter tipple.
I think the screwcap on the PX makes sense. One isn't liable to drink an entire bottle at a sitting if there are less than five or six who are dining. Consequently, being able to reseal the bottle seems like a smart idea. I am mystified at the insistence on cork when screwcaps are so much more practical. By the way, PX sherry is great on vanilla ice cream.
I recently did a Spanish tasting and had a PX to end the night. We served it with vanilla ice cream and recommended to pour it over the ice cream, as is apparently traditional. People loved it. You need a big group of people as you need so little.
PX should be consumed with vanilla ice cream! That's my 2nd favorite combination after the ice cream with Eierlikör.
Love it. There's almost nothing better than having a chilled bone-dry Fino and some Bellota Ham 10:30 in the Morning in Andalucia
My favourite is missing ! A half bottle of fresh lemon pale Manzanilla with a plate of local prawns or fried anchovies on the narrow sand beach in Sanlucar is sensational and the heart beat of Andalucia.
Luckily I’m within ( long ) driving distance and never tire of trying all the styles except PX .
Palo Cortado and Manzanilla pasada are exceptional and in winter the Olorosos are perfect .
Enjoyed your take on our treasures.
You hit the nail on the head. Good Manzanilla with those incredible Sanlucar prawns is one of the great sensory pleasures on the planet. Even the most expensive wine cannot beat a modestly priced Manzanilla or Fino with that combination.
at a whiskey distillery tour I was told in some cases the barrel is sold for significantly more than the value of the sherry made in it, due to the low demand of sherry
That's a tragedy for the Sherry producers. Though good news for my wallet. 🤔
Goes a long way to explain the recent explosion of Scotch finished in Malaga, Madeira, white wine, red wine, crude oil barrels. Sorry strike that last one... 🙄
Read once that since Whiskey replaced Sherry as the drink of choice for the British aristocracy, total Sherry production almost collapsed until Whiskey producers realized that the barrels made excellent aging vessels; leading to the the industry's greatest rival essentially becoming its new lifeblood, since Sherry production started making its money on the barrels instead of the wine itself.
Most of the sherry barrels used now by whiskey makers is only “seasoned” with sherry, primarily Oloroso, due to the stated higher demand for whiskey than sherry. That seasoning wine will never be drank.
Surely
@@ramackayit would be cool to have the wine used for the whisky.
Best home tasting I've done was getting five bottles of Amontillados by different producers and getting together with friends. So many different takes of flor / salinity and oxidative aging!
I can also strongly recommend tasting Manzanilla, Manzanilla Pasada, a young Amontillado (like Delgado Zuleta's) and a slightly older Amontillado from Sanlúcar. You get the full transition from under flor aging to gradually increasing oxidation. Delicious and eye opening!
Sherry lover here. I like all the styles (due to the diversity of expressions and the complexity of production I think Sherry is among the most advanced wines to fully appreciate) but as you said Konstantin, the sweet styles tend to excite me less.
However, last night for dessert we were served a chocolate mudpie with vanilla ice cream. The wine pairing was a Malmsey Madeira. Now I am a Madeira lover as well, but this wine was just too thin and not sweet enough to stand up to the dish. The Somm came by and asked how everything was. I candidly said the Madeira didn't quite work and suggested a PX would have been ideal. She smiled and came back with some El Maestro Sierra PX and it truly was the right vino for the dish!
Px sherry is my favorite sherry. Super sweet
PX for me is just a syrup you can pour one teaspoon over a bowl of icecream :)
I was going to comment the same thing! I quite enjoy a bit of PX on top of my ice cream
Kudos for spreading a good (and honest) word on sherry. Definitely not mainstream these days.
Bodegas Tradicion makes some unbelievable VORS wines.
