For a long time, I have tried to find sherry, here, but had not found any - until yesterday.
Actually, I found sherry AND something else, which is not exactly sherry; and, thus, found a bit of an education about sherry, as well.
Being an Edgar Allan Poe fan, I certainly knew that there were different types of sherry, including Amontillado (since I remembered it from Poe's story, "The Cask of Amontillado"). I also knew that "sherry" is a very specific name, requiring the wine's origin be within a particular region.
Thus, it was no surprise (when I finally found a store that has sherry) to see the bottles of Tio Pepe "Fino" ($7.36/bottle) and "Manzanilla" ($13.50/bottle) and the "Jerez" mark on the label.
The surprise were the bottles of "Fino," "Amontillado," "Oloroso," and "Pedro Ximénez" from a different brand name, which did NOT bear the "Jerez" mark, and only cost $2.82/bottle.
After doing some research, online, I discovered that, although those less-costly wines shared the NAMES commonly associated with sherry, the could NOT, technically, be called "sherry" because they were from Córboba, and not the "sherry triangle" within Cádiz. The two provinces are, however, relatively close, and are each part of Andalusia. The wines ARE made with the same types of grapes, and using the same processes as sherry, but are not from the "sherry" region, but from "Montilla-Moriles."
Still, for THAT low a price, I was willing to take the risk, and I bought a bottle of the "Musa" (Moreno) brand of Amontillado. It was quite good, although I have never tasted ANY kind of Amontillado before, since my experience with sherry had, hitherto, been limited to Dry Sack and Harvey's Bristol Cream.
Again, given the price, I will probably try the sweeter "Pedro Ximénez" next, and maybe even get one bottle of each of the other two, eventually, as well.
For more information, here are the three best links from my research:
The Wikipedia article
The brand I bought
Info about the general region of Andalusia, containing something about Cádiz and Córdoba
Actually, I found sherry AND something else, which is not exactly sherry; and, thus, found a bit of an education about sherry, as well.
Being an Edgar Allan Poe fan, I certainly knew that there were different types of sherry, including Amontillado (since I remembered it from Poe's story, "The Cask of Amontillado"). I also knew that "sherry" is a very specific name, requiring the wine's origin be within a particular region.
Thus, it was no surprise (when I finally found a store that has sherry) to see the bottles of Tio Pepe "Fino" ($7.36/bottle) and "Manzanilla" ($13.50/bottle) and the "Jerez" mark on the label.
The surprise were the bottles of "Fino," "Amontillado," "Oloroso," and "Pedro Ximénez" from a different brand name, which did NOT bear the "Jerez" mark, and only cost $2.82/bottle.
After doing some research, online, I discovered that, although those less-costly wines shared the NAMES commonly associated with sherry, the could NOT, technically, be called "sherry" because they were from Córboba, and not the "sherry triangle" within Cádiz. The two provinces are, however, relatively close, and are each part of Andalusia. The wines ARE made with the same types of grapes, and using the same processes as sherry, but are not from the "sherry" region, but from "Montilla-Moriles."
Still, for THAT low a price, I was willing to take the risk, and I bought a bottle of the "Musa" (Moreno) brand of Amontillado. It was quite good, although I have never tasted ANY kind of Amontillado before, since my experience with sherry had, hitherto, been limited to Dry Sack and Harvey's Bristol Cream.
Again, given the price, I will probably try the sweeter "Pedro Ximénez" next, and maybe even get one bottle of each of the other two, eventually, as well.
For more information, here are the three best links from my research:
The Wikipedia article
The brand I bought
Info about the general region of Andalusia, containing something about Cádiz and Córdoba
If blueberry muffins have blueberries in them, what do vegan muffins have?