06/02/10 – Jason loves Sherry
No, he doesn’t have a new girlfriend, or even a new celebrity crush. Jason loves Sherry, that tasty fortified wine also known as Jerez, which hails from the Spanish region of the same name. In fact, Jason loves Sherry so much that he went out and bought a huge lineup of it for Wednesday night’s meeting! All you have to bring to the party is a crisp ten-dollar bill.
“Eww, a whole meeting of just Sherry? But isn’t Sherry, like, really sweet and gross, omg?” No! No it isn’t. See, that’s what everybody thinks, which is probably why people our age never seem to drink any Sherry. According to this article, Sherry imports are down to 200,000 cases a year, 75 percent off their peak in the 1980s, due in no small part to the fact that young people never drink it. Last fall, I was even interviewed by the NPR radio programMarketplace on the topic of Sherry’s dismal sales record among young people (click here for more info about the segment, or to listen!).
Here’s what I basically told the reporter: the only thing that most 20-somethings really know about Sherry is that it’s something our grandmothers drank, and that’s all we feel we need to know. Also, the wine is so stylistically varied (it ranges from bone dry to very sweet) that it can easily fall prey to seeming to suffer an identity crisis in the eyes of young consumers who are used to being able to understand the essence of something from the first example they ever taste. If you try a glass of Harvey’s Bristol Cream (as many people do, their first time), and you decide it’s too sweet, then you’re done with Sherry forever… even if you would’ve loved a super-dry Fino or a Manzanilla.
Come out on Wednesday night to learn more about Sherry! Here’s a brief primer to get you started. All Sherry is fortified (brandy is added), but contrary to popular belief, not all Sherry is sweet. There are several different styles, including:
Fino: pale in color, bitingly dry and delicately flavored
Manzanilla: a variety of Fino, produced on the coast, sometimes possessing a tell-tale saltiness
Amontillado: medium-dry, Amontillado runs darker and nuttier than Fino
Oloroso: darker still, and richer in flavor, this high-alcohol sherry is also medium-dry
Pedro Ximenez, Moscatel, and Cream Sherries are all sweet. As we learned last time, they can become a little overbearing when you try to drink seven or eight in a row.
We’ll be meeting at Jason’s place in Brentwood. To RSVP, simply click will attend. On the day of the event, Jason will send you an e-mail with his address.
Once you’ve gotten your confirmation e-mail, grab yourself a $10 bill, and put your tasting hat on. See you on Wednesday night!