This wine-style is a bargain and a well-kept secret. Here’s why

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This article was published 22/04/2021 (1966 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Just ask any wine aficionado and they’ll tell you, sherry packs more pleasure than almost any other wine style. And it’s a downright bargain. You can buy a brilliant bottle for less than $15. Yet, the joy of sherry, that fortified wine from Spain, is one of the best kept secrets of the wine world. Here’s your crash course to help you taste some delicious versions straight away.

The key thing to remember about sherry is this: There are essentially two styles — Fino and Oloroso. Fino is a fortified white wine that spends time in barrel under a film of natural yeast called “flor”, which imparts a certain tang as well as notes of bread, nuts and brine. The flor also protects the wine from oxidizing, keeping it white. Oloroso is made without flor, so it oxidises, turns amber to mahogany and develops richer flavours. Both styles range from dry to sweet.

In Ontario, you can find three utterly charming finos at the LCBO. The driest and most delicate is Tio Pepe Extra Dry Fino (LCBO 231829 $18.95) — the best-selling fino in the world.

Tio Pepe shines pale straw in the glass and exudes quiet aromas of fresh bread, almonds and a touch of lemon. It slips in glasslike and cool with a slight brininess and tang that tastes smooth yet lifted, bracing and not at all fruity. Instead, allusions of almond, bread, stone and steel tease the senses. Served well-chilled it’s very refreshing and fabulous with foods such as olives, nuts and raw oysters. It’s sort of the vinous equivalent of a good martini — but far less alcoholic at 15 per cent ABV. Score: 91

Tio Pepe like all dry, delicate finos loses its freshness and finesse quickly — within about a week of opening.

Emilio Lustau Los Arcos Amontillado Dry Sherry (Vintages Essential 375097 $17.95) is dry, tangy and slightly saline, like all finos. But it’s an amontillado, which means the protective flor died away during production, so the wine oxidized. The result is an amber liquid that unspools with flavours of roasted almonds, coffee and creamy toffee, as well as a touch of orange zest. Lustau’s amontillado works fabulously well with mild, soft cheeses sprinkled with walnuts, sautéed mushrooms on toast and surprisingly, s’mores. Serve this wine cool but not cold. Score: 93

Alvear Medium Dry Montilla-Moriles Amontillado Sherry (LCBO 112789 $14.00) is the third widely-available Fino. It’s an amontillado, so oxidized. But unlike the dry version by Lustau, this fortified wine is sweetened with 31g/L of sugar. It gleams golden and yields flavours and aromas of roasted nuts, dried apricots and warm spice notes, with a subtle tang of yeasted bread and salt. And it is especially delicious with Manchego cheese and Marcona almonds. Serve at cool room temperature. Score: 91

To be technically correct, this wine is like Sherry in style. But, because it’s made in the Montilla-Moriles region of Spain, it cannot be called Sherry. Wines called Sherry must be made in the regions of Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla – Sanlúcar de Barrameda. It’s still an excellent Fino-style fortified wine.

Since Amontillados are oxidized styles of Fino, the two versions noted will keep longer than the Tio Pepe after opening — up to a couple of weeks or so in the fridge.

The LCBO also stocks a few Oloroso-style sherries worth your attention — Williams & Humbert Dry Sack (LCBO 13565 $14.50), Osborne Santa Maria Cream (LCBO 31120 $13.95), and Harveys Bristol Cream (LCBO 215483 $16.95). All of these Sherries will stay fresh up to six weeks after opening and can be served either at cool room temperature, to bring out their complexity, or well-chilled to amp up the refreshment factor—it’s up to you. Cream sherry can even be served on the rocks with as slice of orange as a cool cocktail.

The Williams & Humbert Dry Sack is not actually dry. It clocks 28g/L of sugar. But that sweetness is beautifully balanced with the wine’s other elements, so it remains refreshing. Each sip draws you in with scents of brown sugar and roasted pralines then fans out with dried fig, toffee and dates, laced with nuts, raisins and baking spices. With quite a lot of complexity and length, it delivers good value. And it caps a meal with flair poured alongside sharp, hard cheeses or dark chocolate. Score: 91

And then there’s the two Cream Sherries. In case you’re wondering, there’s no dairy in cream sherry. It’s simply a name some brands give to sweet styles of sherry.

One of the best value versions at the LCBO is the Osborne Santa Maria Cream Sherry (LCBO 31120 $13.95), which wafts with the fragrance of melting caramel, nuts and baking spices, as well as orange and cherries. There’s also marzipan, fresh figs and vanilla too. And those all echo on the palate with smooth, articulate assurance. Osborne Santa Maria Cream is certainly sweet with 121 g/L of sugar, but it’s well-balanced so doesn’t cloy. Served on its own, maybe with a few Parmesan cheese crisps. Score: 93

And Harveys Bristol Cream (LCBO 215483 $16.95) has been around forever, but it still delivers value. This wine is actually a blend of both Fino and Oloroso Sherries and erupts with aromas of sugared nuts before a bold but balanced attack of roasted chestnut, hazelnut, toffee and orange zest arc and taper. This classic sweetie served on the rocks with a slice of orange as the sun sets can be a splendid way to punctuate a day. Score: 90.

A final key point is this: Since all sherry is fractionally blended through an intricate system called the solera, bottles are not vintage dated. Rather, they’re always blends of young and old — often very old — wines. So sherry is one of the most consistent wines in the world and can be some of the most complex as well.

Editor’s note — April 23, 2021: This column was edited to add an explanation of the regions where fortified wines that can be called Sherry.

Carolyn Evans Hammond is a Toronto-based wine writer and a freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Wineries occasionally sponsor segments on her YouTube series yet they have no role in the selection of the wines she chooses to review or her opinions of those wines. Reach her via email: carolyn@carolynevanshammond.com