BY Al Drinkle
Functioning on adrenaline and elation alone, I found myself aimlessly wandering the streets of Jerez de la Frontera one morning earlier this year. I was feeling rapturously jet lagged all over again despite the consistent time zone, having sacrificed an entire night of sleep in order to expedite my arrival to this magical place. I couldn't possibly have been happier.
I walked past a street kiosk where somebody was selling lottery tickets. Business was booming despite the time of day, and I couldn't help from smiling at the irony. You've already won the lottery! I thought to myself, you live in Jerez! Regardless of my abhorrent lack of Spanish (and the fact that seemingly the only people in the town who speak English are the representatives of the sherry houses that we work with), I conducted each interaction jubilantly — the barista and the panadera undoubtedly regarding me with the unique form of misgiving reserved for exceedingly and suspiciously cheerful people.
It wasn't long before I was due at the cellars of Emilio Hidalgo and I wasn't so much killing time as dancing with it, grateful to pass it here instead of elsewhere. I wasn't even bothered when I stepped in a smeary lump of dog shit! I was so in love with Jerez at that moment that having my shoe besmirched by a Jerezano dog's excrement seemed a distinct honour. I found a nice patch of grass on which to grind it off, gleefully anticipating my first taste of sherry in situ…
Fast forward to the evening, and my full immersion had commenced. My visit to Hidalgo expanded my heart, and the session with Fernando Hidalgo that followed struck me more as a sumptuous, mid-afternoon gastronomic blowout than "a few small tapas” as he had proposed — all the better washed down with umami-rich fino. Consequently, I allowed myself a rare but essential siesta before spreading my dinner over five or six different tabancos, working my way through various forms of sherry along the way.
Fernando Hidalgo of Bodegas Emilio Hidalgo
One must take the perfect-sized gulps of sherry. Too little and the ancient ones taste a bit bitter, and an excessive mouthful is a waste because the intensity redlines the palate and one actually perceives less flavour than from a modest gulp. But the perfect-sized gulps still add up and eventually I was standing there more sherry than human. Even the very air I inhaled seemed tantalisingly sherry-laced.
This is a difficult balance to strike without teetering into another siesta, but while one can maintain it one experiences a kind of spiritual liberation. The beauty of the world becomes vibrantly obvious — and so acute that it's excruciating to behold. I wonder if somebody could have such an experience and proceed to consciously harm their fellow humans. Even among stalwart villains, I believe that seeing the world through amontillado eyes would engender at least temporary respite from avarice, exploitation, intolerance and killing.
Repeated exposure to good wine makes us fall in love with wine. Experiencing great wine — wine that's steeped in tradition, history and meaning; wine that tastes of a singular confluence between grape and place; wine that plays a significant role in defining a unique culture; wine that speaks to heart, soul and mind alike — helps us to fall in love with the world and those that we share it with.
A Jerez Tabanco
Help us celebrate International Sherry Week by inviting the great wines of Jerez into your life in one of the following ways:
Receive 15% off all sherry from November 4th to November 10th. Shop online.
Attend Sarah Boucher's five-course Sherry Dinner at the Cookbook Company on Monday, November 4th (sorry, this event is now sold out!)
Make a reservation for Model Milk's Sherry Dinner, hosted by Metrovino's own Taylor Koch, on Wednesday, November 6th at 5:30 p.m:
Three courses by Chef Guillermo Hernandez with pintxos and sherry pairings.
$100 per person including tax and gratuity.
Very limited seating available!
Contact Reshma Mir at rmir@modelmilk.ca to secure your seat.Attend Otie’s sherry and tapas pop-up on Saturday, November 9th. Book here via Pizza Letty. Walk-ins are also welcome.
Sign up to join Al on Metrovino's inaugural Sherry Walk on Thursday, November 7th. Details Here.
