Sherry is one of the styles of wine that confuses so many in the wine industry, but not due to the complexity of production or the arcane markings and machinations of the Sherry Bodegas, but due to its lack of global popularity. A wine that’s so intense, complex, refreshing and food friendly at the same time should be flying off the shelves, yet for a number of reasons, it seems destined to spend at least a few more years in relative obscurity. Darling of the sommeliers but without the demand it deserves? It wasn’t always so.

Sherry isn’t just one of Spain’s most unique and quality wines, it also has a wealth of history that’s rarely matched in the rest of the country. The town of Jerez was likely founded as early as 1100BC, and vines have been a part of the landscape ever since, being perhaps the first wine to enter North America, a hugely popular drink in Elizabethan England and only interrupted by the constant warfare that plagued the world during this period. Sales probably peaked in the 1970s, with Britain and Holland being the two largest export markets, but have slumped ever since – the sales trend graph since the beginning of the 1980s would make a professional skier take a second look down the slope!

It’s a potential MW exam question: “How could Sherry revive its fortunes, both locally and internationally?”. There’s lots of ways you could approach it, but the Consejo Regulador of Jerez-Xeres-Sherry aren’t waiting around for the answers; they’ve already began! Starting in 2014, they’ve backed an International Sherry Week, where they work hard to help organise and sponsor events around the world, in celebration of this delicious wine. It’s a simple but well executed plan, to increase visibility and excitement about Sherry, and it seems to be working. I’ve been aware of the initiative since I heard Peter Liem talking about it on Levi Dalton’s Podcast, and last year I did get out to a couple of bars to try and enjoy some wines that you wouldn’t normally see in Barcelona, but I hadn’t had the opportunity to take part properly.

Fortunately, that changed this year as I had the chance to do an online tasting of some rare, vintage Sherry. This initiative was coordinated through Ruben of Sherry Notes, an excellent online resource for all things Sherry related, and a website I used a lot when I was studying for the WSET Diploma Unit 6 exams. The idea was to join in the discussion on Twitter, taste through the wines together and add your thoughts. I’d never done anything like it before, but just looking at the samples that Ruben sent out was enough to get me excited; Vintage Sherry still isn’t a hugely common product, with most being a mixture of several vintages via a traditional solera system, and we were trying wines that went back as far as 31 years (1987 Palo Cortado). I don’t drink as much Sherry as I should, despite being a huge fan, and this initiative was enough to reboot my love for it, and I’m flicking through Julian Jeffs ‘ Sherry’ most nights before I fall asleep now. If International Sherry Week can have that impact more broadly, it’ll be a resounding success!

Here are some notes on the wines we tasted. Note that the samples were sent out in small, medicine bottles so no beautiful bottle-shots, I’m afraid!

Bodegas La Callejuela Manzanilla 2012 4/11
I’m told the first ever vintage Manzanilla Sherry in modern times! 11 butts of the 2012 must were separated with one bottled per year. This was the 4th barrel, hence 4/11. 15% ABV

Slightly darker in colour than your typical Manzanilla and subtly different on the nose, too, with hints of both the protective layer of flor, yet some slight oxidative notes as that slowly peels away, 4 years into the process. Dried apples, roasted almonds, hay and briney notes waft out of the glass, a little wilder than typical, although the tangy, salty flavours come through more strongly on the palate. Slightly spicy on the finish, and very long indeed. A very different Manzanilla, and one that I’m quite taken with! 93Pts

Valdespino Macharnudo Alto Palo Cortado 2000
A Palo Cortado from a single vintage, single vineyard and even single cask. Started as a Fino Sherry and was fortified to 17% once the flor expired, increasing in alcoholic strength by 3% over the following 20 years due to evaporation. 20% ABV

Darkly tinted copper in the glass and oh, what a nose. Dried orange peel, roasted walnuts, caramel are bolstered by the peaty, salty aromas underpinning it all; incredible to have such a strong Fino character 18 years later! A wonderful combination of oxidative and salty characters on the palate, deep and textured yet tangy and fresh, with the salted toffee and caramel flavours lasting for minutes on the finish. A powerful, characterful Palo Cortado, quite unlike any Sherry I’ve tried before. I’m told only 500 bottles were made. 95Pts

Williams & Humbert Colección Añadas Oloroso 2001
A Oloroso Sherry from the 2001 vintage, bottled in April 2017. Made from free-run juice from two separate Pagos; Añina and Carrascal. 21% ABV

Darkly coloured, broad, lifted and aromatic; it certainly fits the bill of an Oloroso! Roasted walnuts, mahogany wood, shoe polish, caramel and toffee; polished and savoury on the nose. A touch of sweetness on the palate, and all the mouth-coating, intense flavours you’d expect from older Oloroso. Softly spicy and even a touch of saltiness on the finish. Lovely. 94Pts

Gonzalez Byass Palo Cortado 1987
A selection of two barrels that had undergone 6 years of biological aging under flor yeast, then 22 years of oxidative ageing, before being bottled en rama. 21% ABV

Distinctly brown in colour and remarkably lifted on the nose, given its age. Orange marmalade, cinnamon spice, varnished wood, caramel, toffee and old books lift out of the glass, with a slight note of burnt wood peeking through. Then on the palate, this is concentrated, salty and endlessly flavoursome, with the alcohol superbly well integrated into the wine. Powerful, long, complex and majestic; one of the best Sherries I can remember ever tasting. 97Pts

Lustau Añada 2000
A sweet Sherry with a bit of a difference; made from over-ripe Palomino grapes, which are pressed then matured in an Oloroso style before the fermentation is halted, and the wine is fortified to 18% ABV. A bit like a PX wine, but made using Palomino grapes instead. 21% ABV, 210g R/S.

Deep amber in colour, and whilst still aromatic, this is deeper in profile and less lifted than the Sherries before it. Dried raspberries, walnuts, treacle toffee and hints of bonfire on the nose, then deeper and bolder on the palate, with real softness thanks to the high level of residual sugar. Despite the sweetness, this isn’t cloying and there’s even a bit of tension on the palate, with the acidity doing a great job of balancing the sugar. 92Pts

The next time Sherry Week rolls around, be sure to stay abreast of the events they’re organising world-wide through their wonderful online resource.