I have only discovered these wines in recent years... and I am a Spaniard! They are not so popular outside of Andalucia. But I absolutely love them. And they have such a distinctive profile different from every other wine that it is a really exciting world to discover. So much that it is becoming my favorite type of white wine. Unfortunately, as in the video, my wife does not like them (except the occasional PX for dessert) so I do not have too many chances to enjoy vinos de Jerez. Thank you for the video
Hello my friend. I'm a Welshman (Gales) but I first visited Spain in 1982 and my Spanish wife and have been a thing for 28 years. Family homes in Bilbao and Valladolid and our own little place Malaga. Travelled all over the country. What you say is true. I once visited a Flamenco bar in Valladolid and asked for a fino but they didn't have a single bottle. I said I would buy one for them but they told me if I came back next year it would still be there. Amazing. It's not always sold throughout Andalucia. Outside of Cadiz and Cordoba it's a tough proposition. My Spanish parents in law only like Cream. PX pudding wine in restaurants but no mention of aged Amontillado and excellent value. Perez Barquero's stunning Montilla Gran Barquero 25 year Amontillado is a must buy in Spain. How good is just a regular Barbadillo for under $10 euros? I could go on. WT
PX? As others have indicated, it is great just poured over ice cream. A rather alcohol sherry trifle (or a cuppa inglese) would also be an option. It may technically be a wine but not really like any other so special solutions are required.
Thanks for this clip - sherry is a fascinating drink and great value.
Fino is the best possible accompaniment for sushi.
Have never tasted Sherry, and your umami remarks have me now so pumped; I’m already searching to order from the neighbours in Spain!
One of my best friends is from Jerez and I've been very lucky to be introduced by her family to different styles of sherry right at the source. It's incredible value for money. Fun fact about the naming: manzanilla does mean camomile, however we also have "aceitunas en manzanilla" which just means olives in brine, so the manzanilla sherry actually refers to the dryness and saltiness of the brine used to cure olives. I hope this helps! Also... I find PX way too sweet but if you cut it with some fino and something sparkling (soda water, sparkling wine whatever), a slice of orange and some ice it makes for a delicious spritz
Im from Cadiz im curious why you didnt try Palo Cortado wine. it is my favourite style of sherry with manzanilla. Great video
As a wine AND whisky lover this video is very much to my liking! Thanks! Great content as always, Konstantin :)
Sherry = Best bang for the buck. Ever. Love it. The Solera-Brandys are excellent (and affordable) as well.
I love Sherry. Almost all the dry styles.
I love all styles of dry and naturally sweet Sherry. I don't much care for the sweetened styles.
I will say, PX *needs* food. On its own, it's hard to get over the really high (like 45% high) RS, but with a decadent dessert (or as a topping on some ice cream) it can be really great!
For me sherry is the most underrated wine style. I get that it’s sort of an acquired taste but I really feel bad for someone who claims they don’t like it. Good ones can be unbelievably profound and complex.
Wow the VORS definitely isn’t cheap 😂. But it sounds amazing. Manzanilla one of my favourite wine styles and is having a resurgence in trendy wine bars in Melbourne where I live (make of that what you will).
I've liked sherry for decades. Tio Pepe, and Dry Sack slightly chilled are very civilized.
An Oloroso also makes a fantastic deglaze for French onion soup.
Yes! I make my French onion soup w/Oloroso too!
I love all sherry styles, honestly. I was quite disappointed in how low it's fallen, though, when I visited Barcelona last year. Some servers looked at me as if I were insane for asking for sherry, or just didn't know what it is. I get that it's not Andalucía, but still, they had pretty much all the other iconic Spanish wines on offer!
My wife and I like to cut our Pedro Ximenez with a bit of brandy to thin out the syrupy texture and add some acidity. It also brings out some of the secondary flavors, instead of simply tasting like liquid raisin. But we still prefer port and Madeira.
Fascinating vid - going to give some these a try this summer
Yep….took me some time to enjoy sherry’s. Now I really enjoy them. I do like pouring PX over vanilla ice cream. 😋😋. Just had an En Rama not too long ago that was very delicious. Thank you. Great video!
