Beautiful writing. I'm a fan of Sherry but your writing was so compelling, I want some right NOW!!!
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Jeff, I double dog dare you to go get some and tell us about it...actually, I TRIPLE dog dare you!
Jeff Cleveland
· 2 years ago
Beautiful writing. I'm a fan of Sherry but your writing was so compelling, I want some right NOW!!!
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Jeff, I double dog dare you to go get some and tell us about it...actually, I TRIPLE dog dare you!
Jeff Cleveland
· 2 years ago
I cannot back down from the TRIPLE dog dare!!! It might be one or two days, but mark my words...you WILL get my tasting note!!!!!
Jack
· 2 years ago
Very good article, Gabriella!
Two things: Perhaps you can tell me how to identity a bottle that is fresh, less than 9 months old...? (Yeah, this is the problem...particularly on the West Coast, where many wines take an extra 4-6 months to get here (i.e., East Coast gets it in April, West Coast gets it in October).
Fear of Food is Such a Big Thing in the U.S.
It's funny how the food that people should fear is the food most of them eat regularly.
Wait, I meant sad, not funny.
Jeff Cleveland
· 2 years ago
Jack,
Here's some info on how to decipher freshness from Winecast.net:
To decode the bottling date, look on the back label for a code which starts with “L” and has a series of numbers. There are a couple of variations with either the bottling date and year in 2 digits at the end or the year in one digit at the beginning followed by the bottling date.
Here are a couple examples:
* Osborne: L18406 = bottled in 2006 on the 184th day, or July 3rd.
* Emilio Lustau: L5165 = bottled in 2005 on the 165th day, or June 14th.
Jack
· 2 years ago
Very good article, Gabriella!
Two things: Perhaps you can tell me how to identity a bottle that is fresh, less than 9 months old...? (Yeah, this is the problem...particularly on the West Coast, where many wines take an extra 4-6 months to get here (i.e., East Coast gets it in April, West Coast gets it in October).
Fear of Food is Such a Big Thing in the U.S. It's funny how the food that people should fear is the food most of them eat regularly. Wait, I meant sad, not funny.
Jeff Cleveland
· 2 years ago
Jack,
Here's some info on how to decipher freshness from Winecast.net:
To decode the bottling date, look on the back label for a code which starts with “L” and has a series of numbers. There are a couple of variations with either the bottling date and year in 2 digits at the end or the year in one digit at the beginning followed by the bottling date.
Here are a couple examples:
* Osborne: L18406 = bottled in 2006 on the 184th day, or July 3rd. * Emilio Lustau: L5165 = bottled in 2005 on the 165th day, or June 14th.
Tommy
· 2 years ago
Great uni story. I actually just back from a camping trip along the North California coast with a bunch of friends. We did a lot of diving for abalone and uni, since I was the "new to uni guy" I got volunteered to clean the little urchins. Very messy job indeed but I have a new found respect for those tasty little buggers. I actually brought a bottle of Aurora Manzanilla from Pedro Romero with me, a perfect pair for uni fresh out of the sea. I wonder if you could use sherry or sherry vinegar as a substitute for rice wine vinegar when making your sushi rice and use that for your sushi. Now that sounds like it could be very cool. I'll let you guys know if it works.
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Thanks Jack for the compliment. And as to your comment, let's give a round of applause to Jeff. He is absolutely correct in his assessment of the bottling date. The DO is currently pushing wineries to put the bottling date on all bottles, but it appears as if many prefer expiration date, which is not only backwards but shooting yourself in the foot. If they put the bottling date on the bottle, both the customer and the retailer have more authority to determine if the bottle is still good. But if you put an expiration date on the bottle, like milk, people feel the need to avoid anything past that date. And according the EU, the expiration date only signifies that a particular characteristic inherent in the wine is lost, NOT necessarily that it is a bad bottle.
However, IF the regulation does finally go through to place the bottling date on the bottle, dear god, put it in a straight forward fashion so that I don't need a secret decoder ring to read it! AND if you really want to effect your sales, make your distributor send information with the wine so that retailers know generally what the product is beyond "sherry" and how to sell it.
