Nov09 Sherry

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At San Francisco’s Nopa, Neyah White makes the “Sherry Shrub” cocktail

Sherry, Baby Can the Cocktail Save Spain’s Classic Fortified Wine? By Jack Robertiello

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or years there has been a struggle to overcome the musty image from which classic sherry suffers. It’s been a labor to acquaint sommeliers and retailers with the wide range of flavors sherry bodegas produce in fino, manzanilla, amontillado, oloroso and other styles. This work has won many fans in the industry—in fact, at January’s Copa Jerez international food and sherry pairing competition challenging chefs and sommeliers to develop and defend the best matches, American sommelier Roger Kugler took top honors. And sales results have been good but modest, as imports to the U.S. last year grew by 1.7%, according to figures provided by the Sherry Council of America. The recent popularity of Spanish food and tapas dining has helped, as neophytes are inevitably more willing to try a glass of fino or manzanilla to go with their croquetas. Yet getting restaurants to carry more sherries and offer them by the glass hasn’t created much breakthrough in on-premise consumption. An insightful campaign started nearly five years ago, however, has established the fortified wine as part of the cocktail renaissance.

On the Menu Could bartenders be capable of giving sherry new life? Sherry cocktails are now showing up at many destination bars. At Cantina in San Francisco, you’ll find the “Jerez Margarita” (reposado tequila, Grand Marnier, lime, agave nectar and Savory & James amontillado) and the “Car-

men Amaya” (Rittenhouse rye, Cointreau, lemon, muddled basil and amontillado). In New York City, the Mexican bar and restaurant Mayahuel, recently opened by notable bartender Phillip Ward, features the “Smoked Palomino” (amontillado, mezcal, grapefruit and lime) and the pan-Asian restaurant Pranna included on its summer list the “Bengal Tiger” (saffron and cardamominfused vodka, manzanilla, ginger juice and sparkling water). All this is no accident, but the result of a slowly building program challenging bartenders to develop and defend sherry cocktails. In the past few years as quality ingredients, classic cocktails and mixology experimentation have taken hold of the bar business, these efforts have been bearing fruit. As unusual an ingredient it may seem to today’s untutored cocktail fan, sherry’s addition to mixed drinks predates the classic American cocktail, one of the reasons Steve

Olson and his aka wine geek team launched the competition in 2005. Originally intended to be a small part of the overall sherry promotional campaign, the contest became crucial to turning around the image of sherry in the U.S. Olson says the move to all-fresh ingredients and high-end premium versions has helped sherry by association. “If you have a good product, it’s just a matter of time before it becomes an important cocktail ingredient and a lot of people catch on,” he says.

Competition Breeds Creativity Many products employ bartender contests to spur interest and mixability in a particular category. But few are as tough as the sherry competition. Not only must drinks be listed on a restaurant’s menu, but each competitor must explain its food friendly qualities, how it fits with the rest of the menu and why he or she used a particular sherry. The competition has drawn a response—and a high quality of entries—that surprised even organizers, according to sherry ambassador Andy Seymour. “Bartenders love new products and flavors, and while sherry isn’t new, it’s undergoing a reawakening and getting back to where it

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was in the past: a key cocktail ingredient,” Seymour explains. For his winning 2008 entry, Neyah White of San Francisco’s Nopa combined a childhood love for shrub (a drink made from fruit preserved with vinegar) with sherry. The drink, mixing the slightly briny manzanilla with the seasonal fruit drink made from sour cherries, plums, persimmons or strawberries, is a staple on Nopa’s menu. “It’s a great base, very accepting of other flavors and a lot of fun to work with,” says White. “We carry a couple of amontillado and oloroso sherries, but the brightness of the shrubb needs the manzanilla to help it pop,” he adds.

“If you have a good product, it’s just a matter of time before it eventually becomes an important cocktail ingredient and a lot of people catch on.” — Steve Olson, aka wine geek

Chris Hannah from Arnaud’s French 75 in New Orleans credits the competition for the opportunity to sample inspiring sherries and recipes, which has set him on a quest for more. Building on the New Orleans love of the Pimm’s Cup, he offers two cup-style drinks— the “Jerez Cup” (rum, sherry, muddled cucumbers and strawberries, lime juice, simple syrup and Cava) and the “Spanish Bay” (Chartreuse, Dry Sack sherry, orange juice).

All You Have To Do Is Try “People are a bit wary of sherry here in the South. They’re drinking vodka cocktails and bourbon, and I’ve found they can be a little afraid of the maltiness of

Resting barrels of Lustau sherry

sherry,” Hannah adds. But he’s found a good reception for his cup recipes. “The biggest hurdle is consumer misconception about what sherry is; people may think there is only sweet sherry, or that it is old-fashioned,” says Marc Destito, director of the Sherry Council. “We need to communicate the versatility of sherry to consumers and get them to taste the various types. Unless we get them to taste, they don’t have an understanding of what sherry is.” The Council has other activities— it’s recently launched the consumerfocused Secret Sherry Society; the group presents at annual events like the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen; and a branded ad campaign and retail POS is forthcoming. Sherry ambassadors are working in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, southern Florida and Las Vegas this year. But the cocktail is king now, and while the competition mostly targets cocktail influencers, Olson says it won’t ultimately do much good if sherry cocktails don’t go beyond those limits: “Every bar in America has Tio Pepe, Dry Sack and Harvey’s Bristol Cream—or at least one of them. But most bartenders have no idea what to do with them, and the bottles have been sitting there for months.” Rather than allowing bottles to lose quality while they sit on the warm back bar, he recommends bartenders offer basic drinks like Sherry Cups or Cobblers, where fresh fruit is the main ingredient. “Think sangria,” he says. “The smartest thing you can do in a bar to control pour cost is take red wine before it goes bad, add brandy and fruit and there’s a gorgeous summer drink. The Sherry Cobbler is the same basic principle and everyone has limes, lemons and oranges.” But Olson knows he and sherry promoters still have a tough road ahead: “There are people who will never, ever drink sherry. But if they have it in a cocktail that they like, it might open one more door.” n