Spirits > Sherry

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 ... Read review

Advantages: Addictive.
Disadvantages: Not enough varieties on sale.

The British are responsible for introducing to the world many things - football, cricket, whisky, the Beatles, to name just a few and we are also the agents by which this marvellous, rich and delicious wine was introduced to the rest of Europe. Marsala wine, not to be confused with indian maasala cooking, originates from a small corner of Western Sicily. As the story goes, an English sea captain was desperate to replenish his stocks of rum, needed ...
...put into the port of Marsala in Sicily, roundabout 1798. Unfortunately for him, no rum was to be found but astute locals convinced him that he should take on board casks of the local wine called Marsala. Any wine that was to undergo the rigours of long sea voyages and high temperatures was "fortified" with the addition of a little brandy and this wine that he was sold was no exception. Evidently it found favour with his crew and some was left to ... Read review

Advantages: It's divine
Disadvantages: It's not available at enough pubs!

If you're reading this thinking 'eeuwwghh - sherry', odds are you haven't tried Tio Pepe. Unfortunately sherry has a horrible reputation as a drink for funerals and visits to elderly relatives. If your view of sherry is sweet brown cough mixture served in comedy schooners then you've probably been drinking 'British fortified wine', a product made from grape concentrate and only barely fit for human consumption (a bar owner I used to work with fed ...
...up after a walk. Tio Pepe is the market leader for Fino sherry, and has been for some time. Their distributor has worked hard to reposition it as a dry white wine and its working. Sherry is produced in the Jerez region of southern Spain. Fino tends to come from the areas closest to the coast where the cool fresh sea breeze encourages 'flor', a yeast that grows on the top of the wines in barrel. It looks gross, rather like an asbestos lagging, but ... Read review

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 ... Read review

Advantages: Subtle delicious bitter-sweet flavour
Disadvantages: Hard to find - and has it been changed recently?

...if you'd never heard of Punt e Mes. Even most wine merchants didn't seem to have heard of it, when I looked on the net and even made a few calls to investigate prices and availability. Certainly very few stock it. It was a bit of an oddity when I first tried it thirty or forty years ago, but it has become only less well known and harder to find ever since. Punt e Mes can still be found, but probably not by simply looking on the shelves of your local ...
...What is it? * Punt e Mes is an aperitif or rather, since it is Italian rather than French, I suppose I should say aperitivo. It's intended to be drunk as a refresher before a meal, or just as a refresher; the meal is optional. It comes within the generic group known as vermouths, and probably has most in common with the red vermouths produced by the likes of Martini and Cinzano, though its colour is darker and browner than either. Like them, it ... Read review