Tag Archives: jerez

copa jerez 2017 | forum & finals

13 Tuesday Jun 2017

Posted by in andalucia, food & drink, gastronomy, sherry, spain, wine

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, ,

Day two of the Copa Jerez started with an early tasting of sherries with jamón Ibérico, regional cheeses and tuna dishes. Not a bad “second breakfast”!

This was followed by a Tempura vs Fritura competition, which was quite fun (and tasty) with chefs from Tokyo and El Puerto de Santa María battling it out on stage.

copa jerez forum (2)Tempura vs Fritura

After that it was off to the showroom where there were over 200 brands on offer. Of course for Tomoko and me this was really more a chance to say hi to our bodega friends and otherwise socialize. Then it time to catch our late afternoon train and meet up with Peter in El Puerto de Santa María.

Tomoko & Silvia (González Byass)

Rocío & Mario (Bodegas Urium)

[photo by the Sherry Council]

I’ll be writing about the Copa Jerez in more detail over on Azahar Spain, but no doubt you’ll be wondering who won the competition… and it was Team Holland!

Podium onder de Dom
Chef: Leon Mazairac
Somm: Goos van den Berg

  • “Zeeland” oyster with green olive gelée and cream of sardine, dressed with chilli oil and Iberian ham sauce. Paired with Manzanilla Pasada La Goya / Bodegas Delgado Zuleta
  • Dutch rabbit crépinette seasoned with masala spices and carrot and orange cream. Paired with Oloroso El Cerro / Bodegas Callejuela
  • Caramel flower and porcini with a Sherry Vinegar and Jerez Brandy reduction on aged Oudwijker cheese from the region of Utrecht. Paired with Medium Mons Urium / Bodegas Urium

Congratulations!

copa jerez 2017 | concierto & cata

12 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by in andalucia, flamenco, music, sherry, spain

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

I was a bit “last minute” getting things organized to attend this year’s Copa Jerez. Actually, what happened was that both my friend Tomoko @fu_yan and I had made the same mistake while registering online, so it turned out that we weren’t registered at all! Thankfully the good people at the Consejo Regulador said we could get passes for the second day of the two-day event (the first day was fully booked), and would be able to attend the forums and showroom. I got to Jerez on the first day (to save having to take a 7am train on Tuesday) and I’m so glad I did.

What happened was this! Another Jerez friend Pilar @enosherry was working as a guide/translator with the Copa Jerez international competitors and was told she’d be leaving them at the Claustros de Santo Domingo for a sold-out concert & cata, and then would pick them up afterwards to take them to the dinner venue at the end of the first day’s activities. We arranged to meet up at La Moderna across from the Claustros while the concert was on, and Tomoko and I decided to go a bit earlier to have a snack. Then while we were waiting for Pilar she sent us a message saying that there were a few empty seats at the concert and we should come over.

The “concert & cata” format has been kicking around the sherry triangle for awhile, with different sherries paired with different flamenco styles, but this night it was extra special. Josep Roca was our host along with Diego del Morao on guitar. But not just any guitar – this one was the last guitar Paco de Lucía had commissioned, but sadly never got to play as he tragically died before it was completed. I have to say it was a very moving and beautiful (and delicious!) experience. Also perfectly coordinated with a small army of waiters bringing the next sherry to us just as the next musical piece began. Well done, Consejo!

fabiola

09 Friday Jun 2017

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

I first met fellow sherry educator (and professional venenciadora) Fabiola Bonke @spanjetotaal a couple of years ago at a casual sherry tasting held at Bodegas Faustino Gonzalez @cruzviejajerez in Jerez, which had been organized by my friend Tomoko @tomokotours. Fabiola is Dutch, but her parents are both Spanish, and she has become the most important sherry expert in Holland. Awhile back she got in touch saying she was going to be in Jerez for the Copa Jerez finals and would be staying overnight in Sevilla on the way.

So I recommended a couple of nice reasonably priced hotels and she chose one that is literally a stone’s throw from my house. And so just after she arrived and got settled in I picked Fabiola up for a sherry-based Tapeo Extremo. Our first stop was Las Teresas, my favourite place for both ambiance and jamón Ibérico de Bellota. They also have some excellent sherries.

After that we carried on to two more bars – Bodeguita Romero and La Cata Ciega, sampling amazing sherries and tasting delicious tapas. And all the while talking talking talking… what a lovely evening. And the good news is that we will be meeting up again in Jerez because I am also going to be at Copa Jerez. Yay!

tío pepe challenge 2017

19 Friday May 2017

Posted by in food & drink, getaways, sherry, spain

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

[click on image to enlarge]

As everyone knows, Tío Pepe is the flagship brand of Bodegas González Byass, probably the biggest of the Jerez sherry houses. The annual Tío Pepe Challenge is a competition for bartenders to mix and present sherry based cocktails, and this year’s Grand Final, featuring eight bartenders from the Americas and Europe, was held on May 17th at GB’s bodega in Jerez.

