Tags
Amontillado, Fino, Guindilla, Manzanilla, Oloroso, Palo Cortado, Pedro Ximénez, Sherry, Spain
Sunday, May 26th 2013 was the very first World Sherry Day. A day where Sherry was celebrated with events throughout 29 countries.
World Sherry Day was founded in Jerez by Sherry educator Wolfgang Hess.
The vision was clear: connect Sherry enthusiasts globally, share the secrets of Sherry through demystifying old perceptions and inject new visions.
World Sherry Day payed homage to one of the oldest wine-making industries in the world as well as creating awareness about an often misunderstood drink.
We long ago decided to celebrate World Sherry Day at Movida Next Door. How could we resist. Six sherries matched with six tapas prepared by executive chef, Frank Camorra!!. Sounds like 2FF heaven – almost as good as celebrating the day in Spain. We were fortunate to be joined by our Movida buddies N & G.
Arriving in Hosier Lane, we were filled with much anticipation and excitement. Soon we were inside and being handed our first sherry, waiting for the first sitting to finish up – it seemed all very casual – just the way we like it. This first sherry was a Manzanilla – white wine in color and 15% in alcohol. It was topped up a few times and set the tone for the rest of the day which ended in the need for us to “get a room” in the city.
I wont pretend to be a sherry expert. Suffice to say that as we progressed through them they become gradually darker, sweeter and richer in flavour. We finished with our favourite a Pedro Ximenez. They were all very drinkable and perfectly matched with the food. We seemed to be the only table content on finishing our sherries rather than just tasting them – probably a faux pas but it was fun.
The food was of course spectacularly good – “Shapas” as I like call it.
The oyster dish was simple but tasted like the ocean, as if we had prized the oyster from a rock ourselves that very moment and mixed in some seaweed lying near by.
Our little burgers, matched with a Fino sherry, were superb. FF2 particularly enjoyed the Guindilla – a small spanish pepper that reminded her of food her grandparents used to cook.
The Jamon dish was matched with a Amontillado. Its the 2FF’s type of food – nothing more to say.
The Palo Cortado sherry came with a beautiful Duck Consumme and Duck Liver Parfait.
FF1’s favourite dish was the Braised Lamb neck served in and with an Oloroso sherry. It was so flavoursome and tender – when I look at the picture I salivate and want to eat it again and again.
Dessert was a beautifully constructed and tasting Chocolate Marquise. But it was the Pedro Xeminez Grand Reserva 1985 that we had all been waiting for. Its the darkest and richest of all the sherries and one that the 2FFs are most familiar with. It’s good – too good. Such a great way to finish this event.
All in all it was a fantastic event and just the sort of thing the 2FFs seek out. Our experience was made all the more interesting by our very own sherry expert – David and the fact we shared our day with N & G.
It has made our desire to get back to Spain even stronger – we will at least return knowing a lot more about tapas and sherry.
As I alluded to before, the 2FFs ended up a little shizzled. This led to us staying in the city for the night and created the opportunity to tick off another experience of our list – Chin Chin ! But that is for another blog entry coming soon.