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Tommy that is hand's down one of the better stories I've heard in awhile! I see no reason why Fino or Manzanilla wouldn't taste equally fantastic with your sushi rice. The only difference being that Sushi vinegar has higher levels of both acidity and sugar, whereby creating a unique flavor, but that wouldn't stop me from trying! Please let us know how it turns out!
Ryan
· 2 years ago
Some wineries have moved the the bottled on model but not in all markets. Tio Pepe here is now labeled with a bottled on date, but I would love to hear if it's made it to the states. Lustau does a similar code to the others: L6345 would be bottled on 2006, on the 345 day...so Since they are one of the biggest producers to export to the US, it's good to know this.
Tommy
· 2 years ago
Great uni story. I actually just back from a camping trip along the North California coast with a bunch of friends. We did a lot of diving for abalone and uni, since I was the "new to uni guy" I got volunteered to clean the little urchins. Very messy job indeed but I have a new found respect for those tasty little buggers. I actually brought a bottle of Aurora Manzanilla from Pedro Romero with me, a perfect pair for uni fresh out of the sea. I wonder if you could use sherry or sherry vinegar as a substitute for rice wine vinegar when making your sushi rice and use that for your sushi. Now that sounds like it could be very cool. I'll let you guys know if it works.
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Thanks Jack for the compliment. And as to your comment, let's give a round of applause to Jeff. He is absolutely correct in his assessment of the bottling date. The DO is currently pushing wineries to put the bottling date on all bottles, but it appears as if many prefer expiration date, which is not only backwards but shooting yourself in the foot. If they put the bottling date on the bottle, both the customer and the retailer have more authority to determine if the bottle is still good. But if you put an expiration date on the bottle, like milk, people feel the need to avoid anything past that date. And according the EU, the expiration date only signifies that a particular characteristic inherent in the wine is lost, NOT necessarily that it is a bad bottle.
However, IF the regulation does finally go through to place the bottling date on the bottle, dear god, put it in a straight forward fashion so that I don't need a secret decoder ring to read it! AND if you really want to effect your sales, make your distributor send information with the wine so that retailers know generally what the product is beyond "sherry" and how to sell it.
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Tommy that is hand's down one of the better stories I've heard in awhile! I see no reason why Fino or Manzanilla wouldn't taste equally fantastic with your sushi rice. The only difference being that Sushi vinegar has higher levels of both acidity and sugar, whereby creating a unique flavor, but that wouldn't stop me from trying! Please let us know how it turns out!
Ryan Opaz
· 2 years ago
Some wineries have moved the the bottled on model but not in all markets. Tio Pepe here is now labeled with a bottled on date, but I would love to hear if it's made it to the states. Lustau does a similar code to the others: L6345 would be bottled on 2006, on the 345 day...so Since they are one of the biggest producers to export to the US, it's good to know this.
RichardA
· 2 years ago
Thanks Gabriella for an interesting, informative and well written post. I do recall seeing an actual bottling date on some Sherry bottles in the U.S., a month and year, though I do not recall the actual producer though it could be Tio Pepe. I will look again when I go to the local wine stores.
RichardA
· 2 years ago
Thanks Gabriella for an interesting, informative and well written post. I do recall seeing an actual bottling date on some Sherry bottles in the U.S., a month and year, though I do not recall the actual producer though it could be Tio Pepe. I will look again when I go to the local wine stores.
RichardA
· 2 years ago
I bought the Nov/Dec issue of Imbibe magazine yesterday as it had an article on Sherry called "Sherry on Top." It talks about the different types of Sherries and the market for sherries. There are tasting notes for 6 Sherries. Craig Camp of the Wine Camp blog is quoted a few times.
One of the most interesting parts is that Sherry can be used to make cocktails, and they offer three examples. There was even a Sherries of Spain Cocktail Contest. Ever heard of that? Have you ever had sherry in a cocktail?
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Hey Richard,
First, I wanted to thank you for your compliment. I enjoyed writing this article and it's nice when it shows through.
As for your question on sherry as a cocktail, YES, we DO know about this. As a matter of fact, we were served Fino with 7up with a twist of lime on our last dinner with the DO. Not particularly my favorite combination, but interesting all the same. There was competition last Tuesday in Jerez for the best cocktail made with sherry. A few culinary and wine teachers from Denmark were in our class, and were hosting a competition with the DO for their culinary students to see which student could create the best sherry cocktail. I'll be sure to email them today to see if we can't get the results!
