Tag Archives: sherry

October 4, 2017 · 9:01 am

Sherryfest Co-Founder Rosemary Gray Explains Her Love Of Sherry, The Return Of The Festival

Rosemary Gray with Sherryfest co-founder Peter Liem.

Let’s put politics aside for a few days this October to enjoy one of the world’s most fascinating wines: sherry. If you’ve not caught the sherry bug yet, Sherryfest returns to NYC on October 27-29, 2017, with a slew of opportunities to help you do so. From educational tastings, to dinners, to a Sunday brunch (it’s time we swap those diluted mimosas for food-friendly Fino), there’s something for everyone.

In a recent interview originally posted on Forbes, Sherryfest co-founder Rosemary Gray speaks to her love for the wine, her reason for creating the event, and her favorite sherry with oysters.

Why did you create Sherryfest?

Sherry has long been a misunderstood wine category – both within the industry and by consumers. We wanted to give people an opportunity to learn about sherry, celebrate it, and meet the amazing bodegas (wineries) and people of the region. Many people don’t know that sherry is one of the world’s most historically important wines , and while the region is enjoying a bit of renaissance, it’s also struggling and needs support. Our hope is the Sherryfest events will help sherry become increasingly valued by wine connoisseurs and casual drinkers. If people have the opportunity to taste for themselves how intricate, nuanced and multi-faceted sherry is, then we hope they will reach for sherry more frequently just as they would other wines, cocktails, or beverages. Sherry umbrellas an incredibly diverse family of wines, so we created events that would make it easy to learn about and taste that diversity. Many sherries are ideal companions at the table, can age in the cellar, can be ideal as part of a cocktail, or enjoyed as a stand-alone beverage – we want to give people opportunities to experience all of that.

How long has the festival been running?

I co-founded Sherryfest with author Peter Liem (Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla) along with the support of the Consejo Regulador of the sherry region (the governing body of the D.O.C.) in order to spread awareness of and celebrate the wine. The first Sherryfest was fall of 2012 in New York City. In 2013, we held three Sherryfests – one in Portland, Oregon in the spring, and then back-to-back events in the fall in New York City and Toronto, Canada. In 2014, we held Sherryfest in San Francisco, CA, in 2015 we returned to New York, in 2016 Sherryfest was held in Chicago, and we will again return to New York in October 2017. So, it will be eight Sherryfests in five years.

How has Sherryfest changed since the first year? What’s new this year?

The first year was big – we held something like eight dinner events over the course of a week. We’ve learned it’s best to keep the span of events compact over a couple days, and to offer a variety of activities – dinners, seminars, happy hours, parties all centered around the centerpiece Grand Tasting (a walk-around tasting of over 150 sherries). This year we’ve moved events to the weekend in order to accommodate and welcome more consumers, as well as industry and media professionals. Each year we try something new – this is the first year we are hosting a brunch. It will be the final event of Sherryfest – a Sunday afternoon collector’s lunch for people to share their favorite sherries and socialize with producers and other sherry-lovers.

What have you learned over the last few years of hosting Sherryfest?

I’ve learned a lot about sherry! That sounds obvious, but the truth is when we create spaces for others to learn we learn ourselves. My appreciation and enthusiasm for sherry has grown deeply. Not just with regards to knowledge and understanding of the wines, but also the people, culture and the heart of the region. That connection is a profound reminder that wine is not just a market trend or a consumer good – it’s a special transmitter of stories, and in the case of sherry that story is rooted in a place and that is rich in history, characters, heart and valor.

A tasting at Sherryfest.

How has the consumer’s attitude towards sherry changed?

People are more exposed to the spectrum of sherry now. Instead of just thinking of Cream sherry (one of many types), people are now aware there are dry styles like Fino and Oloroso, as well as the sweet styles. People are familiar with sherry as a cocktail ingredient, and we are even beginning to see wine connoisseurs collecting fine and rare sherries. What we still want to see more of is people enjoying sherry with a meal, because sherry is one of the most versatile food wines. It’s one of the reasons we always have dinner (and now brunch!) events – to give people an opportunity to see the brilliance of sherry at the table.

