Drink some Sherry NOW!!
I have a solution for Europe’s economic problems – a big claim I know, but bear with me – the answer in getting money, jobs and prosperity back into these stalling nations is food and drink.
Europe has some amazing products with decades of heritage, and because of this they are overlooked – taken for granted. When something has always been there forever, it is easy to not appreciate fully, just how amazing it is.
England has the best apples in the world, Greece produces the finest dried fruit, including all the world’s currants, and Spain has given the globe sherry – a wine steeped in so much history and complexity that it makes your average shiraz look like weak apple & blackcurrant squash!
Sherry is by far and away Spain’s best kept secret. Consider how successful Scotland has been exporting whisky – banging on about all the intricacies of water, peat and barrels – convincing the middle classes of the world that it is an educated, desirable drink, when in reality it all just tastes like paint stripper.
Sherry on the other hand has a type to suit everyone – no matter how you like your tipple – from crisp dry Finos to ridiculously sweet Pedro Ximenez.
The more you explore this fortified wine, the more variants you discover – but even a beginner can dip their toe into the barrel thanks to British Supermarkets stocking some very good sherries.
Both Waitrose and Sainsburys have some amazing Sherries at prices that makes you wonder how Blossom Hill can still exist?! Because when you buy sherry, you’re not paying for some generic wine with a pretty label. You’re paying for a lovingly crafted fortified wine, full of the sunshine of Spain’s Jerez region and made only in this small part of the world
Waitrose’s own brand are made by Lustau – who have been knocking out their brew for over 100 years – and there is not a bad one in the range. And I can’t walk past a Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference sherry without one appearing in my trolley!
Whilst the British have an odd relationship with booze and like to stick to just one or two types, ‘pint of the usual’ etc it seems a shame when we have some of the best drinks on the planet on our doorstep.
Thankfully two Australians and a Brit living in Spain, along with a German living in Sweden are taking a big step to educate us all about the fact it’s not just a drink for nanas, with this week’s celebration of World Sherry Day. The week long festival has its own website and has generated over 260 events in 26 countries, creating a much better reason for seeing Spain in the news than hearing more about their recession woes. They’ve found something they’re uniquely good at and now they’re making it pay, by boosting interest and demand for their wines. It’s a smart move that every euro-nation should be doing.
So grab a bottle of Sherry and a handful of currants and watch that Eurozone debt shrink before your very eyes!!