Hidalgo Oloroso Faraon 30 y.o. sherry

Just over a month ago I was sitting with Javier Hidalgo in his cellar in Sanlucar sipping very old oloroso sherry from the cask, an experience that will go down as one of my great wine-tasting memories. This week I got to try the bottled version, the Bodegas Hidalgo Oloroso Faraon 30 y.o., which is equally thrilling.

It’s a dry oloroso - deep, rich and complex with a really intense flavour of grilled nuts but an astonishingly fresh acidity - one of the most delicious sherries I’ve tasted.

It was boldly matched at the lunch I went to with two meat dishes - duck breast with mash and red cabbage and a venison, pancetta and mushroom pie. I thought it would pair best with the pie but initially it worked better with the duck breast - due I swiftly realised to the sharp/sweet notes of the red cabbage. When I tried the cabbage with the pie too it was perfect. An unlikely match but a brilliant one.

The name of the sherry, Faraon, refers to the Spanish name for the head of a family of gypsies - just as La Gitana, Hidalgo’s popular manzanilla, refers to a gypsy girl.

The bad news is that it’s not cheap - which is absolutely right given the provenance and its age, just a bit of a downer for cash-strapped sherryholics like me. The best price I could find it for was £49.75 (for a 50cl bottle) at thedrinkshop.com though you'll obviously have to pay postage on that. Better to buy a single bottle off the shelf if you can - branches of Cambridge Wine Merchants have it for £54, Harrogate Fine Wine Company for £54.99 and Nickolls & Perks of Stourbridge for £55.85. Or you can buy it from Tesco - Tesco - for £41 a bottle if you're prepared to buy a six bottle case.

if you have oloroso cravings without a VORS budget I was hoping to be able to recommend the cheaper Faraon oloroso as an alternative to you which is around £15.99 a bottle but it’s just not in the same league. But take advantage of M & S’s current 25% off across their wine range (until March 4th) to snap up a few bottles of their Dry Old Oloroso which is made for them by another great producer, Lustau. It’s a great deal at £7.49 but a steal at £5.62.

Alcyone Tannat Dessert Wine

Although this site is called matchingfoodandwine.com you may have spotted it contains a fair few other drinks including beer, cider, spirits and soft drinks. So I’ve been thinking for a while of creating a weekly slot to showcase some some more off-beat bottles and bevvies I come across.

This week’s selection is in fact a wine but about as obscure a one as you can get: an aromatised sweet red dessert wine from Uruguay made from Tannat. It’s made by a winery called Vinedo de los Vientos and is apparently named after Alcyone the goddess of calm and tranquillity (who knew?) who is depicted on the rather beautiful label.

It’s made by a family of Italian origin and modelled on two Italian wines - Barolo Chinato and Marsala and fortified with brandy up to 16%. Like Barolo Chinato it’s aromatized with different roots and herbs about which the label and website is studiously vague, waffling on about “being touched with a bouquet of winter flowers, Madagascan vanilla bean and wild apple mint indulged with a warmth and savor of white cacao soufflé".

Whatever. It’s utterly delicious with a rich hit of ripe cherries and a definite hint of vanilla, chocolate and some kind of spice (allspice?) though don’t run away with the idea that it’s spicy. Much like a vintage port only richer, less alcoholic and more caressing. It would be absolutely wicked with almost any kind of dark chocolate dessert which of course makes it a perfect pick for Valentine’s Day.

You can buy it from Wines of Uruguay for £19 a 50cl bottle. For stockists in the US and Australia check out the Vinedo de los Vientos website