A little late here, but I'm definitely a sherry fan! Love it in cocktails, as an aperitif, pairing option for food, etc. I also don't generally care for sweet sherry, but if you are ever fortunate enough to come across Valdespino Moscatel Toneles, you must try it. It is the only 100 point score I have ever given, and it is genuinely the single greatest thing I have ever tasted. I am sure you have sampled nearly countless wines at this point Konstantin, but nothing has ever even come close to it in my experience.
To add to your history lesson: the word Sherry/cerise /Kirsche all derives from the place Jerez which was named by the arab occupants at the time because of the cherry trees. In arab and turkish cherry is named kiraz / chiraz. And in a weird twist of history almost a thousand years later the Ottoman empire invaded eastern europe and the slavic languages adapted the word used for bitter cherries: visnije.
I like the Valdespina El Candado. Very nice!
Excellent overview Konstantin. I have to give a shout out to the wines made in Montilla (from which the word Amontillado originates) which are produced in the Cordoba region. They make Fino, Amontillado, Palo Cortado and Pedro Ximenez but because of some idiocy they cannot be called 'sherry'. All of their wines are produced from the Pedro Ximenez grape, unlike the Palomino in the Cadiz sherry triangle, and do not need fortification to due to hotter temperatures.
I love sherry. My wife is Spanish and we have a second home in Andalucia so we visit bodegas and drink sherry. Despite the respect shown to sherry many wine people just don't get along with it. I understand why but it's a drink you have work with and develop a palate for. If you do the rewards are fantastic. It is a magnificent partner with food and better than nearly all conventional wine. Try cold fino with fish and seafood instead of white wine. Try a £25 - £50 bottle of Amontillado or Oloroso the next time you have a good steak instead of red wine. Sherry is also great with tasty nibbles such as cheese and nuts. It has a fantastic value range. Delicious finos and manzanillas can cost as little as $8 euros in Spain and only a bit more on international markets. Stunning 94 point sherries can be found for less than £50 sterling. I've enjoyed 100 Parker Point sherry wines for less than £200 a bottle.
Sherry is popular in the centres of its production but not particularly so throughout the rest of Spain. It's always needed an international market and the U.K has been especially important. Fino and Manzanilla are popular in coastal parts of Andalucia with all the seafood far more than the U.K but Amontillado, Oloroso and the beloved Cream. have been hugely successful exports. Cream is an Amontillado or Oloroso mixed with a bit of sweet Pedro Ximenez (PX) to cut the dryness. I used to be snobby about it but I enjoy a good Cream these days.
The other thing about sherry is that it is not a random and rustic process. Most of the master blenders have science degrees and there has been a laboratory element to sherry for a long time. I've always loved that technical combination alongside the pure sensory pleasure and experience.
The restriction of the name 'sherry' is not idiocy. It is the legitimate protection of wine from an area, like champagne.
@@Ornette14 I appreciate the need for protection but I think it could have extended to other parts of Andalucia such as Montilla. It looks as though that's going to happen now.
great video as always, konstantin! love me a nice glass of sherry
WoW! Beautiful video!!🥂
Had the pleasure of representing Alvear and Fernando de Castilla for a few years, Fino en Rama was a nice little wine to play around with for food matchups, especially West Australian seafood 🦞🤤
Wonderfully informative video, as always. Thanks.
Sweet sherries, which I love, are a great accompaniment to strong cheeses, like a well=aged cheddar or a Roquefort.
I would love it if you did another video on sherry. I quite enjoyed this one
Thanks for taking me down memory lane. I should rediscover Sherry as I liked it. Thinking about it the 10 year old Moscato from Chile I found lately in one of our local shops wasn't stored appropriately and in our coastal climate it oxidized to something close to a Sherry.
You forgot Palo Cortado. The rarest type of dry sherry and for me also the most unique and outstanding.
