When we think of sherry, we think of cooking sherry or that drink our grandmas used to like. Oh yeah, they used to love drinking it on Frasier, too. Much to our surprise, it has recently come to our attention that sherry is making a bit of a comeback on the drinking scene.
Federación de Bodegas del Marco de Jerez (Fedejerez), the trade organization for all Sherry producers of the Jerez region of Spain, actually began a campaign in the last two years to reinvigorate the image of sherry in the United States. This has resulted in a ton of buzz, articles about sherry’s comeback in big newspapers like The New York Times and a lot of new sherry drinkers.
Sherry is a fortified wine (meaning distilled spirits are added) produced in Spain. There are two kinds that you will usually see – Fino and Oloroso. Fino is about 15% alcohol and very dry with a lighter body; Oloroso is about 18% alcohol and also dry, but much richer in body and flavor. Oloroso is the sweeter stuff that Americans seem to prefer, but Fino tends to be more popular in other countries. There are a few other kinds of sherry, so definitely make sure to investigate them more if you want to be an expert.
Bon Appetit says to serve Fino sherry chilled as an apertif, but Olorosos is better served with dessert at room temperature. Classic cocktails include the Sherry Cobbler (sherry with sugar and muddled fruit and berries) and Bamboo (sherry with dry vermouth and bitters).
Oh, and remember when we told you about shrub syrup awhile ago? There are some delicious recipes that use sherry and shrub syrup together, so definitely experiment. Have you had sherry recently? Think its on the rise?