So this came about with a bit of luck and happenstance (and a lot of work on my part!). Back in April I was contacted by two guys in London who were planning a stag weekend in Sevilla for their friend BUT they assured me they were cultured serious people who loved good food and wine and were hoping I could provide them with a “classy stag evening”.  To be honest I had shut down at the word “stag” since I do not do that sort of thing but then they won me over, especially after one of the guys told me “and we like to read!”. There would be ten of them. What could I come up with?

First of all, I don’t do groups of ten. I seldom even reach my limit of six. Usually I take out 2-4 people at a time because that’s how I like it and that’s also how I think my guests will have the best experience. But this wasn’t a food and wine tour… it was a challenge. What could I offer ten cultured and well-read wine lovers? In the end I think what I put together was quite amazing. And it turned out that the guys were all amazing too.

First up was a sherry tasting with food pairings (the only kind I do, actually), followed by a cava tasting with oysters and other snacks at a second stop before heading out for a “tapas dinner” at one of the finest tapas bars in town. Originally I was supposed to take care of the sherry tasting and my guide would then take our guests to the other two stops before leaving them to finally “let loose” in the Alameda. But rather last minute the guide couldn’t make it so I ended up doing the whole thing myself. Can I tell you? I’m way too old for this! Starting off at 6 pm and then rolling home just before 2 am (where did the time go??). But I have to say it was a lot of fun, the guys had a great time too, and I am keen to (at least) do this particular sherry tasting again.

I’ve been doing my regular sherry tastings at one of my favourite traditional tapas bars here, and it’s fabulous. We start early at midday so that by the time the bar is filling up we are done. The food and service is great, as are the sherries. So this new one wouldn’t take the place of the other, it would become another option, because it’s quite different. First of all, it would happen late afternoon while most bars are closed between lunch and dinner, so it would be a private space. The wines would be exclusively from one sherry house and the food perfectly paired gourmet bites of deliciousness. During this “trial” tasting I couldn’t believe how perfect everything was, including the service, which was seamless. I meant to take photos of all the bites with the wines but I was so caught up in the actual tasting that I didn’t want to break the flow to pause and snap some pics. But next week we are going to do a photo shoot of the tasting (so excited). Stay tuned!