Sainsbury's Lustau Fino Sherry

Le Tour est arriv��! Let the fun begin. The Tour de France kicked off (pedalled off?) yesterday with a new format encouraging a tighter, more assertive race.

Spain's Alejandro Valverde took the first stage, and my 'guest photographer' and chief Sherry pourer is a bit of a fan having seen him years ago cycling around Spain in the Vuelta years ago. I'm a big Sherry fan having gained a taste for it cycling across Spain.

Lustau is a big hitter in the Sherry world, and they've struck a deal with Sainsbury's to provide their 'Taste The Difference' range of Sherries. Not only does that mean great Sherry is available in the supermarket, but they also use 50cl bottles which are so much better for Sherry as the smaller bottle size means greater turnover in the fridge so fresher sherry. Hurrah.

This Fino is big and beefy, almost literally, it have that kind of Marmite style meatiness as well as a 'salt' level of Manzanilla proportions. There's bottle olive juice too, all in all a strong contender.

Look out for Valverde's bike today, he's brought along one to go with his new yellow jersey (that's confidence!), even the brake calipers are yellow.

Sainsbury's Fino Sherry

Making dinner at the weekend requires a glass of sherry, otherwise it's just another chore. There's usually a Manzanilla in the fridge, or a trusty Tio Pepe, but last weekend, the fridge was bare. OK, so there was food in there, but no sherry, not a drop.

I took a stroll around to the shops, and it's suprising how few sherrys are available in the average corner shop. I could find a section that looked like sherry - stuffed with large bottles saying things like Cream and Medium Sweet in big letters witha tiny little line admitting 'British fortified wine'. The best I could do was Sainsbury's own brand Fino.

It was OK, for an emergency, and allowed me to chop veggies and stir things in a reasonably relaxed state whilst listening to the commentary on the late afternoon match, but it lacked the zippy cheeriness I'd hoped for. It was cheap, it was available, and hyper-chilled it worked.

When only a Sherry will do

It's been a rough week for the Tour. I'm all in favour of binning Bad Vino, but I'd had such high hopes for the Astana team. Poor old Bradley has been sent home, through no fault of his own, having hauled his ass all the way through the mountains. I have no confidence at all that the current yellow jersey will make it to Paris untainted.

When life seems to be conspiring against you, there are times when only a Sherry will do. The good people at Gonzalez-Byass have realised that although Manzanilla is wonderful, it doesn't keep well and not everyone can pack away a bottle at the weekend. I picked up a half bottle of Gonzalez-Byass Superior Range El Rocio Manzanilla, which is a far more practical size.

It was pale lemon, with thick oily legs. It smells of olives and almonds and the seaside. It's bone dry with a refreshing acidity. Light and fresh with a definite salty tang, it's refreshing served very cold. At 15% alcohol it carries a kick, but not more than a big Aussie wine.

Tio Pepe - wine or sherry

If you’re reading this thinking ‘eeuwwghh – sherry’, odds are you haven’t tried Tio Pepe. Unfortunately sherry has a horrible reputation as a drink for funerals and visits to elderly relatives.

If your view of sherry is sweet brown cough mixture served in comedy schooners then you’ve probably been drinking ‘British fortified wine’, a product made from grape concentrate and only barely fit for human consumption (a bar owner I used to work with fed it to his dogs on cold evenings to warm them up after a walk).

Tio Pepe is the market leader for Fino sherry, and has been for some time. Their distributor has worked hard to reposition it as a dry white wine and its working.

Sherry is produced in the Jerez region of southern Spain. Fino tends to come from the areas closest to the coast where the cool fresh sea breeze encourages ‘flor’, a yeast that grows on the top of the wines in barrel. It looks gross, rather like an asbestos lagging, but you never have to see it. What it does do is slow oxidation, keeping the sherry light in colour and adding a sort of light almondy nutty flavour.

Tio Pepe is a clear and bright straw colour. It’s best served straight out of the fridge so expect plenty of condensation on the glass. It has a fresh aroma with a teeny hint of saltiness, some almond and citrus, and a good wallop of yeastiness. It’s slightly oxidised in a good way, after all, it is sherry.

It’s very dry, balanced perfectly by its crisp acidity. The flavour of nuttiness carries through with a slightly more dried fruit taste and some green apple.

The flavour goes on forever, you’ll have another sip before it dies off. At 15% it’s no stronger that many Australian or Californian table wines, despite fortification, so you can have a second glass without falling asleep. Do serve it in a wine glass for full enjoyment.

Tio Pepe is great value. It should be far more expensive given the quality and minimum 5 years aging, but you can pick it up for £10 at Oddbins, or £8 at Tesco.

Enjoy your Tio Pepe as an aperitif, it’s perfect with tapas (duh!) and divine with smoked fish or fresh grilled shrimp. Once open keep it in the fridge and it will last up to a week, but no longer, it will start to fade. That said, you’ll want to drink it quicker than that.

If you go wild and buy a case, do remember to store them standing up, they stay fresher. You'll need to drink them over the next six months or they'll start tolose their bounce.

Enjoy.