Halloween evening turned brisk and blustery, abruptly turning our long, extended summer toward winter, the wind whining eerily as temperatures started a quick dive to our first frosty morning since last March.
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What a great evening for a glass of Sherry!
All right, I confess that a blustery evening on the feast of ghosties and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night made me think of Poe’s The Raven, but it wasn’t much of a jump from there to Poe’s characteristically chilling The Cask of Amontillado.
Yes! why not treat myself to a glass, or maybe two, of Amontillado. No trickery needed.
After all, Sherry doesn’t always get the respect it deserves. Too many people remember it as a sticky-sweet substance that sat in a cut-glass decanter on your grandmother’s sideboard from Thanksgiving to Christmas and long past.
But there’s a lot more to Sherry than that. Sherry – or “Jerez-Xérès-Sherry” as it’s now officially labeled in Spanish, French and English to appeal to its international audience – is a wine with a heritage that goes back at least 2,200 years. It started with Phoenician traders who circled the banks of the Mediterranean on their trade ships and left vines and wines in the point of southern Spain that would come to be called Sherry.
A scenic Sherry vineyard from Vinos de Jerez.
Wine production continued there even through the centuries of Moorish occupation; and Sherry, like Port, became an important export to England because many of them are fortified with brandy and naturally oxidized in the lengthy “solera” process of aging many vintages together in towering stacks of barrels. This produces a powerful and essentially “pre-aged” wine that resists deterioration even over long storage and ocean voyages.
Yes, Sherry is different from most of the wines we love. It’s dark in color, strong in alcohol, and its nutty, caramel and brown-sugar flavors aren’t anything like, well, just about any other traditional wine. But I suggest looking on this as a delightful difference, not a concern.
There’s much more variety in Sherry, too, beyond that sugary-sweet “cream” Sherry that your grandmother used to offer.
From Fino, the lightest, unfortified Sherry style, and its similar neighbor Manzanilla, we rise through the intensity and sweetness range through Poe’s Amontillado to oaky, rich Oloroso and finally to sweetened “cream” Sherries and black, intensely sweet Pedro Ximenez (PX), a drink so luscious and thick that it serves well as a topping for ice cream. There’s even a lower-alcohol non-fortified Sherry in the offing, awaiting only final approval by the European Union to go into production.
But Halloween and Poe’s classics led me to Emilio Lustau’s “Los Arcos” Amontillado on this Halloween evening, with the wind whistling outside and a fire crackling in the fireplace. We enjoyed almost half of this walnutty, lemony, dry and full delight, and I’m glad the leftovers will keep. You’ll find my tasting notes below.
By the way, Vinos de Jerez, the Sherry trade consortium, is coincidentally sponsoring an International Sherry Week next week, from November 4-10. Check out the details here. You might find an event near you!
Today’s Sponsor:
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Today’s Tasting Report
Emilio Lustau “Los Arcos” Dry Amontillado ($22.99)
Made from 100 percent Palomino grapes, the Los Arcos Amontillado shows a pretty, bright bronze color in the glass. Delicious walnut aromas with a hint of brown sugar fill the nose; walnuts and soft lemon flavors fill the mouth. This is a dry Sherry with no apparent sweetness, but its luscious medium-bodied nutty character framed by mouth-watering acidity offers a good example of what to expect in Amontillado. Its 18.5% alcohol is normal for Sherry if high for a table wine, but it’s nevertheless smooth and approachable, without any discernible alcoholic burn. U.S. importer: Europvin USA, Van Nuys, Calif. (Oct. 31, 2019)
FOOD MATCH: It’s commonplace to sip dry Sherry either as a before-dinner aperitif or with nuts or cheese after the meal. But our Spanish cousins aren’t shy about pairing it with a range of foods. The Lustau website declares that “Los Arcos is the best partner for artichokes and green asparagus. Pair it with tapas, matured cheeses, nuts or serve it with soups, mushroom risottos or spiced dishes.” The website also offers a recipe for this intriguing pairing: Baked Pumpkin And Chanterelle Risotto. I’d try that, especially with plenty of Halloween pumpkins still hanging around.
WHEN TO DRINK: Before you open the bottle, it should be fine for at least three years after you purchase it. Once the bottle has been opened, I advise finishing it off within a couple of weeks if left at room temperature or two to three months kept in the refrigerator.
VALUE:
The local retail priced dinged me for six bucks over Wine-Searcher.com’s $17 average U.S. retail; in fact, Wine-Searcher reports many shops offering it from $12 to $14. I’m not crazy about that price, but since I live in one of the few states still too backward to allow online wine buying, I’d still pay it for a special Amontillado treat.
WEB LINK
Here’s a winery fact sheet in English about Lustau Los Arcos Amontillado.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Lustau Los Arcos Amontillado on Wine-Searcher.com.
Read more about Amontillado and browse dozens of other Amontillado labels and vendors on Wine-Searcher.com.
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