Any of the examples given int he Imbibe article stand out to you?
RichardA
· 2 years ago
The 2005 winner was the La Perla, which uses tequila reposado, manzanilla sherry and pear liquer.
There was also the Bamboo, combining fino shery with dry vermouth and dash of orange bitters. And the Tuxedo, a martini with gin, fino sherry and dash of orange bitters.
Personally, I might be more interested to see if vodka would mix well with sherry,
RichardA
· 2 years ago
I bought the Nov/Dec issue of Imbibe magazine yesterday as it had an article on Sherry called "Sherry on Top." It talks about the different types of Sherries and the market for sherries. There are tasting notes for 6 Sherries. Craig Camp of the Wine Camp blog is quoted a few times.
One of the most interesting parts is that Sherry can be used to make cocktails, and they offer three examples. There was even a Sherries of Spain Cocktail Contest. Ever heard of that? Have you ever had sherry in a cocktail?
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Hey Richard,
First, I wanted to thank you for your compliment. I enjoyed writing this article and it's nice when it shows through.
As for your question on sherry as a cocktail, YES, we DO know about this. As a matter of fact, we were served Fino with 7up with a twist of lime on our last dinner with the DO. Not particularly my favorite combination, but interesting all the same. There was competition last Tuesday in Jerez for the best cocktail made with sherry. A few culinary and wine teachers from Denmark were in our class, and were hosting a competition with the DO for their culinary students to see which student could create the best sherry cocktail. I'll be sure to email them today to see if we can't get the results!
Any of the examples given int he Imbibe article stand out to you?
RichardA
· 2 years ago
The 2005 winner was the La Perla, which uses tequila reposado, manzanilla sherry and pear liquer.
There was also the Bamboo, combining fino shery with dry vermouth and dash of orange bitters. And the Tuxedo, a martini with gin, fino sherry and dash of orange bitters.
Personally, I might be more interested to see if vodka would mix well with sherry,
Bill
· 2 years ago
I had to mention that the latest issue (December) of Fine Cooking also had an article on Sherry, called "Discover Sherry". Maybe the blogosphere is getting the mainstream to jump on the bandwagon.
How about Amontillado, cognac and cointreau with a spritz of lemon and seltzer? Ok, I just made that up. You've have to charge a lot for one of those!
Bill
· 2 years ago
I had to mention that the latest issue (December) of Fine Cooking also had an article on Sherry, called "Discover Sherry". Maybe the blogosphere is getting the mainstream to jump on the bandwagon.
How about Amontillado, cognac and cointreau with a spritz of lemon and seltzer? Ok, I just made that up. You've have to charge a lot for one of those!
Gene
· 2 years ago
Just stumbled upon your website through this "Fear of Sherry" article. Great site, great article! Having only been introduced to Sherry recently, I'm enjoying this new journey.
The last time I was in the Chicago area, we ate at a small New Orleans style cafe on 7th Street. The turtle soup was sherry based and when they served it, they splashed a little sherry on top. Now I know why the name of the cafe was Heaven on Seven. It was fabulous!
I have a bottle of 1971 PX Gran Reserva I cant wait to open around the holidays. I've heard great things about it. Any secrets, suggestions, or cautions from you would be more than welcome.
Thanks again for your web site, I'm sure I'll be back often.
Gene
· 2 years ago
Just stumbled upon your website through this "Fear of Sherry" article. Great site, great article! Having only been introduced to Sherry recently, I'm enjoying this new journey. The last time I was in the Chicago area, we ate at a small New Orleans style cafe on 7th Street. The turtle soup was sherry based and when they served it, they splashed a little sherry on top. Now I know why the name of the cafe was Heaven on Seven. It was fabulous! I have a bottle of 1971 PX Gran Reserva I cant wait to open around the holidays. I've heard great things about it. Any secrets, suggestions, or cautions from you would be more than welcome. Thanks again for your web site, I'm sure I'll be back often.