How has the industry’s attitude towards sherry changed?

The industry has become more knowledgeable. It’s less often that we see dry sherries placed under the dessert section of a wine list for instance. Professionals treat sherry for what it is – a fine wine with many great producers. Industry professionals are now seeking out the great producers and special bottlings and showcasing them in their restaurant and retail wine programs. Also, the bar and cocktail community has really lead the renaissance by incorporating sherry in cocktail programs, and this really increases people’s exposure to the many styles of sherry.

What’s your favorite style of sherry to drink and why?

There sheer diversity of sherry makes it hard to pick a favorite! I love Fino and Manzanilla as an aperitif – the saline, savory tones are thrilling with things like oysters and fried foods. I love sipping on Oloroso or a nuanced Palo Cortado just as I would a spirit like Bourbon or brandy. Amontillado is wonderful with savory foods – it’s a brilliant dinner companion with fall dishes like roast chicken. Also, sushi and Japanese-influenced foods are wonderful with sherry – the umami against umami creates great chemistry. I also love cream sherry as an after-dinner treat – it’s my way of “sipping dessert,” as it’s just lightly sweet and still bright and nuanced.

What upcoming Sherryfest events are you excited about?

I’m especially excited for this year’s dinner and brunch events. I love getting people around the table to experience how wonderful sherry is with food. These events are so fun and convivial; I love giving guests an opportunity to engage with producers, while having a unique and rare food and wine experience with their friends. Here are a few events I’d recommend: the Toro Dinner, the Rouge Tomate Dinner, and the North End Grill Brunch.

Anything else you want to add?

Sherryfest is true labor of love. Peter and I are just two passionate industry professionals that started this because we love sherry, and wanted to create space for others to celebrate and appreciate the wines too. We have great supporting partners, but Sherryfest isn’t really a marketing or sales event – it’s an educational and social experience that is a way for us to bring the beauty of Jerez stateside. Sherry is such a historic and complex wine that is often underappreciated, and every year we feel so fortunate to be able to spread the joy of sherry.

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August 10, 2017 · 10:22 am

Recipe and Wine Pairing: Salmorejo Soup with Manzanilla Sherry

I’ve been writing recipes with wine pairings for Wine Enthusiast over the past year and decided I should start sharing my inspiration on my blog. Enjoy!

Salmorejo, a chilled soup hailing from the warm climes of southern Spain, is gazpacho’s heartier cousin. Originating in the Andalusian city of Córdoba, it’s creamier and less acidic. It’s also perfect for utilizing abundant end-of-summer tomatoes and day-old bread. The key to building flavor in this otherwise simple preparation: ripe tomatoes, high-quality olive oil, and sherry wine vinegar.

Pair It: Manzanilla Sherry
On a hot afternoon, match this cold soup to a chilled glass of Manzanilla. Produced near the ocean, the sherry’s saline tang and light acidity highlight the bright tomatoes and salty jamón, while echoing the sherry vinegar.

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
Salmorejo Soup
2 cups of water
½ tablespoon salt
½ loaf of day-old baguette or 2 slices of white bread, coarsely torn
2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes
½ cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1-2 tablespoons sherry vinegar (to taste)
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Garnish
1 hardboiled egg, chopped
Two slices Serrano ham, chopped

Directions
1. Add 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon salt to a medium bowl. Add bread and let soak for 10-15 minutes. Remove bread, squeeze excess liquid from it, and set aside. Reserve soaking liquid.
2. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Make a cross with a knife on the bottom of each tomato and put them in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and cool slightly. Peel skin, seed, core, and roughly chop. Set aside.
3. In a blender, add tomatoes and garlic. Run 30 seconds on high-speed or until crushed. Add bread and 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, blending for another 30 seconds on medium speed. Add reserved soaking liquid by tablespoonfuls if mixture is too thick to blend. Once mixture is smooth, add olive oil while machine is running. Add additional tablespoon sherry vinegar, to taste, and blend. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cover and chill, at least two hours, up to 1 day.
5. Divide into bowls and top with chopped egg, Serrano ham, and drizzle with olive oil. Serve.

