Making the most of Sherry

I doubt there's ever been a drink so misunderstood as sherry

- nor one where the opinion of the "experts" and the public differs so sharply. While most wine critics eyes glaze over with rapture at the thought of a fine glass of amontillado, many wine drinkers shudder even at the thought of the stuff.

Yet what they dislike 99 times out of 100 is the perception of the drink, rather than the drink itself, and if inveigled into trying some will at least usually admit that it's better than they were expecting, and often drain the glass and ask for another.

Yet for all that sherry's main problem is, indeed, one of image, (Hinge and Bracket have a lot to answer for) its complexity is also something of a barrier. The names: fino, amontillado, oloroso et al are not easy to remember, and since many of them can be either sweet or dry it makes the drink something of a minefield.

So let's get a few basic facts out of the way first. Sherry only comes from one corner of Andalucia in Spain; it's made (for the most part) with the Palomino grape, and the vast majority of sherries are dry.

Of the pale sherries, cream is always sweet, while fino and manzanilla are always dry. Bone dry, in fact - at the brut Champagne end of the sugar spectrum. Tangy, zesty and whistle clean, they are, for me at least, the perfect pre-dinner drink, and can be promoted as such.

The dark sherries are tougher because they can be either sweet or dry. Amontillado is fuller and nuttier than fino, but rarely actually heavy, so it can be sipped quite happily both before and during a meal. Oloroso is richer still, with savoury flavours of grilled walnuts, mahogany tables and marmite. It's excellent with bigger dishes like venison or beef and carries through happily with cheese plates.

In the same way that a hint of sweetness in many New World table wines is no barrier to their ability to match with food, so just off-dry sherries can also work, particularly with 'difficult' dishes where ordinary wine struggles, like spicy Asian meals.

Apart from being able to explain it to punters, probably the key to making a success of sherry is keeping it well. Oloroso and amontillado, with their oxidative styles, can be kept open for weeks quite happily, but fino and manzanilla rely for their charm on their zippy freshness. They need to be vacuum-pumped like any other white wine and shouldn't be kept open for long. All sherries - and this is crucial - should be served chilled and in a decent-sized glass. Banish warm thimbles of sticky nonsense to the gates of hell, from whence they came, and make proper sherry a part of your drinks menu! Your public will thank you for it.