07 Saturday Nov 2015
Perfect Saturday afternoon… chilled fino, hot buttered popcorn and this amazing film. I’d heard so much about it (including mixed reviews) but I absolutely loved it. Especially as it mirrored my own experience after visiting over a dozen different bodegas and getting more than a dozen different answers to my question “so, what’s the difference between an amontillado and a palo cortado?”. Also great to see so many people that I know. Check it out if you can.
04 Wednesday Nov 2015
The Sherry Twitter Tasting I told you about was last night! As you can see I had everything nicely set up, including a not so subtle shot of my Sherry Educator certificate in the background (actually still haven’t figured out where to hang it, so for now it’s on the table). Anyhow, it was very cool, tasting some very fine palo cortados and commenting live on Twitter. Though I have to say I felt a little out of my depth in terms of “tasting note vocab” so stuck to somewhat light fluffy comments. It was fun though – will write a bit more about the event on Azahar Spain soon.
24 Saturday Oct 2015
On the heels of receiving my Sherry Educator Certificate I was also chosen to participate in one of two Sherry Twitter Tastings, being held during International Sherry Week. And I got chosen for the Palo Cortado tasting – bonus! Here is my set of samples, which I got in the mail this week. Including the one that inspired my sherry ephiphany – the VORS from Bodegas Tradición. Apparently that little one in the middle is especially rare. Anyhow, really looking forward to taking part in this.
If you want to follow along pop onto Twitter on November 3rd at 19.00h CEST and look for the #SherryTT hashtag.
17 Saturday Oct 2015
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I am now an Certified Sherry Educator!
I honestly can’t tell you how thrilled I am about this. The course was intense and a great combination of hard work and fun. The teachers were all outstanding, the visits, tastings, meals, etc all top notch. And the part of the exam I’d feared most (blind tasting) was very challenging, but I took my time (literally the last one to leave) and ended up getting a 6/6. Phew!
More on the course later, just wanted to put this up to show you before I head out for a final day in Jerez with friends, doing a “Tabanco Trawl”. I’m soooooo happy, guys. Truly a dream come true. Yay me! 🙂
15 Thursday Oct 2015
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I started off yesterday with a “off the schedule” visit to Bodegas Lustau, which was great. I first went there about a year and a half ago and this time we were shown around by Juan, followed by a tasting of their fabulous sherries.
In the evening the course officially started off with a history lesson in El Puerto de Santa María followed by dinner in the San Marco castle. There are 25 of us taking the course. So far I’ve only met and spoken with a few of them. Now dashing off for an action-packed Day Two. So thrilled to be doing this.
Twitter hashtag: SherryEd15
casa azahar 