The best pairings for amontillado and palo cortado sherry

Amontillado sherry has richer, nuttier flavours than a classic fino or manzanilla sherry and calls for different food matches. Think more in terms of cured meat, game and cheese than seafood and richer, meatier tapas.

Which match works best depends on the level of sweetness. An inexpensive medium-dry amontillado will tend to suggest different pairings than an aged dry amontillado which will be much drier and nuttier - arguably best sipped on its own.

Palo cortado which starts life as a fino but finishes it like an oloroso is similar calls for broadly similar pairings

Dry amontillados and palo cortados

Jamon iberico - amontillado can handle the extra richness and depth of flavour of iberico ham - and an extra bit of fat

Cheese - Aged manchego is classic but amontillado is also surprisingly good with cheddar, aged Comté and similar cheeses and parmesan as you can see from this rocket and parmesan salad

Almonds and hazelnuts - try it with the Middle-eastern dip dukkah

Sautéed mushrooms

Kidneys

Albondigas (meatballs)

Patés, especially game patés

Cold game pie

Smoked duck and other smoked meats

Pork scratchings

Salad with sautéed chicken livers

Chestnuts

Jerusalem artichokes

Roast root veg

Braised rabbit

Chicken yakitori

Peach - according to Heston Blumenthal!

Medium-dry sherries work best with cheese, patés and even plain fruit cakes like Dundee cake. The same suggestions would apply to medium-dry montillas

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The best pairings for fino and manzanilla sherry

Manzanilla, as you probably know, is a fino sherry made in the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda rather than in the cities of Jerez or Puerto de Santa Maria which gives it its characteristic salty tang.

Like fino it needs to be served chilled and drunk fresh so always buy from a shop or online retailer that has a good turnover of bottles

From a food point of view the two are very similar though I would tend to go more for manzanila with seafood and fino with meat and cheese. What both have in common is that they can handle strong flavours like garlic and chilli and tricky to pair ingredients such as asparagus and artichokes.

Both are obviously very good with Spanish cuisine (especially tapas) but lend themselves well to other dishes such as smoked salmon, fish and chips and sushi. Treat the suggestions below as just that - suggestions - and don’t be afraid to swop them around:

Food matches for manzanilla

All kinds of seafood including:

grilled and fried squid

octopus and octopus salad

mussels, especially with chorizo

anchovies

oysters

raw fish such as sashimi or tartares

fried fish (and chips)

fried soft-shell crab

fish soups

feta cheese (such as this dish of beetroot borani from Morito)

pickled fish such as mackerel en escabeche

grilled fish, especially oily fish like sardines

garlicky prawns or shrimp

smoked salmon

smoked mussels

smoked dried beef

Food pairings for fino

nuts, especially almonds

olives and olive pastes like tapenade

jamon/ham

grilled or preserved artichokes

hard sheeps’ cheeses such as Manchego

chorizo

tortilla

grilled asparagus or leeks with romesco sauce

white asparagus

pimientos de padron

clams cooked with sherry

cider-battered onions (from my good friends Dan and Elly of The Basement supper club

croquetas

tandoori salmon and teriyaki salmon

smoked eel

white gazpacho

sushi, sashimi, tempura and any kind of Japanese food where you would drink sake

Food matches for 'en rama' styles

These are unpasteurised versions of either fino or manzanilla which have a limited shelf-life but a more intense flavour and texture

richer, hot or sauced fish dishes

grilled tuna

black rice with cuttlefish arroz negro

deep-fried sweetbreads

hake with allioli (garlic mayonnaise)

Japanese food generally

 

More food and sherry matches:

• The best food pairings for dry oloroso sherry
• The best food pairings for amontillado and palo cortado sherry
• The best food pairings for sweet oloroso and PX sherry

 

 

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The best wine matches for Manchego, Berkswell and other hard sheep cheeses

Hard sheep cheeses are the winelover’s friend.

Nutty, tangy and savoury, they show off a good red like no other cheese which makes them a great choice if you’ve picked a serious wine with your main course.

You can also pair them with sweet wines, and with sherry and other fortified wines. Here are the pairings I think work best:

Mature Spanish reds especially Rioja and Valdepeñas (the latter comes from the same region as Manchego, La Mancha). Other oak-aged tempranillos too.

Mature Bordeaux

Reds from the south-west of France - an area which specialises in sheep’s cheese - often served with a cherry compote. Madiran, for example. Sweet wines from the same region such as Jurançon and Pacherenc-du-Vic-Bilh also work well

Mature Chianti - especially with aged pecorinos

Sherry, especially dry amontillado, palo cortado and dry oloroso. Aged tawny ports are also good - see this post on Zamorano and 30 y.o. tawny

Aged oaked white rioja - its nuttiness compliments sheep cheese perfectly as you can see here

Orange wines. Maybe not your cup of tea but their quince-like flavours are brilliant with sheep cheese (think membrillo)

Younger, fresher-tasting hard sheep cheeses are good with a crisp dry white such as albarino or vermentino

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The best food pairings for white rioja

White rioja is tricky when it comes to wine pairing as it comes in such contrasting styles. There are the crisp fresh unoaked white riojas which behave much like a sauvignon blanc and much richer barrel-fermented ones which can tackle more intensely-flavoured fish and meat dishes

The latter are more characteristic of the region but even these vary depending on the age of the wine. Young ones behave much like a chardonnay with food, older ones - and white rioja does age magnificently - more like a white Rhône

Here are some of my favourite pairings:

Crisp unoaked white rioja

simply grilled fish and shellfish

garlicky prawns or grilled squid

gazpacho

Spanish-style salads

Barrel-aged white riojas of 2-3 years old

almonds

serrano and other Spanish ham

salt cod dishes such as croquetas

menestra (spring vegetable stew) and other braised vegetable dishes

paella and other rice dishes with saffron

dishes with aioli (garlic mayonnaise)

white asparagus

tortilla and other savoury egg dishes

More mature barrel-aged riojas

rich fish dishes such as roast turbot

hake with garlic and clams

grilled tuna

robust fish stews

grilled lobster and other rich lobster dishes like this experimental dish of lobster and sweetcorn

roast chicken, turkey or guineafowl

sautéed chicken dishes with sherry

chicken or pork dishes with creamy sauces

grilled pork or veal chops

Full-flavoured sheeps cheeses like this rosemary coated ewe’s milk cheese

Also see these excellent suggestions from Vina Tondonia

See also The best food pairings for red rioja