Having watched Rick Stein waxing lyrical about it I fancy giving sherry a go.

I’ve always enjoyed a glass with the mother in law at Christmas but I realise that this was cream sherry and is probably equivalent to telling a real ale enthusiast that I like John Smith’s.

What decent, easy drinking, widely available, more sophisticated than Croft Original sherry should I look at?

Ta.

The Sainsbury own brand half bottles are a good place to start. The contents are usually rated as good by the trade and will give you an intro to the different styles.

Pedro Ximenez; treacly gorgeousness.

And, as demonstrated at the Finca we toured in Jerez, Croft Original/Harveys Bristol Cream type sherries, when served over ice with a slice of orange, are a very nice aperitif indeed.

Watches with interest……

Frigo I think it is called – iced sherry! Mmmm

We usually keep a bottle of a very dry sherry (Fino) in the fridge. A nice tipple when carving the roast and making the gravy. Also a good accompaniment to tapas. Chorizo, prawns, Jamon pata negra etc.

Tio Pepe Fino is the classic choice (Jerez), But a Manzanilla like Gitana is equal, if not better. The small bottles of Tesco Finest are usually good.

A little less dry, and a bit more nutty and flavoursome, are Oloroso and Amontillado. These can be dry or sweet. The little finest bottles are usually at the dry end. Very good.

I wouldn’t bother with the well-known brands like Harveys and Croft. Tend to be designed for the traditional British palate.

We boycotted Tio Pepe for a while after doing the Gonzalez Byass bodega tour in Jerez. It turned an icon into a commodity. But then the Co-op was flogging it off at half price. What price principles, indeed.

Yup – usually a bottle of Fino or Manzanilla in the fridge in our house. Sainsburys taset the difference fino is quite nice as is the Gitana. Majestic do a good range.
We tend not to use sherry glasses but serve it in a tumbler with ice. The size of the tumbler is up to you.

I love a nice fino or manzanilla, not been so fussed with the others but have enjoyed a drop of PX with my pud when in Andalucia.

Look out for this if you’re an Aldi shopper…

Otherwise Tio Pepe is a reliable and widely available fino.

La Gitana is the best-known brand of manzanilla and is lovely.

Try to get hold of some boquerones to go with it…

This

“La Gitana is the best-known brand of manzanilla and is lovely.”

Fino or Amontillado – must be cold – with tapas.
Pedro Ximenez (PX) is sweet, dark, rich and fabulous.
Matusalem and Apostoles – both from Gonzales Byass – are great but expensive at about £20 for half bottle.

As above, Cold Manzanilla!

I’m no expert but M&S Pedro Ximinez Very Rare in the smaller bottles is wonderful, liquid, Figgy goodness.

Another shout for chilled La Gitana Manzanilla with starters or nibbles (or just while cooking!). An Oloroso is a nice pudding wine. I’ve gone off Fino which I used to love, I prefer the body of Manzanilla.

Love a glass of Croft Original before Sunday lunch.

sherry and clams is well tasty

Cheers folks, I’ll pick something up at the weekend.

I always used to like Dune, but I’m not sure it’s available any more.

M&S PX is from Lustau, cracking producer. Their Almacenista is bloody excellent, not sure if M&S do that,but easy enough to find elsewhere.

I concur with the La Gitana Manzanilla chat.

This is well worth a browse as an accurate insight of all things Sherry

Very much partial to a Palo Cortado which is extremely complex and somewhere between an oloroso and amonillado. This is a cracking example for the money Pedro’s

Quite partial to a Fino

Late to the party here the others have covered it. Many different types of Sherry, I suppose it’s fair to say Sweet / Cream Sherry is like Blue Nun to decent wine. Just experiment a bit, wonderful variety available.

Sweet cream sherry is delicious.
Yes, yes there are more complex flavours and we’re all supposed to enjoy the dry stuff, but using an ice cream analogy, nothing quite beats a 99 with a flake.

Remove the snobbery and indulge!

Talking about ice cream. Pour a small amount of Pedro Ximinez over a good vanilla ice cream, delicious. I used to be a member of a wine club, & one of the members is a master of wine & a sherry “expert”. She put on a sherry tasting for the club & matched each one with food. It was one of the best evenings we had at the club. I hadn’t realised that sherry comes in so many different flavors.

Tried a Tesco’s Finest Amontillado last night. Very nice if initially confusing for a whisky drinker. Smells like it should be sweet but isn’t, smells like it should come with a spirit kick but doesn’t.

Could this be the beginning of a beautiful friendship?