Win a fabulous six-bottle case of sherry to kick-start 2025

Jerez is an entrancing Spanish city in its own right. Amazing tapas, Andalusian horses, flamenco. And as the Capital of Sherry, it offers a unique wine culture to explore and fall in love with. Richard Oakley, on a random visit, did. It has inspired his new online venture, Sherry Amor, providing an insider’s introduction through a range of mixed sherry cases.

The first three on sale showcase very different producers – venerable Valdespino (1430), specialists in single vineyard and aged sherries; Jerez bastions Williams and Humbert (founded by Englishmen in 1877) and Sanchez Romate (family-owned since 1781) offering dry styles; and Barbadillo.

The latter bodega is steeped in history, too. Dating back to 1821, it is now run by the seventh generation of the family in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, 25km north west of Jerez. Sanlúcar is the epicentre of Manzanilla, the bone dry sherry whose saline finish is attributed to the vineyards’ position on the Guadalquivir estuary, from where Columbus and Magellan once set sail.

I have a Sherry Amor Barbadillo case worth £122, to give away

The company’s Solear is Spain’s best-selling Manzanilla and is included in Sherry Amor’s mixed case of six Barbadillo half bottles (37.5 cl) that also features two of their aged dry sherries, a medium-sweet Oloroso, sweet Moscatel… and  a Manzanilla Pasada En Rama de la Pastora. The extra ageing on a ‘pasada’ wine adds complexity and body. ‘En Rama’ means bottling straight from the cask with no fining or filtration.

Just answer this simple question: Which town is the centre of Manzanilla sherry production?

Email your answer (with name and postal address) to neil@neilsowerby.co.uk  by midnight on December 31. Winner will be notified the following week.

What makes sherry so special? I asked Richard Oakley…

It’s nearly Christmas. Time to dust off the Bristol Cream at the back of the drinks cabinet. Doesn’t sherry still suffer from an image problem? The drink of an elderly demographic? Or is that changing?

I don’t think sherry has an image problem. More and more people are discovering the range of styles that are available and loving them. They’re unique wines, full of complexity and flavour, great value and practical, too – they keep very well once opened. Oh, and I have nothing against Harvey’s Bristol Cream!

There are so many different sherry styles, from bone-dry to lusciously sweet. You are focusing on the drier ones. Why is that?

I’m offering more dry styles of sherry as I generally find them more interesting to drink, and hope other people do, too. Most of the six-bottle mixed cases I’m offering have maybe one sweet and five dry styles. In addition, I think the dry styles are perhaps less well-known, so there is more to discover.

I think most folk know fino as a dry aperitif, but explain the difference between amontillado, oloroso and palo cortado. So drinkers know what to expect.

All three are all made from the same grape, Palomino Fino, but one main difference is in the amount of oxygen they are exposed to during development. Amontillado is initially aged under a thick layer of yeast, known as flor, whereas Oloroso is aged in full contact with oxygen. This results in a more nutty, oaky and aromatic flavour for Amontillado and a more toasty, balsamic and dried fruit flavour for Oloroso. Palo Cortado is produced when the flor goes a bit rogue, doesn’t develop fully and is a flavour combination of the two, often with a very dry, saline character. 

Half of the Valdespino case is devoted to wines with some age on them. Why are they worth the premium? Is sherry as a whole good value?

Some, but not many, unfortified wines are drinkable when 20 or 30 years old. If you compare sherry with the prices of an aged red or white wine, sherry is incredible value. You’re getting a ton of complexity and flavour for your money in a 20 or 30-year-old sherry! I’m planning to add more aged sherry products to the Sherry Amor list in 2025. 

Not just for sipping on their own, how food-friendly are sherries? What are the best matches?

Dry sherries are incredibly savoury and therefore versatile food wines. Fino and Manzanilla are the same alcoholic strength as some unfortified white wines, so think seafood. I like to enjoy Amontillado with cured meats, especially Iberico jamon, as there’s a nuttiness to both. Oloroso is great with a roast chicken; sometimes I add a splash to the roasting pan. Palo Cortado can stand up to some highly-spiced Asian dishes, especially classic home-cooked Indian dishes such as keema peas. On the dessert front, Pedro Ximenez with vanilla ice cream and raisins is a classic. Aged sherry wines also make for a great aperitif or digestif. But nobody should feel obliged to follow any rules.

Setting up Sherry Amor demonstrates your passion for this classic tipple in a world of so many wine choices. Sum up what makes sherry so special?

Sherry is a unique style of drink, in terms of production and flavour, from a very specific geographical area. Its production and consumption is very closely intertwined with Britain, having been mentioned by Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens. I think you can taste some of that history when you drink the wines.