Forget the grannies, drink sherry

Poor sherry – It’s had a bad time really. Generations of drinkers, including myself have mistakenly dismissed sherry as dry, spirity and wholly unpleasant or as a sickly sweet Granny’s drink. But a sherry revolution is upon us. Haven’t you noticed them creeping into the Aperitif and Fortified Wine sections on the wine list in your favourite restaurant? Don’t be afraid. Try some. Some sherries are light and dry, but others are surprisingly rich, raisiny, and unctuous and on the whole, they are fantastically diverse.Sherry, native to Spain, is produced in the province of Andalusia, specifically, around the town of Jerez de la Frontera and has been produced there since the Middle Ages. Like French Champagne, in 1996 the EU ruled that only wines produced in the Jerez region could carry the name of sherry. Sherry can be categorized into four main categories: Fino and Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso and Pedro Ximanez.Fino and Manzanilla are light, crisp, nutty, bone dry and are served chilled.An Amontillado is still dry, but has more body and a very slight sweetness where as Oloroso has even more body and a mild sweetness.As for Pedro Ximanez, often referred to as PX, it is more characteristically linked to our Australian Muscat in its boldness and complexity. It is dark mahogany in colour, viscous and full of raisiny richness. PX takes its name from the grapes used to produce it, which are, unlike other sherries, sundried before use. According to the crew at Rathdowne Cellars, who are the premier stockists of Spanish sherry in Australia, PX is the only wine to match perfectly with chocolate. It is also said to be sensational when poured over good quality vanilla ice-cream and I have had particular success when matching it with cheeses. Some Australian winemakers use Pedro Ximanez grapes to make fortified wines and some winemakers in Rutherglen and the Barossa Valley make the wine itself, although they don’t tend to make it in the same fashion as the Spanish. Other sherry styles include Moscatel, Cream Sherry (The kind granny would have been drinking) and Palo cortado, the former two being sweeter styles and the latter a rare and accidental breed of sherry.Tasting Notes:Lustau Los Arcosa Amontillado $26Pale in colour, light, crisp and nutty with a clean finish. A good aperitif.LustauDon Nuno Oloroso $42Amber in colour, almonds on the nose. Still light and fresh like the Amontillado but with more warmth and a very subtle sweetness.Valdespino Pedro Ximanez $27Dark and rich looking and smells of raisins, nicely rounded sweetness, but lacking the length of palate characteristic of our Muscats.Gonzalez Byass Pedro Ximanez $60/$105.Also dark and rich in colour and with more age than the last wine it is more viscous. Stewed prunes on the nose and full bodied flavours of raisins and honey. Fantastic length.Prices from Rathdowne Cellars