...And to drink?
It’s a cliché of journalism to describe something as ‘like Marmite’, meaning you either love it or hate it. In the case of sherry, the comparison is apt not just because it is an acquired taste but because sherry often smells intensely yeasty, like Marmite. It’s a drink that wine writers have predicted as the next big thing for years and now it might be so. Yet a few sophisticates sipping Fino in Manchester or Edinburgh with their pimientos de Padrón will not turn sherry’s fortunes around. The price of the everyday stuff remains too low and small producers are still going out of business. Sherry’s problem is fundamental: it’s so diff erent to the fruity wines most drinkers are brought up on, they can’t get past those fi rst salty sips and the overpowering smell of yeast. Therefore sherry really is a Marmite wine.
Barbadillo Manzanilla NV, £8.99 per bottle: www.cambridgewine.com
This is very clean and refreshing with just a hint of Marmite on the nose. I could drink buckets of this on a hot day – and often do.
Marks & Spencer Manzanilla Pasada, £7.49 per half bottle: www.marksandspencer.com
This one positively reeks of Marmite, it’s like the previous wine distilled. It’s a big, rich wine for sipping, perhaps with a bit of crab.
Gonzalez Byass Leonor Palo Cortado, £13.75 per bottle: www.oddbins.com
Offers an absurd amount of complexity for the money. Initially it’s very dry and salty and then you’re hit by a wave of nuts and vanilla.
Bodegas Amontillado 30 years old VORS, £26.50 per half bottle: www.fortnumandmason.com
One smell of this and you’ll be singing with happiness, there’s so much going on! The sort of sherry one should compose symphonies about. It’s worth every penny.
Barbadillo Manzanilla NV, £8.99 per bottle: www.cambridgewine.com
This is very clean and refreshing with just a hint of Marmite on the nose. I could drink buckets of this on a hot day – and often do.
Marks & Spencer Manzanilla Pasada, £7.49 per half bottle: www.marksandspencer.com
This one positively reeks of Marmite, it’s like the previous wine distilled. It’s a big, rich wine for sipping, perhaps with a bit of crab.
Gonzalez Byass Leonor Palo Cortado, £13.75 per bottle: www.oddbins.com
Offers an absurd amount of complexity for the money. Initially it’s very dry and salty and then you’re hit by a wave of nuts and vanilla.
Bodegas Amontillado 30 years old VORS, £26.50 per half bottle: www.fortnumandmason.com
One smell of this and you’ll be singing with happiness, there’s so much going on! The sort of sherry one should compose symphonies about. It’s worth every penny.