English Wine in a Nutshell.

This week I have been lucky enough to try some delicious English wines. 

We often hear that English wines are beating Champagne in blind taste tests - but are they really that good?

In a word - yes. Due to global warming (insert debate here) vineyards are popping up over England and Wales and producing some wonderful wines.

Some bloody awful ones too.



Weather getting better?

English wine or British wine? 

Don't be fooled - British wine is really nothing like it sounds.  British wine is either concentrate or must (juice) from pretty much anywhere in the world that has been imported. So avoid this. English, or Welsh, and maybe sometime soon, Scottish wine - is as you'd expect, with grapes grown from said place.

A combination of well selected grapes (that have a stiff upper lip and can deal with our cool climate), well placed vineyards and a bunch of skilled winemakers, means we are producing some really delicious wines that are ever-improving. Vineyards are popping up all over the place, and if wines are anything like these, then we're all in for a treat.

Danebury Reserve, (£12) is utterly scrumptious. From Hampshire, this beautifully wine is aromatic, fruity and well balanced with minerality. It's won a squillion awards, all well deserved. Yum.

English Oak Engelmann Cuvee 2010 (£26.99) is just divine.  At this price it won't be on your weekly shop, but for an occasion (i.e. Valentine's) you should do it.  It's won awards too. It's a lovely warm gold, with fresh fruits and biscuityness on the nose, with green apples and gooseberry on the palate. Drink at any time with any food!

 Denbies Chalk Ridge Rosé 2011 (£11.99). Strawberries, pears and pepper. Elegant and lush. If someone bought me this on Valentine's Day I'd be a happy bunny. 

Chin chin x

Sherry, Sherry Baby

Mini Cheddars + cuppa =
everything is possible.

I always thought I preferred the song to the drink. 

Turns out I was wrong. 

Tasked with tucking into a 'couple' of sherries for my course at 10am this Monday morning, there were definitely other things I'd rather have been doing (like drinking Port. Or whisky. Incidentally, I HAVE discovered this week that whisky, Sauternes and Beernauslese are all yummy on porridge. For another day). 

My thoughts on sherry were probably not dissimilar to those of most other people; Harvey’s Bristol Cream, Christmas, Auntie X singing along to Johnny Mathis.

Very wrong. Look at all these lovelies, which barely scratch the surface.

Fino, Manzanilla, Manzanilla Pasada, Amontillado,
Oloroso, Oloroso Dulce.... who knew?!

So - elephant in the room - sherry is NOT cool. Who cares?  My usual mantra of 'give it a go' applies here - try a few - if you find one you like, it's always good to have a few secret weapons in the old drinks cupboard.

So 'Sherry, Jerez or Xeres' is in an area in Andalucía, SW Spain that has a DO - a restricted area (same as the French AOC/appellation) - for sherry production, so it can only be produced here. This 'DO' protects the specific characteristics of the climate, geography and heritage and produces, some may say, the finest Spanish wines. Sherry is fortified (alcohol is added to it) like many other wines such as Port and Madeira, however sherry is fortified after fermentation, meaning that the drink is naturally dry  (i.e. all the sugars have been turned to alcohol) so any sweetness is usually due to a sweetener (nothing scary - usually just grape must). There are always exceptions, of course. This is bloody wine we are talking about. 

from sherryvinegar.com

So, what's the difference?

Well, there are three main categories. Dry, naturally sweet and blended sweet. All are aged in a barrel system which is topped from the top, then feeds down through the layers. This is called the solera system and helps give this drink it's character; unlike other wines it isn't the grape that adds the character, but the ageing process.

Dry Sherry

You will have heard of a Fino; light, fresh and aged under a layer of 'flor' (yeast) which keeps it fresh and stops it reacting with the air.  If the yeast is allowed to die, the sherry can react a little with the air. This then becomes Amontillado and has the character of both ageing with and without oxygen.

Manzanilla is pretty much Fino, but it comes from a specific place on the coast, Sanlucar de Barrameda, which gives it a slightly different taste to the Fino from Jerez. It can be aged for a little bit, when the yeast begins to die, it slightly oxidises. It is then called Pasada Manzanilla.  

Oloroso is the opposite of Fino in that it has no protective layer of flor, so reacts with the oxygen, giving it a darker colour and a dry, nutty character.

 Palo Cortado is a confusing one as no real guidance on production exists - but it sits somewhere between a Fino and an Amontillado.

Naturally Sweet Sherry

These include Moscadel and Pedro Ximinéz, a naturally sweet, sticky black sherry that goes well with pudding. Or on pudding. Well worth a buy.



Blended Sweet Sherry

Roll out your Nan. These are the Cream Sherry, Pale Creams, and Medium Sherry. Given I've not tried them all, but so far not my bag baby, but knock yourself out. 

Oloroso

What to try?

Ok, interesting wines for the cupboard. Top three from my selection. Many sherries have a distinct character which can take a little to get your head around if you haven't tried it before. Give it a go - you will be pleasantly surprised. 

Number 3: Oloroso (not a sweetened one). I love this. Nutty, bone dry - it is an acquired taste.  But the bottle disappeared after the first few days so I figure Barnett HQ quite liked it. £6 from Tesco (50cl)

Fino

PX - Sticky
and sweet

Number 2: A damn good Fino.  Delicate and fresh, this is very versatile.  £13.99 (50cl) from Waitrose this is 'a rare wine with exceptional finesse and delicacy of aroma'.

Number 1: Pedro Ximinéz. Without a doubt. Luscious, sticky, black and thick, it oozes raisins, sticky figs and dates. Good after dinner on ice cream.  PX is made from drying and concentrating an already ludicrously sweet grape, turning it into this black beauty. A really different wine that is more like a thick, gooey liquor. £7.99 from Sainsbury’s (50cl). Yum.

I can't get to this end and ignore Manzanilla Pasada, so I am adding in a star buy. This was my favourite discovery in this week's tastings.... 

Pasada Manzanilla

Hidalgo Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana, £12.99 from Waitrose. It's a Manzanilla sourced from a single-vineyard, it's dry and with a slight salty tang, character of its maturation on the coast. Pasada refers to the 12 years in oak casks. Enjoy!