Seductive Sherry

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Issue 43

The Small Spaces Issue

Buy Your First Home
Southern BBQ, City Style
A-Frame House
Bikes of Portland

Seductive Sherry

by Alex Day

Photos by Cameron Sadeghpour

Alex Day reveals his love affair with sherry, and shares a recipe for a favorite sherry-based quaff.

“The wines of Southern Spain are as interesting and complex as the conquistadores that shaped the country’s history. Through it all, the gnarled vines of Palomino, Moscatel, and Pedro Ximénez grapes have produced one of the world’s most seductive wines: sherry. In and around the towns of Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, El Puerto de Santa María, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, sherry has been made and revered for centuries. In Spain, sherry is not just the domain of fireside grandmothers or snooty intellectuals, but rather a working man’s drink with a vibrant, modern sensibility all its own. Sherry is back on our side of the pond, too, and it’s one of my favorite ingredients.

This versatile wine runs the spectrum from the driest of the dry to the sweetest of the sweet. It’s excellent on its own, but as a cocktail ingredient, it’s adaptable as both a base and a modifier. In the dry Manzanilla and Fino varieties of sherry, there’s a crispness very similar to dry vermouth (in fact, using sherry in cocktails in place of vermouth is a great place to start). While this can be interesting for many drinks, I find the most enticing cocktails use sherry in larger amounts. Experiment with different styles, pairing more subtle sherries (Manzanilla, Fino, some Amontillados) with crisper spirits like gin and tequila, and rich sherries (Oloroso, Cream, Pedro Ximénez) with brown spirits like rye, bourbon, scotch, and rum. “

La Viña is boozy, but light to the Manhattan drinker. It’s a rich combination of nut and raisin notes from the sherry, a slight orange-flavored bitterness from the amaro, and a peppery spiciness from the rye. It’s a perfect drink for fall.

Make It: Stir with cracked ice; strain into a cocktail glass. Drink up.

Know the types of sherry.
Keep in mind that styles are generally broad categorizations, and that different bodegas (the name for a Spanish winery) make very different wines. The houses of Lustau and Domecq are very good and can be found in many quality wine stores. So you’re prepared, sherry is a fortified wine, usually clocking in at around 15% – 20% alcohol.

Manzanilla: light and elegant with a salty tang.

Fino: light and very aromatic.

Amontillado: sometimes dry, sometimes sweeter; complex and rich nose, often with a dry finish.

Oloroso: usually sweet and amazingly aromatic; lots of raisin flavor.

Cream: sweet and rich with notes of chocolate, nut, and fig.

Pedro Ximénez: the sweetest style and very dark in color; rich from nose to tongue.