It's actually a bit of an urban myth that it's rare and unique. Once upon a time the cellar master would, after tasting, designate a barrel destined to become Amonillado or Oloroso. Palo Cortado became a thing when they couldn't decide which. The rarity myth bloomed and bodegas jumped on the marketing possibility of selling Palo Cortado for more money than the Amontillado or Oloroso they would have once been. It's just a name really and bodegas today can produce it just as easily as their other sherries.
I have a sweet tooth but agree that PX can be too much most of the time....I did find one that was more figgy and I could happily drink a couple of glasses. I must admit I am not so keen on Fino/Manzanilla but my favourite is probably Palo Cortado and then Oloroso/Amontillado. Very easy to get good varieties in UK supermarkets for around £10 for a half bottle and most seem to be made by Lustau. Agree that they are a bargain and one of the best wines I ever tasted was a vintage sherry from Gonzalez Byass at a tasting - rare and probably not easy to get hold off but boy it was good!
I never cared for manzanilla or fino, but a old oloroso can be a joy. In general I prefer port and 'normal' dry wines.
As a child (in the 1970s and 80s), I remember sherry only ever being used by my mother as an addition to desserts, such as a trifle (an English dessert consisting of cake, custard and jelly). The sherry was poured onto the cake layer at the bottom of the bowl before the custard and jelly was added, with cream on top. Clearly, it is time for me to revisit this wine!
Great video and encourages me to try to learn to like sherry. I must say I do actually love PX which is excellent with Christmas pudding or on ice cream and even some blue cheese. It particularly complements Christmas pudding with fig and raisin notes but not more than one small glass.
What is the glass you are using? It is not the Riedel champagne as quoted in the description I think.
Fascinating. Will try to find the Barbadillo! 😊
Love Sherry, both sweet and dry. Palo Cortado is probably my favorite. Sweet sherries often help make some great cocktails, which is one of the things we use them for. I would love to tour Lustau someday, I hear it’s really interesting.
I really enjoy a good Palo Cortado or Amontillado, pairing with stronger stews, roasted vegatables or meats and even a good cigar. Fino and Manzanilla are perfect for the first plate with great salinity and freshness, i really enjoy with pan tomaca, olives in orange peel, anchovies, oysters, ham or any salty tapa. But yeah, with the desert i would prefer a glass of Brandy de Jerez....
I recently had a (PX and Amontillado) sherry manhattan at a Spanish tapas bar - tasted like a pancake with butter and syrup
I too love Sherry and have visited Jerez. I have a similar palate to you and especially love the dry style. VOR and VORS Palo Cortado and Amontillado are my favorites. I still have a few very old bottled Sandeman VVO Amaroso. This predated the creation of the VOR/VORS legislation. Amaroso is a slightly sweetened old Oloroso and is the one sweetened Sherry that I like.
Had Tio Pepe fino in Sevilla last summer. I loved the aroma and, on the nose, it reminded me of old Vinsantos we made in Tuscany when we used the yeast "mother". Loved the salinity on the mouth but i was then hit by the oxidation...Honestly It was a bit too much but still had me intrigued.
I use this Tio Pepe Fino for cooking. It's the best white wine I've found for that purpose
I do enjoy a bit of pale dry Sherry myself, but if I want fortified wine I head straight for The Douro Valley as a rule.
As ever, most informative and enjoyable! Nice one Konstantin. 🍷⭐👍
thanks for this nice review, yess i do love sherry, just like you, with acidity...cheerz (or shall i say sherryz)
I love it!!😍
Thanks for this topic. Sherry is a big gap in my wine knowledge. PX is the only sherry I "like", but after this I'm definitely going to give it another go.
Fun tip: don't rinse your glass after drinking PX. Instead leave a tiny bit in and wait till the next day, you can peel it right off 😅
I adore sherry. Not as a drink itself but as a vessel for whisky industry. I love sherried scotch whiskies
PX still a good one for maturing whisky from scotland. Alot of prune and fig with sweetness, but with 50-55%abv and 20 years it's an other world how complex and good it is
Absolutely love!!
