02 Wednesday Jan 2019
Posted in food & drink, gastronomy, sherry, tapas, tapas tours
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Started off the new year with a lunchtime sherry & tapas tour. While there are some new plans afoot for 2019, I am loving these sherry tours so much and hope to do a lot more of them this year, along with some other sherry-oriented activities. This time I ended up with five new sherry converts. 🙂
28 Friday Dec 2018
Posted in friends, gastronomy, getaways, restaurants, sherry
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Day two of the Jerez Getaway with Pam & Gord started off with a WHACK of hot crispy fried churros in front of the Central Market. After that, following THE PLAN IS THERE IS NO PLAN format we had been going with, we decided to see if we could go to Lustau for their Copa en Mano bodega visit. And there was still places available! So off we went after a quick visit to the market and cathedral.
I really enjoyed the concept of this tour. Usually people visit a bodega and then have a tasting at the end. With this one visitors start off with a glass of manzanilla and then taste their way around the various Lustau bodegas, finishing with sweet wines and then a bonus vermouth tasting in the shop. So it was a lot of fun, and we tasted some very special wines which I don’t think are included in the regular visit. And then it was time for lunch!
My friend Tomoko met us at Lustau, since (no plan, right?) we still weren’t sure where to go. From there I called one of my favourites, Albalá, and was told they were fully booked, but if we showed up we could go on a waiting list. Well, good enough for us! And sure enough, after a quick taxi ride, and about ten minutes after arriving and enjoying a drink at the bar, we got a table. Food was amazing, company even better. And afterwards we walked back into the centre for a penúltima. Then it was time for me to go. I didn’t have a return train ticket, leaving it open since THERE WAS NO PLAN. In the end I left Jerez at 7.15, and was home, unpacked, showered and with a load of laundry on by 9 pm. With my cats! It was a great getaway.
26 Wednesday Dec 2018
Posted in christmas, friends, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours
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christmas, friends, sevilla, sevilla tapas, sherry, tapas, tapas tour
Today I took Pam & Gord out on an impromptu Sherry & Tapas Tour. This one was a bit more informal and spontaneous, and ended up being a lot of fun. Since we are leaving tomorrow for a couple of days in Jerez it seemed a good way to set them up, though they already know a fair bit about sherry already. As usual, plans are coming together last minute, but they are in for a real treat, or two. Stay tuned…
Click on the pic to make it bigger…
13 Saturday Oct 2018
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Today I am heading to Jerez to attend the 3rd Sherry Túnel, organised by sommelier and fellow sherry educator Maria Carmen Martinez (aka Miss Catas). It’s my first time going to this event, and it seemed like a great way to finish off Sherry Week (which ends tomorrow). Will report back later.
How’s your Saturday going?
08 Monday Oct 2018
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The first day of Sherry Week (October 8 – 14) began and ended with, well, sherry. Went out for a pre-lunch manzanilla at Taberna Manolo Cateca and Manolo recommended that we try these two, chosen by Armando Guerra from two different sections of Bodegas Barbadillo, one with the windows open facing the cool east wind (Poniente), the other facing the hot dry west wind (Levante). My favourite was the Poniente, which tasted a bit fresher to me. But they were both lovely.
In the evening we stopped by the Premier Sherry Cocktail Bar for a sherry mixology masterclass. José prepared 4 cocktails, using different sherries, and also different techniques: Sobrebotas, Bloody Sherry, Silencio, Shegroni. And we got to taste them too! You can see the recipes below.
casa azahar 