Sherry sales have been in decline in recent years. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association calculated that sales decreased in the UK from 22 million bottles in 2005 to only 10 million in 2015. Fashions change and the image of sherry as a sweet style of fortified wine appealing to a perceived older generation was very much held against it. I remember when gin was unfashionable not all that long ago but how it has reinvented itself since then, gin sales in the UK are at an all time high. So what next for sherry?
Recently there have been some indications that sales are beginning to grow again, particularly in the drier styles of sherry such as fino and manzanilla. For me this is good news and I hope that the trend continues as sherry is currently one of the most underrated of all wines.
Along with the arrival of lighter evenings and the advent of spring we have the annual release of Tio Pepe Fino En Rama. Now in something like its ninth year, this is fino sherry that comes fresh from the cask and it’s at its best just after release. They change the label each year but always choose something from the company archives. Last winter was particularly cold and dry in Jerez and this has contributed to an intense fino that is packed with flavour. Its fresh, lively, youthful, dry with almond, baked bread and a lingering finish with a touch of bitterness. Its unfiltered and this helps to pack in the flavour. It’s a gem, try it before it’s all gone.