Full marks to my local for stocking fino but nil points for offering me a stale glassful and for looking at me blankly when I asked them to open a fresh bottle. Yup, this week I'm going to bang the drum for sherry.
I'm always willing to shout about sherry. It's one of the world's greatest wines, and one of the most unsung. And it makes perfect pub wine. I'm not talking about the sticky, sickly stuff labelled British Sherry (or worse) usually served in mean little schooners, but the Real McCoy, served in a copita, at the right temperature.
Makes a great aperitif
I can't wait for the day my local decides to stock more than a just couple of sherries. Five would be good. A couple of finos, a manzanilla, an amontillado, oloroso and a Pedro Ximénez (or PX to its mates). Because that's the thing about sherry. As well as making a great aperitif, it's fabulous with food. Head down to Jerez and you'll see everybody knocking back a bottle or two of fino or manzanilla with their lunch (especially during a feria). They're great partners for seafood (and one of my favourite matches for fish and chips), as well as a whole range of other food, from ham to black pudding.
But what of the other sherry styles? Which foods do they go with best? Or rather, what don't they go with as a tasting in London found out. Notting Hill Brasserie's chef Mark Jankel rolled out dishes that included wine's most well-known food enemies among them artichokes, garlic, tomatoes, vinegar, cayenne, truffles, anchovies, eggs and chocolate, while sherry educator, David Furer, lined up 15 different sherries, in seven different styles, from 12 different producers, to see whether sherry would stand up. The answer is yes, they did.
We kicked off with a tarte fine of seared tuna with marinated peppers, heavily garlicked and topped off with a slice of artichoke. Two very different finos, Gonzalez Byass Tio Pepe Fino (Gonzalez Byass 01727 884926) and Osborne Fino Quinta (Hayman, Barwell and Jones, 01473 232322), rose to the challenge, but the former won for its zippier finish.
Pan-fried fillet of red bream with clams, cherry tomatoes and smoked anchovies overwhelmed the classy Hidalgo Pastrana Manzanilla Pasada (Winesource 01225 783007), but packed a punch with Perez Marin La Guita Manzanilla (Berkmann Wine Cellars 020 7609 4711), which had enough acidity to stand up to the dish.
A warm salad of duck confit and heavily cayenne-spiced aubergine demonstrated the versatility of amontillado and particularly the rare (and costly) Sanchez Romate La Sacristia Amontillado VORS (around £21.50, from Eaux de Vie 020 7724 5009), which worked well with the salty confit and the spice, and proved more than a match for the softer Lustau Los Arcos Amontillado (Morris & Verdin 020 7921 5300).
What to do with oloroso
If you've ever wondered what to do with oloroso, try offering it by the glass with roast lamb and game it's a fabulous match. Jankel thought he would try it with roast loin of venison, served with globe artichoke puree and baby veg, while Furer stuck his neck out with two old boys Fernando de Castilla Antique Oloroso (£30, Boutinot, 0161-908 1314) and Valdespino Viejo Oloroso VOS 20 year old (£22, HWCG Wine, 01279 873500).
Actually, it didn't work entirely. While both sherries stood up to the meat, they were pronounced just too rich a combination, and would have been better off with a plate of cheese and a side order of dried fruit and nuts.
The white truffle honey cheesecake wasn't exactly a huge success either. Not the sherry mind Hidalgo's Palo Cortado Viejo VORS (£50, Winesource) and Harveys Palo Cortado (£14.99 Allied Domecq, 01403 222600) can take on truffles any day, but that particular recipe (a first for Jankel) didn't go down too well.
Though the PX, predictably, proved its mettle with chocolate. Both the Fernando de Castillo Antique (£30, Boutino) and the Hidalgo Napoleon 15-year-old (Winesource) worked a treat with the cold chocolate fondant and lavender ice cream.