Tag Archives: wine

a sherry dream come true

08 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in birthdays, friends, wine

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sled's sherryphotos by Sledpress

They say it’s better to give than to receive, and all I can say about that is that I had so much fun putting this together, frustrating glitches notwithstanding, especially as several people ended up ensuring a very happy ending. Some background…

Ever since my Sherry Epiphany on the first World Sherry Day I’ve become intent (obsessed?) about sharing the sherry love in the way I discovered that day was really the best way to learn about sherry… poco á poco, with friends and with a few tapas. And I know that my friend Kate (sledpress) has been intrigued by my now popular Introduction to Sherry tours and also by my many tweets and blog posts about sherry events I end up at and the bodegas that I visit. So when I realised it was going to be Kate’s big 6-Oh birthday in November I decided to send her a selection of my favourites, one bottle for each decade, to begin her sherry education. Which turned out to be a lot more complicated than I thought it would be.

I contacted some of my favourite bodegas, finally settling on the one (which shall remain nameless) that promised me the full range I wanted with no problem of the delivery being made in time for the big day. Well, the big day came and went. I had been constantly checking up on this and each time was told that the order was being processed and there was nothing to worry about. Until the umpteenth email informed me that the order hadn’t actually been placed in the States and instead I would have to send the six bottles from Spain with a shipping cost of 120 euros. WTF?  Meanwhile, I had been back in touch with other bodegas and two of them came through big time, giving me the names of their distributors near Kate. BUT, then it turned out that neither had the full range I wanted to send, and one was actually a wholesaler so it didn’t seem like this was going to work out after all as I obviously wasn’t going to buy a case of each sherry. And then a wonderful thing happened. The wholesaler and retail outlet got together and, with their help, this is what Kate received just two days later…

sherry for sledBodegas Lustau: Manzanilla Papirusa, Palo Cortado Península, Pedro Ximénez San Emilio
Bodegas Gutiérrez Colosia: Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso

These two bodegas couldn’t be more different. Lustau is one of the largest wineries in the sherry triangle, comprising several bodegas in Jerez and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Gutiérrez Colosia is family run – and I mean run by the four family members and a couple of employees – in El Puerto de Santa María (remember the video?). But when I got in touch with the people I know at both bodegas they were quick to respond and help me out, as were their fabulous distributors, Elite Wines and UnwinedVA. Special thanks goes to Vanessa at Unwined who – countless emails later – patiently put all this together is that cute green bottle carrier and got it over to Kate’s in time for the weekend. Mil gracias a todos! And now it’s time for me to start educating Kate. This is going to be fun!  🙂

If you want to know more about the wonderful world of sherry, follow me on Twitter @SevillaTapas and also on my AzaharTravels and AzaharSevilla blogs. You know you want to…

sherry tasting marathon

24 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by in andalucia, azahartravels, food & drink, spain, travel, trips, wine, work

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sherry marathon
Thursday was sherry tasting madness with three bodega tours booked starting at 9.30 am and finishing around 3.30 pm. But unlike the regular tourist tour I did at Gonzalez Byass on Wednesday, these were all private visits, and I felt both honoured and privileged that these very special wineries made me feel so welcome. And talk about educational! I had previously found out that I wasn’t able to get into this September’s Sherry Educator course (though I was promised a place for next year). But this sherry tasting marathon was almost like doing a mini course in a few hours. I just let each person take me through the sherry making process from the beginning, in their own way, and it was very interesting how I learned different things at each place. Each bodega was unique and everyone I spoke to was incredibly passionate about their work. And the wines! Stunning. I will be doing a more indepth report on all this a bit later on Azahar Travels, but I have to say that the more I learn about sherry, the more I realise what a wonderfully complex wine it is. As my friend (and sherry educator) Annie Manson says, you never stop learning about sherry.

Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed the day, being treated like a VIP and getting caught up in all the stories and discussions. After the final tasting Peter and I popped over to Bar Arturo, renowned for its no-nonsense décor and fabulous fish and seafood. Absolute fishy heaven. And crazy good tomatoes too.

bar arturo

The three bodegas we visited were: Bodegas Lustau, Bodegas Tradición and Bodegas Urium.

tíopepeville

23 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in andalucia, azahartravels, food & drink, tapas, trips, work

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jerez wednesday
Wednesday in Jerez started off with a bang… just enough time to get from the train station to the hotel to drop off bags before heading over to Bodegas Gonzalez Byass for one of their winery tours. It’s almost ridiculous that I have only got over to the G-B bodega now as I’ve known people there for so long, but there you go. Anyhow, it was quite a show and you are immediately impressed by the size and importance of the place. But it’s not just show as the wines are excellent and – I can’t help it – I adore the iconic Tío Pepe logo.

The hotel which shall not remain nameless – THE BELLAS ARTES HOTEL – was so disappointing I wanted to weep. The first room we were shown was so small, dark and cheerless (and this was after splashing out on their “executive” twin option) that I immediately asked for another room. Well, the next one was even worse, though it did have a window facing the square. Finally I was promised one of their best rooms, with floor-to-ceiling windows and blah blah blah, and it was okay. Barely. Anyhow, will go into this more when I write the official review, but let’s just say I wasn’t happy. And I would’ve changed hotels but the not-so-nice people at Belles Artes said they wouldn’t refund my second night as I’d booked a “special offer”. Fuck. Them.

Likewise our lunchtime tapeo was a bit of a bust. The two places we tried were okay, but nothing special. We did a bit better in the evening, finding a special “ruta” of tabancos and tuna, finishing off at La Cruz Blanca for a last snack. Basically we stayed out until bedtime so that we didn’t have to spend any more time in the hotel room as necessary. Ah well… with three more bodega tours booked for the next day we had that to look forward to.