Sherry - no mere trifle

Forget the sweet versions lurking untouched on your back bar, it's time to get to know the real side of Spanish wine, says MA wine writer Fiona Sims

FIONA SIMS

So the pub industry has woken up to wine at last - well, some of you anyway. And to this growing band of converts I'm going to add something else to think about: sherry. And no, I'm not talking about the cheap, sweet stuff knocked back by your older customers, but dry sherry - fino and manzanilla.

We're talking pale sherries with a light body, a crisp finish and served chilled. They make a brilliant aperitif. They also go well with food - olives, artichokes, anchovies, smoked fish, shellfish, white fish, ham, salami and salty cheese, to name a few. And no, you won't get blotto. With 15.5% alcohol, they're only a smidgen more than, say, a Californian Cabernet. They also last a bit longer than an open bottle of wine - store in the fridge and drink within a week.

Choose fino or manzanilla

What's the difference between fino and manzanilla? The former is made in the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where the cooler climate and iodine-laden wind promote a thicker flor growth throughout the year. This results in a particularly refreshing style that has a tad saltier tang on the palate.

Have I lost you? Fino and manzanilla owe their special tangy character to flor (literally 'flower'), a bread-like yeast that grows on the wine when it's stored in old butts (barrels). But I'm skipping ahead here. Before you get to this stage, the base wine, made from Palomino grapes grown on the chalkiest soils, must be fortified with a neutral grape spirit as the flor will only grow on wines with an alcohol content of around 15.5%.

But the yeast needs something to feed on, so the loosely-stoppered butts are filled about five-sixths full and younger wine is added at intervals, the layer of yeast regulating the exposure to air and stopping the wine turning into vinegar.

These are the ones to try

For great examples of fino, look at Domecq's La Ina, Gonzalez Byass's Tio Pepe, Lustau's Puerto Fino, Osborne's Fino Quinta, Jose de Soto's Fino and Fino Ranchero and Valdespino's single-vineyard Inocente.

For manzanilla, try those from La Goya, La Guita, Barbadillo's Solear, Argueso's Las Medallas, Hidalgo's La Gitana and seriously classy single vineyard Pasada Pastrana, and the outstanding range of Lustau Almacenista wines.

As well as fino and manzanilla there are other styles of sherry, such as the mahogany coloured and nutty amontillado, and the even more concentrated oloroso (the drier and older the better).

Discover sherry for yourself

You're hooked? Go visit Jerez. You might not know (because until recently there were many so-called sherries from elsewhere in the world) that sherry comes only from the Jerez region in Andalucía in south-west Spain. The best come from the 'sherry triangle, the region defined by the three towns of Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María.

Failing that, go to Moro. The renowned Clerkenwell restaurant has one of the best sherry lists in the UK, and owners Sam and Sam Clark have recently put together a Sherry Discovery menu, whereby wines from the likes of Lustau and Valdespino (mentioned above) are matched with a menu of dishes designed to bring out the best in the bottles. For example, salt cod croquetas with sweet tomato sauce and aioli is matched with La Gitana manzanilla, while wood-roasted pork with new season's onions and watercress is paired with Valdespino's rich, nutty Tio Diego amontillado. For pud, a Pedro Ximenez from Sanchez Romate with Malaga raisin ice cream. Pure joy.