Down Under we call Sherries made here Apera. Of the styles, I have enjoyed Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado (known locally as Goanna's foot due to the dryness) and Pedro Ximinez. I prefer Sherries with Soups except for Pedro Ximinez which I reduce down to a fine syrup to pour over prosciutto wrapped melon slices. Cheers!
Mmmmmmmm
I love sherry, all styles. Many thanks for posting your exploration of the wine. (I also love port, and madeira, and marsalla - just a hint/prompt, although I seem to recall you tasting ports before?????? I have even drunk rainwater, although I suspect that it is essentially unobtainable today as I have not seen any for a very long time.)
I must try the Luis Perez non-sherry, sherry.
It's great to cook with as well.
PX can be absolutely fantastic if it's raisiny enough
Seppelts in the Barossa make ‘sherry’, in a large range of types from sweet to very dry - they allow tastings and I tried them all and tried hard to like at least one but failed. The PX / Ximinez can be very good but more like tokay.
love it !!! Palo cortado !!! amazing shit
Silly question - but who makes the sleeveless jumper/gilet you wear?
Bodegas Luis Perez always raising the bar!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Absolutely love it
I'm just going to pretent you and Leon listened to only my comment from '10 to 40 YEAR OLD WINE - Tasting Time in Wine 'and are damn quick to put it in a new video 😏
Keep them up!!🔥
Try PX on vanilla ice cream…its a delight
Big Sherry aficionado here. Been so for more than 20y, even before studying sommellerie. Nothing beats an old VOS or VORS Amontillado, Oloroso or Palo Cortado as a meditation wine. Unfortunately it is so unpopular that the offer here in Quebec is at an all time low, and so I must hunt them down every time I'm abroad!
Ah! A sommelier. Could I trouble you to answer a question? If you've ever had the opportunity to drink Valdespino's Coliseo Amontillado. I bought two bottles many, many years ago in the 1980s. I opened one with friends shortly afterwards and we were all shocked, horrified, (fill in your adjective of choice) at the immense flavour of wood. It was _not_ corked. So recently after being bottled, I think it was simply completely overwhelmed by the cask and, to be honest, undrinkable.
I had a similar experience at around the same time from a bottle of Ygay, Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Especial, 1962. In that case I had bought four bottles and opened the next one 20 years later (around 2000). It had become magnificent, losing all the overpowering wood and developing into a beautiful swan.
Do you know if the Coliseo is known for this phenomenon and, if so, will my last bottle also have matured so marvellously after 40 years in my Eurocave? Or am I looking at another Coliseo horror?
@@digoryjohns2018 I know the Coliseo quite well and love it. Sherry shouldn't really be left to age in the bottle for so long. The results when you open it can be entirely unpredictable. V.O.R.S sherry is averaging over 30 years maturation. I've had some that are exceptionally old and the flavour is extremely concentrated. It's not for everybody and not all fans of sherry like it. Also, don't forget that the wood of the large bodega barrels is practically neutral. The concentrated flavour is the ageing of the liquid itself. The flavour of the bottle you opened in the 1980's is how Valdespino thought it should taste at its best. There's absolutely no guarantee that it's improved. I enjoy the intensity of flavour and would worry that it has gone flat.
@digoryjohns2018 Oh wow! I've never had the Coliseo, but I tasted the Palo Cortado Cardenal of a similar age (both around 50-60yo) once and it was phenomenal, such depth and intensity. I understand your comparison with old Riojas, which on opening can definitely have a "wood bomb" characteristic. In my experience it does fade away a bit with sufficient aeration, and yeah gets also more integrated with additional bottle age (even though the typical Sherry crown cap closures aren't the best for long term aging!). The good news is that properly stored like yours it should still be in good condition and will surely be a memorable experience :)
@welshtoro3256 I agree with you I also very much appreciate the intensity. Though I would be very surprised if his remaining bottle has gone flat. Those wines are virtually indestructible. Like the legendary Pierre Overnoy says, wines should ideally continue to age in bottle for at least as long as they were aged (I much prefer the French term "élevés") in wood. The Cardenal and Coliseo from Valdespino are of course extreme examples, but following that rule and if stored properly they should be good in bottle for at least 50 to 60 years :)
I don't know what the availability of Harveys is like in Canada but their Amontillado VORS is sublime. Harveys attract a lot of negativity because they make cheap sherry, enjoyed by millions, but their high end stuff is excellent.
