Reviews of Fortified & Dessert Wine »

The cream of the creams

Advantages: Mellow, rich and unique in a stylish distinct bottle
Disadvantages: Perhaps more pricey than some sherries

Harveys Bristol Cream is the world’s best selling sherry. Harveys has produced fine Spanish sherry from the Jerez region of Spain since 1796. Harveys Bristol Cream stands out from other sherries in taste and quality. Harveys Bristol Cream is a blend of three sherry types — Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso, all created from the Palomino grape – that are then sweetened with Pedro Ximénez wine. Each adds a unique flavor and textural element to the final ...
...Harveys Bristol Cream sweetness is ultimately adjusted to 13.8 - 14.2% by the addition of wine created from the sun-dried Pedro Ximénez, which adds a creamy, raisiny richness. The Bristol Blue bottle was introduced in 1996 to mark Harveys 200th anniversary. Bristol, besides being an important seaport, had become one of Britain’s centers for the manufacture of fine colored glass by the 1720s. The term "Bristol Blue" arose from the fact that Bristol ...

MAFARRIMOND 23.04.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry

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I'll just have a little one

Advantages: Rich deep taste with a light appearance
Disadvantages: Pricey compared to many other sherries

...a hot summer afternoon. Croft original is one of the most popular sherries in england. It is a pale cream sherry producing a blend of the pale dryness of quality Fino Sherry with the added depth and body of a full cream. The colour is light and delicate. The taste is smooth and luxurious in its taste. The sherry is produced by Croft. The company was formed by John Croft in 1678 and assumed the name of Croft in 1736. They began to produce sherry ...
...currently part of the Diageo group. Like most sherrys, it orginates from Jerez region. The wine is made by drying Pedro Ximinez grapes in plastic tunnels. Palomino grapes are taken to the winery where they are pressed and fermented at 25C - 30C. This dry wine is then placed in barrels and fortified to 15.5%. The finished wine is then sweeted with the dried Pedro Ximinez grapes. The end product has a percentage alcohol value of 17.5 %. The sherry ...

MAFARRIMOND 19.04.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Croft Original Sherry

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Pour me Another and Pass the Olives

Advantages: Smooth dry aperitif
Disadvantages: Not everyone's cuppa

...HIDALDO'S LA GITANA Bodegas Hidalgo was founded in 1792 in Andalucia, and is one of Spain's oldest wine brands. Large Gitana is a Manzanilla. A Manzanilla is a Fino sherry, ie the palest, driest version of traditional Spanish sherry, a fortified wine. This sherry is manufactured near the port of Sanlucar de Barramedar. The location of this estuarine port is said to give Manzanillas their characteristic 'salty' taste. La Gitana is a classic of its ...
...strong in the usual sherryish way, perhaps rather like Crofts' Original pale sherry. In the glass, this is a very light liquid indeed, the palest beige, so it's almost watery. It doesn't coat your teeth. The taste is delicate, light and refreshing. Yes, of course it still tastes like sherry, but very very dry without drawing your teeth. To my taste buds it's slightly lemony. This will cut a clean drive through, but still complement, any rich oily ...

nubbler 13.02.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Hidalgo La Gitana Manzanilla Sherry

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Spain on form

Advantages: Delicious
Disadvantages: Not widely available

...sherry, but bear with me. Lustau's Almacenista Olorosa de Jerez is worth trying. It's clear and a medium amber with just a tinge of olive green on the edge. It has great legs, thick and long. The aroma is clean in a sherry-esque way. The nose is all raisins, toffee and almond. There's orange peel and marmalade which gives it a sweet fruit cake feel. It's off dry, with a surprisingly crisp acidity. There's just a hint of tannin, drawn from the extensive ...
...Palomino grapes, probably the finer Fino variant, and from only the free run juice. It has a full body and pronounced flavour intensity. The baked fruit, figs and toffee carry through to the palate, and there's just a touch of saltiness, in a really good way. It's aged in Jerez, so that's slighly unusual. It's 20% alcohol, but it would be easy to forget that, as the flavour and acidity balance well. It's best served slightly cool, perhaps with a ...

gollygumdrops 18.06.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Lustau's Almacenista Olorosa de Jerez

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A warming ginger brew.

Advantages: Warming
Disadvantages: its alcoholic so consume in moderation.

This is a very traditional drink popular in the winter time. It can be drunk in many ways from the tradtitional whiskey mac which is whiskey and ginger wine or my particular favourite is to drink it neat. More suggestions can be found on their website which is www.stonesgingerwine.com. Whiskey mac can be made different ways one version is 1 part ginger wine to 3 parts whiskey and another is 1 part ginger wine to 1 and a half of whiskey. It is personal ...
...like best. With or without ice. As it contains ginger it is very good at warding away colds and flu. Other ingredients present are raisins as well as the ground ginger. It is a gingery brown colour liquid in a green glass bottle. A 700ml bottle costs around the £8 mark. It is produced and bottled in London by Stones, this company was established back in 1740 and has been going strong ever since, the actual address is Finsbury in London. It has ...

wildtinsey 21.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Stone's Ginger Wine

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