Category Archives: sherry

new wine tasting venue!

05 Thursday Sep 2019

Posted by in sevilla, sherry, wine, work

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How cool is this? It’s the ceiling of the patio inside the uber-cool hotel where my friend Javi Abascal has just relaunched his restaurant Lalola Taberna Gourmet. When I was there last week we not only had a fabulous time trying his new menu, we also talked about the possibility of me giving my wine tastings there. Turns out it’s perfect because it’s quite central and there’s a section of the restaurant that can be closed off for me, though for the most part the tastings will be held outside of usual dining hours.

We talked about what wines I wanted to present and he is going to organise the food, so that we have great little snacks to go with the wines. I’m really excited about this. I would actually love to do more tastings. So fingers crossed that these will start taking off!

rafael

03 Saturday Aug 2019

Posted by in friends, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars

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raphael

I’ve known Rafael almost forever and he is without a doubt one of my favourite people in Sevilla. Some of you might recognise him as “the best jamón cutter in town” from posts on my blog and instagram. He is also the person who changed my life in terms of sherry by one day giving me a glas of VORS palo cortado by Bodegas Tradición, which led to me going on to become a Sherry Educator. But I know him best as just one of the loveliest guys ever, always willing to chat and share his stories about growing up in Sevilla.

Back in June I noticed that I hadn’t seen Rafael at his usual jamón cutting station at Las Teresas (aka My Happy Place) for some time, but assumed he was on summer holidays. Then July came and still no sign of him, so I asked where he was. Turned out he had suffered a heart attack (!!!) and was on medical leave of absence, which has since turned into retirement. But I was told he was fine and still popped by the bar most days, usually in the early afternoon.

So of course I was thrilled to run into him at Teresas this week. I think it was the first time I’d ever seen him without his usual white shirt and dark tie “uniform” and, while he looked a bit thinner he insisted that he was feeling fine and enjoying his early retirement. It’s funny how some people can feel like such an important part of your life even though they aren’t actually “close friends” as such. So while I know I will continue to miss seeing Rafael behind the bar, I am so happy and relieved that he is okay and doing well. Though my Happy Place won’t be the same without him.

phoebe & oli

09 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by in food & drink, friends, sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours

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Although I have met up with Phoebe & Oli a few times while visiting London, and they have both been to Sevilla separately, this is the first time we have all met up together here. Yay!

It was a lovely day starting off with – what else? sherry and jamón – which led to a lunchtime tapeo (Las Teresas, La Barra del Inchausti, Palo Cortao). Finishing around 5 pm we took a break before meeting up again at 8.30. The plan had been to introduce them to Esteban and his fabulous vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre and then leave them to have dinner elsewhere, but somehow one vermouth led to another, and we finished up eating rabbit ribs at La Azotea at 11 pm. Like you do.

These guys are doing a Spain roadtrip before they head back to London, pack up, and move to Australia, where Phoebe is from. So I guess that means no more London meet ups, but they assure me they will be back to Spain again before too long.

harveys bristol cream revisited

06 Saturday Jul 2019

Posted by in getaways, sevilla, sherry

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This weekend the Consejo Regulador’s Sherry Academy was holding one of its wonderful “sherry 101” tastings in Jerez, this time featuring the Premium range by Harveys, so off I went for a quick Jerez Getaway, which included lunch at the marvelous Mantúa, but more on that later.

Poor Harveys Bristol Cream has suffered from a bad rep over the years, largely due to grannies pouring a glass of it at Christmas and then leaving it in the cupboard until the next Christmas. And frankly, any wine would be undrinkable kept in those conditions. In fact, the cream style of sherry was invented by Harveys and, unlike most creams which are a blend of oloroso (75%) and PX (25%), Bristol Cream adds fino and amontillado to the recipe, making it a more complex wine than the others. Recently the iconic blue label has had a makeover. The new bottle features a thermochromic ink logo, which changes colour as it hits the perfect serving temperature. When the sherry is cold and ready to be poured, the Harveys logo on the label will turn blue.

All the wines were excellent, with possibly the amontillado being my favourite… tough call. And as always, the presentation was interesting and informative. The monthly tastings, excellent value at 12€, start up again in October.

Harveys was founded in Bristol in 1796 by merchant William Perry. During the 19th century, Harveys became one of the largest importers of sherry from the Bay of Cadiz to the port of Bristol. Harveys Bristol Cream, created in 1882 by John Harvey II and his brother Edward, is the result of a meticulous selection of over 30 blends of Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado and Pedro Ximenez grape. It is aged in American oak casks using the traditional system of soleras and criaderas and is a global icon of sherry.

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