Jerez suggestions?

S

slaton

Slaton Lipscomb
Am in Andalucía for a few days, currently in Sevilla (per Kirk's thread), and am planning a day trip to Jerez on Tuesday. Looking for suggestions of things to see, and places to eat and drink.

I'd love to find some nice unfiltered finos, or special palo cortados, and would be most appreciative of specific bottles to look for, but am also curious about activities other than the Alcázar, Catedral, etc. Gracias.
 
Well if you see any of the vintage dated Byass wines they are quite special and quite rare.

Most recent i am aware of are 1964 Oloroso, 1979 palo Cortado and 1981 palo Cortado.
 
Thanks for the suggestion David. I will check out La Azotea tomorrow.

You know, it is surprisingly hard to find a decent selection of sherries in Sevilla. I say surprising, given the geographic near colocality with Jerez and Montilla-Moriles.

Maybe I am just looking in the wrong places, but it seems to be completely unfashionable to drink sherry, even here in Andalucia. I see men and women, young and old all around me, and they are drinking Anything But Sherry.
Beer, Rioja, cocktails, red bull, coke, Rueda, sangria, etc etc.

Even the old men, ever the guardians of tradition, seem to prefer beer with their boquerones fritos, vs. a cold glass of Tio Pepe.
 
You are not deceived. You can get a cheap glass of manzanilla in any of the smaller places (Try La Bodega in the Plaza Al Falfa), but it is unusual to see fine sherries on wine lists. About a year ago, I had a discussion with Andre Tamers, who imports a lot of sherry to the U.S. His sense is that temperature-controlled fermentation has made white Rueda a much crisper, cleaner wine, and it is less alcoholic than a fino. And in my experience, anyway, it seemed to be true. Those wines are ubiquitous in Sevilla.

And people in Sevilla do seem to drink a lot of Cruzcampo! It doesn't taste any different than PBR to me, but it sure does sell.
 
Jerez has seen better days. Huge economic crisis, even more unemployment than elsewhere in Spain... The restaurant scene reflects this. Best meal might be at La Carboná, http://www.lacarbona.com/ - or the 9-mile trek to El Puerto de Santa María, where Angel León's Aponiente is one of Europe's most unique seafood restaurants. (From plancton upwards, not your run-of-the-mill seafood...)

The most beautiful and interesting sherry bodega is Valdespino's. Also the best one.
 
Thanks Victor. Alas the day trip did not happen due to persistent rain. But a future visit will certainly include if possible a stop at Valdespino.

On the plus side, the rain did not stop me from visiting La Azotea in Sevilla for lunch, which was indeed a gem.
The food was excellent and the clientele friendly and generous. The gentleman keeping an eye on the front of the house, perhaps a co-owner, was sharp and attentive, immediately guiding me to a spot (despite the lunchtime crowd), assisting with translation of the many specials, and keeping my glass full of Sacristía aB throughout the meal.

My only regret was not discovering this spot several days earlier. Thanks, David!
 
originally posted by slaton:

On the plus side, the rain did not stop me from visiting La Azotea in Sevilla for lunch, which was indeed a gem.
The food was excellent and the clientele friendly and generous. The gentleman keeping an eye on the front of the house, perhaps a co-owner, was sharp and attentive, immediately guiding me to a spot (despite the lunchtime crowd), assisting with translation of the many specials, and keeping my glass full of Sacristía aB throughout the meal.

My only regret was not discovering this spot several days earlier. Thanks, David!
Click to expand...

My pleasure. Glad you enjoyed it.
 
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