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Gene,
It's great to have you aboard! Welcome. Being from Chicago myself, I'm of course, elated that we have a sherry explorer from my old stomping grounds. As for suggestions, cautions or secrets with your PX Gran Reserva, enjoy it. One great lesson we learned while drinking sherry is that old sherries, like the one you have in hand, are unique and beautiful creatures. Their complexity and range of flavors are so ethereal that I might suggest you keep a log over the course of you drinking the bottle of every experience you come across. Why? Because it's fun, and a great way for you to unravel this beverage. I also highly suggest you experiment with food. Maybe put a touch in a reduction sauce, over a dessert, or just drink it alone with a range of different foods to see what your experience is like~! Overall, just enjoy :-) Oh, and tell us all about it!!!!!!!!
Gabriella
· 2 years ago
Gene,
It's great to have you aboard! Welcome. Being from Chicago myself, I'm of course, elated that we have a sherry explorer from my old stomping grounds. As for suggestions, cautions or secrets with your PX Gran Reserva, enjoy it. One great lesson we learned while drinking sherry is that old sherries, like the one you have in hand, are unique and beautiful creatures. Their complexity and range of flavors are so ethereal that I might suggest you keep a log over the course of you drinking the bottle of every experience you come across. Why? Because it's fun, and a great way for you to unravel this beverage. I also highly suggest you experiment with food. Maybe put a touch in a reduction sauce, over a dessert, or just drink it alone with a range of different foods to see what your experience is like~! Overall, just enjoy :-) Oh, and tell us all about it!!!!!!!!
All Comments
Two things: Perhaps you can tell me how to identity a bottle that is fresh, less than 9 months old...? (Yeah, this is the problem...particularly on the West Coast, where many wines take an extra 4-6 months to get here (i.e., East Coast gets it in April, West Coast gets it in October).
Fear of Food is Such a Big Thing in the U.S.
It's funny how the food that people should fear is the food most of them eat regularly.
Wait, I meant sad, not funny.
Here's some info on how to decipher freshness from Winecast.net:
To decode the bottling date, look on the back label for a code which starts with “L” and has a series of numbers. There are a couple of variations with either the bottling date and year in 2 digits at the end or the year in one digit at the beginning followed by the bottling date.
Here are a couple examples:
* Osborne: L18406 = bottled in 2006 on the 184th day, or July 3rd.
* Emilio Lustau: L5165 = bottled in 2005 on the 165th day, or June 14th.
Two things: Perhaps you can tell me how to identity a bottle that is fresh, less than 9 months old...? (Yeah, this is the problem...particularly on the West Coast, where many wines take an extra 4-6 months to get here (i.e., East Coast gets it in April, West Coast gets it in October).
Fear of Food is Such a Big Thing in the U.S.
It's funny how the food that people should fear is the food most of them eat regularly.
Wait, I meant sad, not funny.
Here's some info on how to decipher freshness from Winecast.net:
To decode the bottling date, look on the back label for a code which starts with “L” and has a series of numbers. There are a couple of variations with either the bottling date and year in 2 digits at the end or the year in one digit at the beginning followed by the bottling date.
Here are a couple examples:
* Osborne: L18406 = bottled in 2006 on the 184th day, or July 3rd.
* Emilio Lustau: L5165 = bottled in 2005 on the 165th day, or June 14th.
However, IF the regulation does finally go through to place the bottling date on the bottle, dear god, put it in a straight forward fashion so that I don't need a secret decoder ring to read it! AND if you really want to effect your sales, make your distributor send information with the wine so that retailers know generally what the product is beyond "sherry" and how to sell it.
However, IF the regulation does finally go through to place the bottling date on the bottle, dear god, put it in a straight forward fashion so that I don't need a secret decoder ring to read it! AND if you really want to effect your sales, make your distributor send information with the wine so that retailers know generally what the product is beyond "sherry" and how to sell it.
One of the most interesting parts is that Sherry can be used to make cocktails, and they offer three examples. There was even a Sherries of Spain Cocktail Contest. Ever heard of that? Have you ever had sherry in a cocktail?
First, I wanted to thank you for your compliment. I enjoyed writing this article and it's nice when it shows through.
As for your question on sherry as a cocktail, YES, we DO know about this. As a matter of fact, we were served Fino with 7up with a twist of lime on our last dinner with the DO. Not particularly my favorite combination, but interesting all the same. There was competition last Tuesday in Jerez for the best cocktail made with sherry. A few culinary and wine teachers from Denmark were in our class, and were hosting a competition with the DO for their culinary students to see which student could create the best sherry cocktail. I'll be sure to email them today to see if we can't get the results!
