Why don't people drink more sherry? I just wrote a little intro article for Suite 101, and it got me to pondering this one. It used to be (not too long ago) that riesling drinkers were a bit of a secret society. No one really talked about it out loud, but there was a cohort of winemakers and sommeliers who would break open amazing bottles behind closed doors. I believe this is happening with sherry (or will, if you & I will it!). We are witnessing the leading edge of a sherry explosion in the next couple of years. Or at the very least, my quixotic quest to make it so...
Here are some clues that I might be on to something.
Clue # 1 - The Party
Jeff had a party a few months ago. Much wine was consumed, as usual, but at one point in the night, a bottle fino sherry came out. Who brought it? I'm not sure. Was it downed quickly by a small corner of wine geeks? Absolutely.
Clue #2 - The Winelists
Amberly & I had an impromptu dinner at Nopa several weeks ago where, tucked in the middle of the by-the-glass list was a Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla. This is not your ordinary Tio Pepe! A shared glass made for a killer start to dinner. More recently, we shared some Saturday afternoon cocktails with friends at Absinthe. This time, not one but three dry sherries on the very first page of the cocktail/wine menu, with their own section heading, even! There were two or three more listed in the dessert section. As Arlo Guthrie might say, this is the beginning of a revolution, my friends. The Lustau Dry Oloroso was delish.
Clue #3 - The Wine Shops
In between those two restaurant visits, A & set out to procure a bottle of fino for Friday evening tapas. Our neighborhood wine bar scene is non-existent (will someone please open a wine bar in the Castro?), so we hit the shops in the neighborhood. I am happy to report that fino is so in demand, that Swirl on Castro was sold out! They did have a couple of other yummy-looking choices, but we passed on to the Castro Village Wine Shop. While their sherry selection was a bit dusty (come on folks - time to take the sherry out from behind the counter!), we did find a fine bottle of Lustau Papirusa Manzanilla. Yum and yum again! My only complaint is that it wasn't cold... Despite that, this officially counts as a social movement!
There you have it, folks: very real proof of a sherry popular revolt! Let the streets flow with fino! Let the masses imbibe PX! Oloroso to the people!
Links
My Sherry Article
A Great Article on Fino
Nopa
Bodegas Hidalgo Manzanilla
Absinthe
Swirl on Castro
Lustau
Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant (YouTube Link)
Comments