Sherry wines are often relegated to the aperitif and dessert ends of a meal. But the complex wines of the Jerez region of southern Spain are incredibly diverse and food-friendly. You can find a Sherry and food pairing to enjoy at every stage of a meal.
Here’s a 5-course menu complete with a sherry and food pairing for each course using the main styles of Sherry. There are links to step-by-step recipes with lots of easy do-ahead steps too, making it an ideal excuse to get a few friends together for a Sherry-matched lunch or dinner. Salud!
Tomato Gazpacho with Manzanilla
Gazpacho, Spain’s famous cold tomato soup, is a delicious, appetite-stimulating start to a meal. It’s best made a day ahead and chilled overnight, so perfect for entertaining. An ice-cold Manzanilla Sherry, such as Barbadillo Solear, is a perfect match, being the driest, most elegant of the Sherry styles. See video below.
Manchego, Fennel & Orange Salad with Fino
Spain’s wonderful sheep’s milk cheese, Manchego, stars in this salad that can be prepared (right up to dressing stage) hours ahead. The complexity of an unfiltered Fino Sherry with a little age, such as Equipo Navazos La Bota 35, is a delicious match for the buttery, salty, slightly nutty cheese.
Stuffed Artichokes with Amontillado
Artichokes are notorious for making wines taste metallic, not so Sherry (perhaps due to the slightly higher alcohol). I love an Amontillado Sherry, like Sanchez Romate’s NPU, with this rustic dish that can be prepared a day before and served at room temperature or just slightly warmed in the oven.
Lamb Cutlets & Romesco Sauce with Oloroso
Versatile romesco, one of Spain’s most popular sauces, is great with vegetables, seafood, poultry and red meat. I love it with juicy lamb cutlets and charred spring onions, especially with a rich, nutty Oloroso Sherry like Lustau’s Don Nuño, which beautifully echoes the hazelnuts and almonds in the sauce.
Orange, Almond & Yoghurt Cake with Palo Cortado
Orange & almond cake is a deliciously easy do ahead dessert, especially with with orange & date salad. It’s moist, so leftovers last well, though that’s unlikely to be a concern. Serve it with the most beguiling Sherry style, an old Palo Cortado such as Gonzalez Byass’ Apostoles VORS.
Updated 06 Dec 2024
Yes, despite the misconception that Sherry is either an aperitif or a dessert wine, this diverse wine category offers something to match every stage of a meal.
There’s a Sherry and food pairing for every course in a meal – from elegant, minerally Manzanilla with freshly shucked oysters, through richer Amontillado and Oloroso Sherries with meat courses, to wonderfully complex Palo Cortado with light desserts and rich sticky PX with chocolate.
Soup is perhaps the course most often associated with Sherry, but which Sherry to serve depends on the nature of the soup. Manzanilla or a light Fino Sherry is best with fresh vegetable soups, especially chilled gazpacho, while a more complex aged (pasada) or unfiltered (en rama) Fino or Amontillado work well with richer soups.
Chocolate is notoriously difficult to match with wine, except for wonderfully complex Pedro Ximenez Sherry which seems to be made for it. Moscatel, the other classic sweet Sherry, is great with most sweet desserts, while a dry Palo Cortado can work well with less sweet, fruit-based desserts, especially citrus.
