Who's The Boss? Sherry.

No, not a woman named Sherry. Sherry as in the fortified (has alcohol added) wine that comes from Spain.

For the past week or so, I’ve been indulging in episodes of Who’s the Boss. (Yes, the 80’s TV show.) In one episode, Angela, the lady of the house has a guest drop in. She asks the unexpected (and frazzled) visitor if she would like a glass of sherry. Tony, her housekeeper, goes to grab the bottle of sherry and lets her know that they’re out. She makes some remark about needing to restock and offers the guest some white wine instead.

This was fascinating to me because I didn’t realize that sherry was once a popular beverage. She could have offered the white wine first, which is what would happen today.

For the past few years, wine educators and writers have actively tried to push a resurgence of sherry.

Most sherry is produced in Jerez, a city in Spain with a warm climate and a regular breeze. One of the things that makes sherry special is the solera aging system that it undergoes. (Fair warning…I had this explained to me in Spain…in Spanish…eek.) Barrels are lined up in a few rows. The youngest wine starts at the top and moves through the complex sequence of barrels over the course of a few years. The wine exits the system and is bottled when it reaches the bottom. Naturally, the wine is now a blend of different vintages because only a small percentage is bottled at one time from the bottom of the solera. This (in addition to the climate and grape spirit added after fermentation) helps create a highly nuanced beverage.

I don’t have any sherry recommendations. Ok, I have some, but, I think you should start by tasting on your own. There are seven different styles ( fino, manzanilla, amontillado, palo cortado, oloroso, pedro ximenez and cream) and it’s worth exploring all of them. It would be a waste for me to pick one or two bottles to try. Maybe I’ll get to that at a later time. For now, order a glass when you see it on a menu or try and find a sherry tasting where you can try several at once. Hmm, maybe I’ll host a sherry tasting. If I do, I’ll let you know about it.