Any of the examples given int he Imbibe article stand out to you?
There was also the Bamboo, combining fino shery with dry vermouth and dash of orange bitters. And the Tuxedo, a martini with gin, fino sherry and dash of orange bitters.
Personally, I might be more interested to see if vodka would mix well with sherry,
One of the most interesting parts is that Sherry can be used to make cocktails, and they offer three examples. There was even a Sherries of Spain Cocktail Contest. Ever heard of that? Have you ever had sherry in a cocktail?
First, I wanted to thank you for your compliment. I enjoyed writing this article and it's nice when it shows through.
As for your question on sherry as a cocktail, YES, we DO know about this. As a matter of fact, we were served Fino with 7up with a twist of lime on our last dinner with the DO. Not particularly my favorite combination, but interesting all the same. There was competition last Tuesday in Jerez for the best cocktail made with sherry. A few culinary and wine teachers from Denmark were in our class, and were hosting a competition with the DO for their culinary students to see which student could create the best sherry cocktail. I'll be sure to email them today to see if we can't get the results!
Any of the examples given int he Imbibe article stand out to you?
There was also the Bamboo, combining fino shery with dry vermouth and dash of orange bitters. And the Tuxedo, a martini with gin, fino sherry and dash of orange bitters.
Personally, I might be more interested to see if vodka would mix well with sherry,
How about Amontillado, cognac and cointreau with a spritz of lemon and seltzer? Ok, I just made that up. You've have to charge a lot for one of those!
How about Amontillado, cognac and cointreau with a spritz of lemon and seltzer? Ok, I just made that up. You've have to charge a lot for one of those!
The last time I was in the Chicago area, we ate at a small New Orleans style cafe on 7th Street. The turtle soup was sherry based and when they served it, they splashed a little sherry on top. Now I know why the name of the cafe was Heaven on Seven. It was fabulous!
I have a bottle of 1971 PX Gran Reserva I cant wait to open around the holidays. I've heard great things about it. Any secrets, suggestions, or cautions from you would be more than welcome.
Thanks again for your web site, I'm sure I'll be back often.
The last time I was in the Chicago area, we ate at a small New Orleans style cafe on 7th Street. The turtle soup was sherry based and when they served it, they splashed a little sherry on top. Now I know why the name of the cafe was Heaven on Seven. It was fabulous!
I have a bottle of 1971 PX Gran Reserva I cant wait to open around the holidays. I've heard great things about it. Any secrets, suggestions, or cautions from you would be more than welcome.
Thanks again for your web site, I'm sure I'll be back often.
It's great to have you aboard! Welcome. Being from Chicago myself, I'm of course, elated that we have a sherry explorer from my old stomping grounds. As for suggestions, cautions or secrets with your PX Gran Reserva, enjoy it. One great lesson we learned while drinking sherry is that old sherries, like the one you have in hand, are unique and beautiful creatures. Their complexity and range of flavors are so ethereal that I might suggest you keep a log over the course of you drinking the bottle of every experience you come across. Why? Because it's fun, and a great way for you to unravel this beverage. I also highly suggest you experiment with food. Maybe put a touch in a reduction sauce, over a dessert, or just drink it alone with a range of different foods to see what your experience is like~! Overall, just enjoy :-) Oh, and tell us all about it!!!!!!!!
It's great to have you aboard! Welcome. Being from Chicago myself, I'm of course, elated that we have a sherry explorer from my old stomping grounds. As for suggestions, cautions or secrets with your PX Gran Reserva, enjoy it. One great lesson we learned while drinking sherry is that old sherries, like the one you have in hand, are unique and beautiful creatures. Their complexity and range of flavors are so ethereal that I might suggest you keep a log over the course of you drinking the bottle of every experience you come across. Why? Because it's fun, and a great way for you to unravel this beverage. I also highly suggest you experiment with food. Maybe put a touch in a reduction sauce, over a dessert, or just drink it alone with a range of different foods to see what your experience is like~! Overall, just enjoy :-) Oh, and tell us all about it!!!!!!!!