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January 30, 2015 · 9:39 am

Why Pairing Wine With Your Super Bowl Snacks Isn’t Pretentious

DoritosAndWine.jpg

Wine shouldn’t be foisted onto every culinary event; no matter how grand or mundane, some matches are better left alone: the Kentucky Derby and bourbon, or bagels, lox, and black coffee (OK, a glass of Champagne wouldn’t be so terrible with either). “Super Bowl & Beer” sounds like another archetype that doesn’t need tinkering. But there’s a case to be made for wine.

Consider traditional binge-watching football foods: bean chili, beef-cheese-jalapeño-smothered nachos, Sriracha hot wings, short-rib sliders, guac and chips. At first glance, pairing wine with any of these might sound like a disastrous exercise in pretentiousness. On closer examination, though, there are, in fact, a number of wines that would temper heat, complement spice and salt, and cut through fat better than a beer. We’re not suggesting you forgo the keg of Founders All Day IPA, but consider supplementing your beverage rotation with these five wines.

Sparkling Wine
By now, perhaps you’ve heard of the Sommelier Special: pairing a high-brow bottle of Champagne with a humble bag of Lay’s. Champagne’s chalky, bright acid and persistent stream of effervescence has a way of cutting through fried, oily dishes like chips and fried chicken. But Champagne is expensive, and few of us wish to waste it on a bag of spuds (or our Patriots-supporting frenemies). Look to American bubbles instead.

Roederer Estate Brut, NV, California, $21: Best-value, complex American sparkler made using the Champagne method.

Zinfandel
I’m not talking about the white kind (that comes in a box and is called Franzia), but the ripe, juicy red stuff pumped out of the classic regions of Sonoma, Lodi, and the Dry Creek Valley in California (also found in Southern Italy, where it’s called Primitivo). If you’re inclined to pair junk food with your vino (no judgment), you might enjoy the synergy found between a sip of Zinfandel and a mouthful of spicy Doritos, a ubiquitous Super Bowl snack. Zin also complements spicy-sweet meat dishes like pulled pork, and baby-back ribs doused with Dinosaur BBQ sauce.

Bedrock “Old Vine” Sonoma Valley, California, 2013, $25: Full-bodied, lush, with black cherries and spice.

Sherry
This fortified wine from Andalucía in southern Spain elevates salty foods like cured meats (ordering a six-foot-long Italian sub?), olives, and peanuts, and fried finger foods such as calamari, spring rolls, or croquettes, from mindless pop-in-your-mouth status to “holy crap, what did I just eat?” sublime. Pick up a crisp, bone-dry, saline Fino (made via the biological method; no oxidation) and a richer, nuttier style like amontillado.

Valdespino, Fino “Inocente” NV (375 mL), $12.99: Tastes of almonds and ocean breezes.

Lustau Dry Amontillado “Los Arcos” NV, $15.99: Nuts, dates, dried fruit.

Sauvignon Blanc
This crowd-pleasing, workhorse white pairs surprisingly well with chile-pepper-laden dishes, especially bell peppers, jalapeños (which have a flavor profile also found in Sauvignon Blanc), poblanos, anchos, and serranos. Notoriously difficult wine pairings like artichokes (found in dips or fried), tomatoes (think salsa), and the herb cilantro (also in salsas, guacamole, and most Mexican food) love Sauvignon Blanc. The wine’s bright flavors range from herbal to tropical; classic examples are from New Zealand and Sancerre, but South Africa increasingly makes compelling, well-priced versions.

Seresin, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2012, $24.99: More money, more complexity than the typical NZ S.B.

Mulderbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2014, $14.99: Easy to find, easy to sip, a little grassy, and a little tart.

