Sherry- your thoughts

[changingman]

I had some Pedro Ximinez for the first time a couple of months ago in a posh restaurant in Barcelona. Bloody lovely it was. How easy is it to get hold of in Blighty?

Just off to Borough Market, where there is a big Spanish shop. I'll have a look and report back..

 

[changingman]

I had some Pedro Ximinez for the first time a couple of months ago ....How easy is it to get hold of in Blighty?

Blimey, it is hard to find. None at Borough Market that I could see. It seems it's a type or genus of sherry (like amontillado or oloroso) rather than a brand (like, say, Gonzalez Byass or Hidalgo).
This lot say they have it:
http://www.fortnumandmason.com/shop...egory=PortMadeiraSherry&product=018656&page=3

and as a single malt fan I really now want to try this:
http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com/pr...00005202&cid=VOUQCN8JQU9E1YGWZMW2XA4A23Q56GD8

There, xmas list sorted..
It's a game, this sherry lark, and no mistake..

 

[tobyjug]

Whereabouts in Spain?
Never seen anyone do this in Andalusia.

No idea, but is the suggested method by several sherry producers. I have been drinking sherry with ice for 40 years.

 

[changingman]

I had some Pedro Ximinez for the first time a couple of months ago in a posh restaurant in Barcelona. Bloody lovely it was. How easy is it to get hold of in Blighty?

They've got some in my local Majestic. Made by Hidalgo, £9.99 a bottle.
I plan to get some in to help see me through the Dismal Season.

You might find more here
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

 

[Ms T]

They've got some in my local Majestic. Made by Hidalgo, £9.99 a bottle.
I plan to get some in to help see me through the Dismal Season.

You might find more here
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

Thanks for that, changingman. I too have tracked it down to Fortnums, but I don't go to that part of town very often and haven't got round yet to making a special trip. There are a couple of specialist wine shops in East Dulwich that might have it.

I tried to get a bottle before I left Spain, but unfortunately when we got to Girona all the bodegas were shut because it was Monday and their morning off.

 

[changingman]

I tried to get a bottle before I left Spain, but unfortunately when we got to Girona all the bodegas were shut because it was Monday and their morning off.

That'll learn yah. Bloody Europeans. I once drove all the way from Dijon to just south of Paris with a busted passenger-side windscreen (after being robbed) until the garages opened again after their 2-hour lunch.
Here's the Majestic one. You can order online (so long as you buy a case of wine also, I'd imagine..)

 

[dormouse]

...Me I'm partial to a drop of highly chilled Manzanilla.. fino with a little tang of the sea...

Lovely stuff... good with salted almonds. Or anchovies. Or sweet cured (I think) herring. Mmmm...

 

[lang rabbie]

The Waitrose sherries are great. The Palo Cortado is superb. Haven't seen PX there for a while though.

Allegedly they have Perez Barquero Gran Barquero Montilla (not strictly a sherry, but made wholly from from Pedro Ximenez grapes) in again this winter. It is lush.

 

[chooch]

Allegedly they have Perez Barquero Gran Barquero Montilla (not strictly a sherry, but made wholly from from Pedro Ximenez grapes) in again this winter. It is lush.

I'll be having some of that.

 

[chooch]

They've got some in my local Majestic. Made by Hidalgo, £9.99 a bottle.

It's not bad- had a few bottles last year.
I've also occasionally seen the ridiculously good (but not cheap by a long mark) Gonzalez Byass Noé at some places. Incredible stuff.

 

[Phototropic]

Sherry is yum, though I rarely drink it. My mum used to give me the sweet stuff when I was a kid.

 

[Zinedine*]

Sherry is the juice of evil snow goblins and only any good in trifle

 

[chooch]

Sainsbury's are currently flogging a very fine Barbadillo PX as sticky pudding wine round my way, again. Lovely stuff.

 

[Rohen]

Harveys Bristol Cream? or that sherry that was always advertised with that guy in the monocle?

 

[ada]

I don't understand sherry i don't know what they all are and what I'd like

Sherry types relate to how dry they are / how flavoured they are.

Basically, Fino is pale, very dry, I'm terrible with flavour descriptions, it seems to me to be sort of flat and sharp; manzanilla is a variant with a more delicate taste, slightly less sharp. Amontillado is a bit heavier, darker brown in colour, denser, people say nutty taste. Oloroso is a softer & richer tasting version, less sharp than the fino/manzanilla/amontillado set.

More info: http://www.tastings.com/insiders_club/best_producers.lasso?na=Spain&ty=Wines of Jerez (Sherry)

The sort of stuff people in the UK (who don't drink sherry) often seem to think of when you say sherry is like an oloroso but with lots of sugar added, it doesn't bear all that much relation to 'proper' sherry.

 

[chooch]

The sort of stuff people in the UK (who don't drink sherry) often seem to think of when you say sherry is like an oloroso but with lots of sugar added, it doesn't bear all that much relation to 'proper' sherry.

Aye. Foul mostly. Even worse- a pale sherry with a spoonful of sugar, like Croft Original.
Proper cream sherries/oloroso dolces are perfectly respectable- should be oloroso with a dollop of PX, rather than a spoonful of sugar.

 

[Cloud]

Drinking sherry gave me the only hangover in which I woke up covered in vomit!

I admit to being around 16 at the time and I did neck the best part of a bottle but the ensuing head pounding vomit choking hangover I recieved was enough to put me off the stuff for life.