14 Tuesday Mar 2017
After a two-hour BUS RIDE FROM HELL we arrived in Sanlúcar with just time to drop off our bags and make it to the first bodega visit. Much later we returned to the hotel to find this lovely room and lovely view. So far not as rainy as I’d feared. More later… 
04 Saturday Mar 2017
Posted in birthdays, food & drink, friends, getaways, sherry
By happy coincidence this Saturday’s sherry cata at the Consejo Regulador in Jerez happened to be on the same day as a combination birthday-farewell party for our friend Momoko, who has been living in Jerez for the past three years. Now that her book research is done she has to return home to Japan, but we are all hoping she will be back in Jerez – her true home – before long. 
Momoko was taken totally by surprise and spent much of the time at her party – at the fabulous Bodegas Faustina González – with happy tears in her eyes. I’m glad I had a chance to see her before she leaves next week. And as always it was great catching up with Jerez friends, and also meeting some new ones.
02 Thursday Mar 2017
At least that was the plan. Today is Peter’s birthday and this is my birthday present to him. It was supposed to be this evening, but then the date got changed to tomorrow. Probably just as well as the birthday boy is still a bit run down and also still on antibiotics (which finish today). So we’re going to pretend that tomorrow is March 2nd instead!
27 Monday Feb 2017
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It’s going to be a very sherry month while I prepare for the Big Event in London. And what better way to start my extra practice than with my friend Silvia, a sommelier, fellow sherry educator, and daughter of a master sherry blender? What’s going on here is simply helping me focus on what I am able to identify and giving that structure.
Aside from doing something similar to this on a daily basis (either at bars or at home) I will also be going to as many tastings as possible. That includes three sherry tastings (two in Sevilla, one in Jerez) over the weekend being given by different bodegas , and a getaway to Sanlúcar mid-month to visit bodegas there. At the moment it seems a bit daunting, but now with “extra added structure” thanks to Silvia, I can take things step by step.
20 Monday Feb 2017
As you may already know… I LOVE MONDAYS. Probably because I love my work. Being freelance, I often don’t even remember what day of the week it is. Except Mondays. Because I just love the idea of starting a fresh new week with lots of possibilities ahead.
Anyhow, this particular Monday was even more special that usual. I was not only invited to the glam Gurmé Awards event, but I was also fortunate enough to attend a special sherry tasting featuring the wonderful manzanillas of Antonio Barbadillo… which made it an extra special Manzanilla Monday. 
The tasting took place at La Cochera de Abuelo, a restored coach that is now available for private gastronomical events. It was a vertical tasting, taking us from the first mosto up to a manzanilla pasada, and as always, I learned a lot. It’s always thrilling to listen to a winemaker talk about their product, their “baby”…
