Sherry - No Longer Just "Grandma’s Favourite Christmas Tipple"

Sherry casks in storage

The image of sherry in the UK market is (or was) very much associated with grandparents and bottles of Harvey’s Bristol Cream that linger in the drinks cabinet from one Christmas to the next. In any news article on the subject of sherry in the UK, it is inevitably referred to as ‘Grandma’s favourite Christmas tipple’ or something similar. This stereotype of the typical sherry drinker isn’t without its basis in fact; research from 2016 by market researcher Wine Intelligence showed that only 10% of 25 – 34-year-olds in the UK drink sherry compared to 34% of over-65s.

Sherry has certainly been undervalued in recent years and sales have been struggling. In 2009, the UK was still the main global market for sherry with 14 million litres sold and this was already after several years of declining sales figures. By 2016, UK sales were down to 10 million litres, falling in line with a global decline and making the UK the second biggest global market for sherry after Spain, where it is mainly drunk in the Andalucia region that it comes from. In Spain the most popular sherries are the dry Fino and Manzanilla styles, often drunk long with soft drinks such as Sprite or 7 Up. In the UK it’s the sweeter cream sherries which far outsell the other types and it’s these sales that have fallen considerably.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association blames falling UK sales on increasing taxation. According to the WSTA, the 53% increase in fortified wine duty since 2007 has added £1 to every bottle of sherry. Brexit and the fall in the value of the pound, both of which will make importing sherry more expensive, are other factors which will put further pressure on sherry sales in the UK.

Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain - the home of Sherry

However, the last few years have brought some good news for the sherry industry in terms of what seems to be the beginnings of a sherry revival in the UK. This revival isn’t being driven by grandparents finally replacing the Bristol Cream in their drinks cabinets, but by a new generation of sherry drinkers, enjoying dry sherries such as Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso and Amontillado.

There are now a number of trendy sherry bars and tapas restaurants springing up in the UK’s major cities and sherry is becoming quite ‘hipster’. In London, you can follow ‘The London Sherry Trail’, enjoying sherry in a range of bars across the capital.  Sherry has an affinity to tapas but also pairs well with a wide range of foods and also works well in many cocktails, all factors which, along with its growing hipster following, are aiding its UK revival.

International Sherry Week is now in its sixth year and sees a range of events taking place for sherry-lovers around the world. Brigitte Bordeaux hosted a popular Sherry tasting evening back in April and we’re excited to be taking part in our first International Sherry Week this November. From Thursday 7th – Saturday 9th November we will be offering tasting flights of Sherry and the perfect food accompaniments.

So, if you’d like to know more about this fantastic, complex and versatile wine, read on…

The word ‘Sherry’ is the English version of ‘Jerez’, which refers to the Spanish city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalucia, where the drink comes from. Dry sherries are made from the Palomino grape which produces a fairly neutral base wine. This is suited to sherry as the wine’s character comes from the winemaking and maturation techniques that it undergoes, rather than from the grapes themselves. Sherry is famous for its solera system of fractional blending and ageing, a process which sees wine being transferred between barrels as it ages.  This ageing can be biological or oxidative, leading to the creation of a range of different styles of sherry from pale, bone-dry Finos and Manzanillas to darker, richer Olorosos to lusciously sweet Pedro Ximenez sherries, made from grapes of the same name. And of course, there are also cream sherries which contain no dairy whatsoever but are actually sweetened sherries, made by either blending dry and sweet or by sweetening dry styles with Rectified Concentrated Grape Must.

As a brief explanation, Finos and Manzanillas are dry sherries which have been biologically aged. This means that they have aged under a layer of yeast known as the ‘veil of flor’ from which they derive much of their character. They tend to be pale lemon in colour and feature flavours such as almonds, apples, herbs, hay or fresh dough. Manzanillas are made in exactly the same way as Finos but derive their unique character from the particular climate of the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barrameda where they are matured.

Oloroso sherries age oxidatively rather than biologically, without the veil of flor. The wine’s exposure to oxygen as it ages means that its colour is much deeper than that of a Fino and its flavours are oxidative flavours such as leather, toffee and walnut.

Amontillados start out as Finos and undergo a period of biological ageing under the veil of flor, but then lose the flor in order to undergo a further period of oxidative ageing, hence their character lies somewhere in between that of a Fino and an Oloroso.

Palo Cortado is the rarest category of Sherry and there is still some mystique about how it comes into being. It is a wine initially destined to be a Fino or Amontillado, but that ends up (either by a fluke of nature or through intervention) ageing oxidatively. It is therefore an intermediate style of Sherry that lies somewhere between an Amontillado and an Olorosso, combining the best characteristics of both styles. The name comes from the marks put on the Sherry barrels: the initial vertical ‘stick’ mark (palo) is then crossed (cortado) when the sherry inside the barrel is marked out to become this rare and exquisite drink.

There are other styles of sherry too, including naturally sweet sherries such as PX; blended sherries such as Cream, Pale Cream and Medium sherries as well as variations on the different dry styles. I’ve just had a glass of ‘Antique Fino’ which has been aged for longer than a classic Fino. It’s slightly deeper in colour, fuller bodied and features more nutty flavours. Delicious!

It does look like the image of sherry in the UK might finally be changing. If the trend for younger consumers drinking drier sherries gains momentum and it becomes seen as a drink for hipsters rather than grandmas, it could well become the next ‘gin’ or ‘craft beer’ of the UK drinks market.

Remember, you (possibly) heard it here first! Happy International Sherry Week everyone!