The setting, in one of the cathedral-like bodegas that has been converted for events and functions, was suitably magnificent, and many of the great and the good from the world of sherry were in attendance as the eight competitors (who all seemed remarkably young) were put through their paces in front of the esteemed panel of judges. The competition started with a blind tasting test of 4 sherries, followed by a test/demonstration of their skills with the venencia, before the main event – the mixing of the sherry cocktails.

Each contestant in turn had seven minutes to mix two cocktails – an Adonis (a mix of fino, vermouth and orange bitters invented in the 1880s in honour of the first Broadway musical to pass 500 performances), and a signature cocktail of their own, during which they demonstrated that cocktail mixing is, among other things, a form of theatre. This meant lots of tasting for the judges (with some samples of various other cocktails for the audience too), but they finally arrived at their verdict.

And the winner… Joao Vicente of the Alto Bar in Berlin for his Jerez Sin Fronteras (black tea infused Tío Pepe, Nectar PX, Nomad Whisky).

feria de jerez 2017

18 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in flamenco, friends, getaways, sherry, spain, trips

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

The plan had been to pop over to Jerez for the day, take in the feria during the afternoon, and then return to Sevilla in the evening. Then my friend Tomoko @TomokoTours told me about the Tío Pepe Challenge finals happening that evening and I scored an invitation for me and Peter. In theory we could have still come home on the last train while buying the tickets online I thought I’d just check to see if there were any hotels available at a reasonable rate – and there was!

An hour later, with a hastily packed bag and after last-minute “leaving cats overnight prep”, we were in a taxi to the train station. First stop (after checking into our hotel) was meeting up with Tomoko for a pre-feria lunch. Experience has taught me that it’s best not to try and eat at any ferias, so we had a bite at Tabanco Las Bandarillas before catching a bus up to the fair grounds. I was all ready to spend a happy hour or so taking photos of all the beautiful horses but… there weren’t any. I mean, there were the commercial horse carriages that you can hire for a ride around the grounds, but I didn’t see any individual riders other than a small group of them as we were leaving. I first noticed this dearth of horses a couple of years ago, and was told it was due to the heat wave that was going on at the time, and that the horse owners didn’t want to risk the health of their magnificent beasts. But this time, and also last year, were practically horseless, without the excuse of a heat wave. Has anyone else noticed this?

the feriamobile

17 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in culture, dance, day trips, fiestas, flamenco, getaways, sevilla, spain

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

One of these could come in handy for taking in all the nearby ferias in May. Unusually, Sevilla’s famous Feria de Abril mostly took place in May too this year as it traditionally begins two weeks after Easter Sunday. I tend to prefer the smaller ferias and will try to get to at least a couple of these ones. Maybe see you there?

  • Jerez de la Frontera  May 13 – 20
  • Dos Hermanas May 18 – 21
  • Córdoba May 20 – 27
  • Sanlúcar de Barrameda May 23 – 28
  • El Puerto de Santa María May 24 – 29

sherry saturday

04 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by in birthdays, food & drink, friends, getaways, sherry

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

sherry-saturday-1By 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. sherry-saturday-2Momoko 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.

sherry week 2016

12 Saturday Nov 2016

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , ,

sherry-weekAside from offering my own Sherry & Tapas Pairings, and launching the new Sherry & Tapas tour with We Love Tapas during Sherry Week 2016, I went out with trusty sidekick Peter @SVQconcierge to sample a few of the Ruta de Tapas offerings by local bars. We only managed 9 bars, but oh well…

seanna sips

19 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by in andalucia, cats, food & drink, friends, instagram, sevilla, sherry, spain, tapas, tapas bars

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

seanna-sipsAfter first meeting Seanna Yee (aka @sherrysips) last year when she visited Sevilla, I was thrilled to hear she’d be back in Jerez for an extended visit this month. You may recall that I popped over to Jerez for the day a couple of weeks ago to visit Seanna and friends, and we made plans for her to come back to Sevilla for a day.

And what a day it was, packed full of sherry, great tapas, meeting friends, cuddling cats… we even watched a sherry film El Misterio del Palo Cortado while taking a break here at Casa Az. Just like last time Seanna was a hit with the cats and she even made this short video of marvellous Morcilla at play.

So great to see you again, my dear friend and “sherry sister”. Hasta pronto! xx

The wonderful Morcilla @azahar #ninjacat #instacat

A post shared by Sherry Sips – Seana Yee (@sherrysips) on