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38 AFFLUENT MAGAZINE

LIFESTYLE

had the opportunity to travel to Jerez this past

September, and throughout the five days we spent

exploring the Sherry-producing districts of Southern

Spain’s ancient Andalusia region, one thought kept on

creeping into my mind: I cannot believe I never drank more of

this fantastic wine before.

This was one of those paradigm-shifting trips that not only

opened up my eyes to Sherry in particular, but that also forced

me to reconsider what I thought fermented grape juice was

capable of.

The best wines, as producers and connoisseurs have

understood for millennia, are firmly rooted to a specific

geographical location. And, indeed, the classifications and

appellations of Europe are based on the idea that the same

grape variety can be harvested from two neighboring villages,

for example, and express themselves in completely divergent

ways as a result of the differences in the geology of the

vineyards and the micro-climatic shifts from one place to the

other.

In Jerez, however, things are a bit different. Travel to Bordeaux

or Burgundy, by way of contrast, and you’ll hear the constant

drumbeat of the importance of the land; great wines, they tend

to say, are made in the vineyard. In Jerez, however, we were

told time and again that the best wines, while requiring good

fruit and vineyard sites, are generally made in the winery and

over the years in the barrels as they age and evolve.

Unlike dry wine, most of which is sold year after year in

vintage-designated bottlings, Sherry is the result of the

region’s famous solera system. Put simply, the solera system

facilitates the progressive blending of new wines and older

ones, which layers the flavors and aromas, adds depth and

nuance to wines as the blends accumulate, and results in a

finished product that is as intimately — and literally — tied to

the past as any wines in the world.

The success of these fortified wines — the fact that they can be

produced at all, in fact — is a result of the unique geographical

location of the legendary Sherry Triangle and the nature of the

grapes that grow there, as well as of the specific strains of yeast

that flourish and the flor that results. (For specifics on the

region, the solera system, flor and why real Sherry can only

come from here, visit www.sherrycouncil.com, the excellent

web site of the Sherry Council of America.)

Over the course of my time in Spain, we had the chance

to visit nine bodegas and to taste dozens of samples

both on their own and during meals. And perhaps more

than anything else, I was flat-out astounded by how

well Sherry pairs with food.

Some of this success at the table is a result of the range

of styles in which Sherry is produced, from dry,

supremely refreshing fino and more caramelized but

still lithe amontillado, to rich, structured oloroso and

the dessert-in-a-glass Pedro Ximénez. (There are other

styles too — my favorite, in fact, was the rare,

mysterious palo cortado.)

But more important than the range of Sherry styles is

the nature of the wines themselves, the unexpected

flavor profiles with which they frame the foods they’re

being sipped alongside. For even though differences

between, say, a fino and an oloroso are vast, Sherry has

the ability to handle a range of ingredients that

precious few other wines do. Over the course of our

week in Jerez, we paired various styles of Sherry with

everything from sardines on tomato bread, to garlicky,

nutty baby eels, to steak with mushroom, to foie gras,

and even notoriously wine-unfriendly artichokes, and

Sherry made easy work of them all, highlighting the

flavors we wanted, minimizing the ones we didn’t, and

making every dish not only more delicious than it otherwise

would have been, but also a flavor and texture odyssey as

enjoyable on an intellectual level as it was on a sensory one.

And while Sherry is not yet as widely consumed on this side of

the Atlantic as its unfortified cousins, more and more of it is

being imported and loved. So seek it out and stock your cellar

with a broad enough range of styles and producers to start the

process of learning more about Sherry, one of the most

interesting, delicious, food-friendly wines around.

Brian Freedman is a food, wine and travel writer and

wine consultant. He writes for John Mariani's Virtual

Gourmet, Philadelphia Style Magazine, and the blog

www.UncorkLife.com for Wine Chateau, among others.

For more information on his work, or to contact him

regarding consulting or speaking, please visit

www.BrianFreedmanPhiladelphia.com.

I

DISCOVERING SHERRYThe Many Charms of One of the

World’s Greatest Wines

By Brian Freedman

While in Jerez, we visited the

following producers. Despite

differences in style and philosophy,

every one of them was a standout

for one reason or another. Here they

are, in no particular order. Look for

them and taste — you’ll be thrilled

you did:

Bodegas Harveys

Bodegas Tradición

Bodegas Grupo Estévez

Bodegas Osborne

Bodegas Sánchez Romate

Bodegas Williams & Humbert

Bodegas González Byass

Bodegas Lustau

Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana

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