Took my first proper dive into Fino in Seville last year on the recommendation of my friend Colm who's a wine merchant in Dublin
Very interesting drinking vibe
I'll be going back
I'm not a big sherry guy in general, and definitely not into sweet sherry. That said, El Maestro Sierra Pedro Ximenez 'Viejisimo' is one of the handful of wines that really imprinted on my brain. Expensive, but well worth a taste. The best of its kind I've ever encountered.
Hi Konstantin
Super Folge.
Habe leider Manzanilla aus San Lucar de Barrameida vermisst.
der meiner Meinung nach bester Begleiter zu Seafood oder Tapas.
All styles of sherry are different so it’s hard to say you don’t like sherry. Maybe you like px over oloroso cream fino and amontadillo. There’s so much variation in the field of sherry.
Jerez fino would be a good pairing for black rice with octopus?
Sounds great to me!
A younger Amontillado would also be a good match
🤣 a Snickers bar... I'd pick the Snickers 😉
Lustau amazing. Great Video. Principe de barbadillo 30 vors :D
I have never been a fan of sherry. that said, thanks for an interesting video !
OK, third comment...sorry...
Sherry: it's such a wonderful drink. The complexity of flavour is not really widely appreciated. I visited Jerez while staying in Cadiz and it was such a lovely and enjoyable experience. As well as seeing some authentic flamenco dance and eating local food, we enjoyed lots of sherry!
Manzanilla and Fino for me. Pair excellently with spicy seafood
Have you tried Este Spinola PX ? Amazing stuff. Plus, its label states that Pedro Ximenez is a Spanish modification of a German's name...Peter (or Pieter) Siemens !!!!
well now i'm going out to buy some sherry . damn you Konstantin
Thank god sherry is not in high demand, which explains why it's so affordable. I love it. And i I live in the UK where it's readily available. Hopefully prices won't go up on account of this video. Hush hush.
I know sherry used to be shipped to England in casks that were resold to whisky makers, and most 'sherry cask' whisky today is distilleries filling new casks with sherry only added to them for flavor. But I've read conflicting reports about whether anyone today is still actually buying barrels used to store sherry for long periods of time for whisky. Do you know? BTW- I do like sherry and got into it from drinking sherry-cask-whisky
The most underrated wine in the world!
Have to love it.
Montilla-Moriles is very very similar to Sherry (also in Andalucía region). They use Pedro Ximenez grapes instead of Palomino Fino. Same vinification than Sherry and still much much cheaper
You know my friend,Bodegas el monte make the fabulous Fino Cebolla,madurated 15 years for 6€ per liter if you buy the BiB.
Yet to try sherry.
For me,one of the bests " aperitivs" wines....specially the fino and the emontillado, and besto of all, not expensives ( but not forget the manzanillas, wich is made is st lucar the barrameda). It's like sushi( if you arent from japan) the first time u eat it, it,s kinda of scarry, bit offset...the second time, much more friendly, until something magic happens, out of the blue, you just wanna eat sushi.....lol....a bug bite 😂
I stop the video and make me glas of Oloroso from Lustau 😂 and restart video again.
There's this dry PX unfortified sherry that I like quite much, the Equipo Navazos Niepoort Blanco, have you had that one yet?
Ok....tomorrow I've visiting my daughter in Sevilla; I might just have to try some sherry while I'm there. No more comments.