If Carlsberg did hotels....

Advantages: Great price, free mini-bar, good service, free footie!
Disadvantages: some distance from the centre

...Carlsberg don't do hotels, but if they did it might be like the AC Hotel in Jerez. It is a modern hotel which was built adjoining the Chapin Olympic Football Stadium on the outskirts of Jerez. OK, it's not Madrid but our six day stay last September did coincide with a fixture against CD Castellon. The large window of our room opened out into the 22,000 seater stadium and the electric atmosphere of the live game. We had a better view than some of the supporters (and we had our free mini-bar close at hand for half-time refreshments. (The hotel provides free soft drinks and beer but they didn't seem to mind us using it for our own purchases - sherry, wine, beer, jamon, cheese, ....) Or we could relax on our large freshly laundered sheets, or use our sparkling en-suite bathroom. OK, I confess, I'm not that keen on football and we didn...

kazbo 02.03.2006 (03.03.2006) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of AC Hotel Jerez

Spain on form

Advantages: Delicious
Disadvantages: Not widely available

...Spain put on a top class performance, this week so I thought I'd crack open a bottle of one of their top class wines. OK, with that opening sentence you're probably not expecting a 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 wood aging, although they're very soft. It's made from Palomino grapes, probably the finer Fino variant, and from only the free run juice. It has a full body and pronounced flavour intensity...

gollygumdrops 18.06.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Lustau's Almacenista Olorosa de Jerez

THE SMALL AIRPORT

Advantages: It's nice, easy to move in, safe...
Disadvantages: There aren't too many flights

...Before of all I would like to thank the ciao team to add this product. INTRODUCTION Jerez de la frontera, known as Jerez, is a city in the south-west of Spain which has a population of near 200,000 people, number in what I’m included. It is in the province of Cádiz, which has a huge number of beaches, and a big touristic attractive of course. In that context is the Jerez airport, the only passengers airport in all the province. HOW DOES IT WORK? The Jerez airport is a very small airport, it is good and bad at the same time. Good because everything is so clear, it isn’t crowded, everything is clear and the most important thing nobody get lost because they don’t know where to go. I have been in some other airports and it was stressing to go from a place to other place having the time against you, something that is still...

The_Spaniard 20.05.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Jerez Airport (Spain)

I'll just have a little one

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

...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 is at its best with rich cakes (hence christmas) or after a meal.It is also great as an accompaniment to pate, salmon and fresh fruit salad. The price ranges from £7.00 - £8.00 for a 75cl bottle. This is quite pricey for a sherry with many cheaper brands available but the quality is evident in the taste....

MAFARRIMOND 19.04.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Croft Original Sherry

Sherry, Mon Cherie? (Sherry, My Love?)

Advantages: Taste; quality is consistent and reliable
Disadvantages: Ideally served chilled

...The word ?sherry? is actually an English corruption of ?Jerez?, the region in Spain where all Sherries come from. Originally all wines from Jerez were called Sherry, now Sherries refer to fortified wines from the Jerez region. Tio Pepe is a range of Sherries by Gonzales Byass ? the largest producer of sherry in the world and still family owned: http://www.gonzalezbyass.es/ If you think you don?t like sherry, try a small glass of Tio Pepe Fino, well chilled, as an aperitif before a meal. I actually prefer to drink my Sherry on ice, but if you keep it in the fridge for a couple of hours beforehand that?s more elegant if you are having guests over. The flavours of Tio Pepe Fino are sweet, but not sugary, and quite fresh and grassy I find, with a slight zest of apple. The mouthful is very fine and clean. Tio Pepe Fino is...

KatherineA 13.07.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Gonzalez Byass Tio Pepe

A tranquil haven not far from the buzz

Advantages: Good location, smart modern decor, brilliant air-conditioning
Disadvantages: Small inadequate sundeck and swimming pool

...night, which was reasonably priced, but sadly, not frequented by many guests. (One other person ate there while we were in it!) We were so impressed by the hotel that when we visited Spain again last year we stayed in the same chain of hotels in Granada, Seville and Jerez....

kazbo 23.02.2006 (24.02.2006) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of AC Diplomatic, Barcelona

Buzz is the best cheap deal

Advantages: Cheap and cheerful
Disadvantages: Not a lot of comfort.

...My brother works for Buzz so I am a bit biased here anyway but let me tell you about some of the other budget ailines I have flown with. Ryan Air and Aer lingus seem to have the Irish market sewn up so Buzz dont fly there. They concentrate on the more lucrative business market in Europe.What they do offer are cheap business type flights into Europe with a professional and dedicated service. Customer service is second to none on their planes. Everyone I have been served by on my cheap flights have been courteous and professional. The flights are normally on time and their planes are clean and tidy. The options at the moment are Paris,Lyon and Marseilles in France, Dusseldorf in Germany, Milan and Rome in Italy, Barcelona and Jerez in Spain, Amsterdam in Holland, Helsinki in Finland. Seasonal variations take the planes to...

andycharger 01.02.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Buzz

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 blend. The final blend is a closely guarded company secret. 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...

MAFARRIMOND 23.04.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry

Tio Pepe - Sherry for the pre-Saga croud

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 it to his dogs on cold evenings to warm them 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...

gollygumdrops 14.05.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Gonzalez Byass Tio Pepe

15 tracks... 15 levels of Flamenco

Advantages: Rustic, Powerful, Emotive
Disadvantages: None, unless you have a problem with late 70's sound quality

.... I do not know the background to Saeta in Sevilla, but it seems to commemorate some kind of military lifestyle. Maybe a reflective piece about the war... Taranto and Provencal paint a pensive Carlos Montoya, deeply entranced into the magic of nostalgia. Very moving. Jerez kicks in with rasping strings, establishing itself as proud and traditional. Similar to Farruca in a way. Zapsteap is very much the same, containing jazzy ballads and interesting rhythm as well as Montoya's trademark rapidity. Extremely playful, once again. The final track, Macerna En Tango, is a follow-up to the previous Jerez and Zapsteap. Once more, the sections of tumbling strings will blow your mind away. I will conclude by saying that Carlos Montoya is one the best and most inventive Flamenco artists, alongside Juan Martin. This CD offers a perfect...

gantzgraf 11.08.2006 (04.09.2006) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Soleares - Carlos Montoya