Rosé
Who says you can’t drink pink in the winter? Or while watching football? To quote Julia Child, who incontrovertibly knew her shit, “Rosés can be served with anything.” Why? Rosé straddles the world of white and red: It delivers zippy, palate-cleansing acidity with enough body and fruit to stand up to typically heavy game-day dishes. Dry rosés work particularly well with charcuterie, BBQ, hamburgers, pork, and even sausage. Like she said: anything. The only problem with rosé is tracking it down in the middle of winter. Fortunately, Sherry-Lehmann stocks emergency cases of pink year-round.

Chateau d’Aqueria, Tavel, France, 2013, $18.99: Ripe berry fruit, a hint of tannin, and fresh acidity.

Where to Buy:

Astor Wine & Spirits, 399 Lafayette Street, 212-674-7500

Sherry-Lehmann, 505 Park Avenue, 212-838-7500

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July 3, 2013 · 4:46 pm

Cool Wine Aperitifs for the Fourth of July

whiteporandfino.jpg

I have never been interested in wine-based concoctions. Maybe it’s the purist in me, but wine has natural balance, structure, and flavor–it’s the complete package–so why tinker with it? I am also lazy, and find making cocktails messy and tedious. However, I rediscovered two old friends that, though perfectly lovely on their own, improve tremendously when they’re served as sparkling aperitifs for summer sipping: fino sherry and white port.

Fino sherry is a fortified wine that comes from the southwest region of Spain near Jerez. Throughout Andalucía, both in spring and summer and especially during festivals, the Spaniards guzzle pitchers of a fino-based drink called a rebujito, a spritzer that’s light on alcohol, incredibly refreshing, and the drink of choice on hot afternoons. Bonus: It’s also easy to make.

Portuguese white port has very few followers in the U.S., and that’s a shame. It’s the otherport: a fortified wine made with white grapes instead of red. The Portuguese drink white port with tonic during the hottest months. It’s a cross-generational cocktail–both the hip kids swarming the outdoor cafés in July and older men whiling away time playing cards top off their pitchers with the mixture.

The rebujito and port-and-tonic are Iberia’s answers to heat-easing summer day-drinking. The NYC summer can feel as steamy as a wet T-shirt competition on Nassau Island, but summer on the the Iberian peninsula sees temperatures high enough to melt the landmass off the European continent. So let’s rejoice that we don’t have it that bad and head to Central Park with a few pitchers of our own.

Rebujito

Easy Recipe
Ice
2.5 ounces fino sherry (Tio Pepe is widely available and popular in Spain)
2.5 ounces chilled 7UP (try the Ten-version for calorie-counters)
lemon slice and mint sprig to garnish

Pour sherry then 7UP into an ice cube-filled highball glass, stir gently, garnish.

Better Recipe
Ice
2.5 ounces fino sherry
1 to 1.5 ounces fresh-squeezed lemon juice (adjust for desired tartness)
1 Tbsp. simple syrup
soda water
lemon slice and mint sprig to garnish

Pour sherry, lemon juice, and simple syrup into an ice-filled highball glass. Stir. Top with soda and stir again, gently. Add garnish. (This makes a fairly tart drink. Add more simple syrup for a sweeter version.)

Port and Tonic
Ice
2 ounces white port
4 ounces good-quality tonic water, such as Fevertree (though Schweppes will do in a pinch)
orange slice and mint sprig to garnish

Pour white port, then tonic into an ice-filled highball glass, stir gently, and garnish.

Where to Try:Macao Trading Co., 311 Church Street, 212-431-8750
Where to Buy: Manley’s Wine & Spirits, 35 Eighth Avenue, 212-242-3712

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February 27, 2013 · 3:47 pm

Pairing Wine and Food: Why Burnt Ends and Châteauneuf-du-Pape Will Stoke Your Palate

Manzanilla and Fino Sherry with Iberian tapas from Tertulia, NYC

Last week, I opened a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape to drink with takeout from Fletcher’s BBQ. I wasn’t really thinking about the pairing, although perhaps “big red and big food” subliminally guided me to pair the Southern Rhône with charred hunks of meat. I’ll leave the review of Fletcher’s to our food experts, but I can say authoritatively that a bite into a burnt end after sipping that wine resulted in a heavenly smoke-and-spice combo reminiscent of a campfire crackling with fat drippings.

