Tasting

Jerez-ted Development

In my early 20s, I once brought a bottle of Lustau’s “East India Solera” Sherry to a house party – and to sincerely enjoy it while sharing recent revelations on the tipple rather than for its elevated alcohol. I’ve slowly started to bring less and less esoteric things to these types of shindigs and my choices have devolved from cool sherries to anonymous six-packs.

Stumbling upon Lustau’s Certified Sherry Wine Specialist course, I couldn’t not awaken a category I’ve put on hold, especially after a recent hoo-ha at work involving a Manzanilla that everyone hated but which I gladly paired with a Saturday morning American Horror Story binge. Within the past few years, the fortified wines from the southwestern corner of Spain have shed their reputation for drinks that only grandmas consume (and no seminar on sherry is complete without any mention of this), and they’ve graduated from unfashionable status to hipster status, and with newer energy flowing through their soleras.… read more