ThePortForum.com

While creeping round my local Tesco yesterday morning (7.30am Saturday is a good time to shop BTW - full shelves, empty store..) I noticed, while glancing at the Port shelf, that the Sherry section had been considerably extended, giving it slightly more space than Port.

Assuming that Tesco know a thing or two about optimising shelf allocation, this would suggest that Sherry is resurgent...

..or has my local store screwed up?

Tom

This side of the pond has seen the same, walked into 2 local wine shops today and I saw the same thing. the port section was only 2 shelves, the sherry section was 3.

In the Netherlands, Sherry has been working hard to revive its image for at least 5 years now, and it seems to be paying off. They are present with a big Sherry stand at every tasting, both for professionals and consumers, showing people the different styles and the way they work with different kinds of dishes. There is clearly a lot of budget. Kind of sad to see the promotional budget for Port and Portuguese wines (in the Netherlands) as a comparison, which is € 0.

It seems to be; I always wondered what would appear now that Vodka, Tequila, Bourbon, Sake, and Gin were passe. Eric Asimov is blogging about it, and amusingly he cites Dovetail (host to one of our 1977 tastings) for their 25 bottle sherry list.

Sherry certainly offers very good QPR. It is certainly being revived in my household! Waitrose Bloomsbury has as much sherry as port, and possibly better variety (including, an unusual vintage 1990 oloroso). Sainsburys Camden, for bizarre reasons, was offering the extremely good Lustau East India in 50cl for £3 a few months ago! M&S also does a good Manzanilla. Well worth a look for everyday stuff.

Enjoying a little of that lovely PX/Oloroso blend, Lustau East India Solera sherry. At this time of day? I have a stinking cold and can't think of much better a remedy!

Haven't had this for several months, and good to come back to. Drunk at room temp, bottle suggests slightly chilled too. The PX is dominant but the Oloroso holds that stickiness at bay somewhat, and provides some acidity to give it a more pleasing balance, as opposed to the outright black-treacle-in-a-glass that is straight PX! Obviously a blend, and well made. Very warming and clears a phlegm-ey chest nicely.

There's plenty of good sherry in the 50% bins around Boston. Bargain hunter's dream