This got me thinking about food pairings, which don’t have to be complicated and shouldn’t evoke sitting for the New York Bar Exam. Ignore all those articles offering recipes with esoteric ingredients and overly precise pairings with wines you can’t find. Instead, arm yourself with a few easy concepts to elevate your daily dining from mundane to divine — because eating BBQ should always be a transcendent experience.

Here are the basics:

Match Weight and Body

Heavy foods like a lamb stew or rib roast call for a full-bodied wine, so reds are the usual choice. But the key here is body, so a big white like an oaked California Chardonnay, might be a better match than a daintier red such as Zweigelt from Austria. The same rule applies to lighter foods. Generally, fish is complemented by more delicate wines, so many whites fit the profile, but so can light-bodied, low-tannin reds, thereby debunking the myth “white with fish, red with meat.” Also consider your sauce: fish smothered in lobster and cream is no longer delicate (nor low-fat.) Example: Dolcetto and Cioppino (fish stew with tomatoes)

Marry Flavor to Flavor
Flavor intensity is not the same as weight. A potato is heavy but low on flavor, whereas asparagus is pungent but not hefty. Chardonnay can be full-bodied but low in flavor; Riesling is a lightweight wine with intense flavor. Intensity in both the wine and food should be equivalent, or else one will overpower the other. The cooking method also plays a role in flavor intensity; for instance, steaming versus roasting versus smoking. Example: Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Burnt Ends/BBQ

Pair Acid with Acid
Drink a tannic red wine with a salad dressed in vinaigrette to experience the ultimate food-and-wine clash. Sadly, this combo often leads people to think they don’t like the wine, when in fact the pairing was the problem. Sour flavors in food dull the wine, so you need a lot of acid in your vino to keep things refreshing. When dining, be mindful of acidic ingredients like tomatoes, lemons, limes, apples and vinegar. Example: Sauvignon Blanc and Ceviche

Try Sweet with Sweet
Dry wines can become mouth-puckering and tart when paired with food that possesses even a smidgen of sweetness. Sweet food is best with wines of similar sweetness, whether it be a honey-baked ham with sweet-potato mash or pears poached in red wine. Example: Moscato d’Asti and French Toast with Fruit

Fat and Protein Like Tannin
Most of us non-vegetarians are familiar with the mouthful of magic that occurs when combining a meaty, marbled steak and a powerful, highly tannic red wine. The tannic effect softens when it reacts with the protein and cuts the fat. However, leaner cuts with high protein content, like a tri-tip, don’t need as aggressive a wine; try a Malbec instead. Example: California Cabernet Sauvignon and Grilled Ribeye

Oily and Salty Dislike Tannin
Tannic red wine and an oily fish like mackerel can result in a metallic taste, while tannins turn bitter with really salty foods. Acid cuts through oil (think of an oil and vinegar salad dressing), and salt benefits from the refreshing zip of acidic wines. Salty foods also work well with sweet wines; consider how well pretzels dipped in chocolate or prosciutto and melon go together. Example: Champagne and Potato Chips or Truffle Salt Popcorn

Heat and Sweet
Spicy food is a category ripe for disaster when paired with a high-alcohol or dry, tannic red wine. You’ll start a five-alarm fire in your mouth as alcohol fuels the effect of spice. Instead, lower-alcohol wines with a touch of sweetness keep the heat in check. Example: Off-Dry German Riesling and Sichuan Cuisine

Regional Wine with Regional Food
Try pairing wine and food from the same countries/regions. The locals probably spent centuries perfecting their cuisine, so follow their lead. Example: Manzanilla Sherry and Spanish Tapas

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