Cape Town - Sherry is special! Even the most cursory survey reveals the mystique that surrounds this fortified wine, a characteristic shared perhaps only by champagne and port.
A triangle of regions in Spain, sherry’s ancestral home – Jerez, Sanlucar and El Puerto de Santa Maria – account for style variations.
What sets sherry apart is the use of flor, a strain of yeast that covers the wine, protecting it from excessive oxidation. The other unique process is that of the solera system, introduced 150 years back to ensure uniform quality.
After some maturation the wine, now fortified, is transferred to a rack of barrels, where, once a year, a small percentage is drawn off the lowest row for bottling. The barrels in the highest row are then topped up with wine, fresh off flor.
In the Cape, sherry has been made for more than a century but it seems that from the mid-20th century quality climbed, as pioneers studied the flor yeast strains.
Dr Charles Niehaus was among them, studying at Elsenburg, then in Germany, returning to Stellenbosch University before moving to KWV. Over the next decade or two, several farmers also focussed on sherry production, among them the Faures of Vergenoegd and the Bruwers of Bonnievale. Published sources indicate that our sherry was judged top quality by international experts in the early 1960s.
When exactly sherry became shrouded in cobwebs in granny’s liquor cupboard is not clear, but it was time for other wines and spirits to have their day.
Recently sherry has been making a comeback, aided by the mixologists who are always seeking new ingredients for their cocktails.
Perhaps the rise of tapas as trendy snacks helped as sherry bars popped up in London and New York. No other wine can compete with sherry when it comes to partnering salted almonds, quality jamon, stuffed olives and wedges of garlicky tortilla.
Back home, the three Cape producers are waking up to the resurgence, and all offer a similar trio – pale dry, medium cream and full cream.
Monis is most venerable name here, as this Tuscan immigrant started making fortified wines nearly a century back. Today they are part of the Distell stable and marketers are tempting the younger set with a range of cocktails and cobblers starring sherry.
Their products will appeal to first-timers, all sell for around R88 and can be found in most outlets.
The KWV threesome is likely to attract the more sophisticated consumer who prefers his sherry simple – they offer more of the classic flavours one expects, and are priced at around R76, although the pale dry seems to be hard to find.
Connoisseurs and geeks will no doubt disagree, but I am pleased to be able to savour sherry costing less than R100, as forking out between R240 and R500 for the Iberian product is not to be undertaken often.
Of course local products are no longer labelled “sherry” – they identify themselves as Cape Full Cream or Cape Pale Dry.
Another long established name in the Cape wine world, Douglas Green, was established in Paarl in 1942 when the gentleman of that name bought a business there. Today, their wines are bottled at Wellington and their three sherries sell for about R90.
The grapevine has hinted at adventurous young winemakers contemplating sherry-type creations in their Swartland cellars, which bodes well for the future. I salute them with a quote from Calpin’s Sherry in South Africa: “At birth it has a will of its own; it is capricious in infancy, unpredictable in childhood and its education demands a combination of understanding and wisdom.”
Roll a barrel and help enrich lives
Barrels of fun are guaranteed as you exercise limbs and brains across a Boland wine route next month.
A largely unsung but worthy charity will benefit from partial proceeds of the 2014 Amazing Wine Race. Pets and Therapy enrich the lives of patients and residents at Cape facilities through visits by volunteers and their four-legged companions.
Starting and finishing at Koelenhof, the event takes place on Saturday, August 9, and 25 wineries are gearing up with wacky tasks for the four-strong teams to tackle.
These range from a wine quizz through blending to barrel-rolling and boules: teams are timed and the quickest win prizes. All enjoy tastings, entertainment and a prize-giving dinner.
Entrance fee is R1 800 a team which is all-inclusive. For more info and to book, contact Bjorn at 021 981 0216 or e-mail him at [email protected].
Weekend Argus