For purists, perhaps it is sacrilege to chill with ice and mix sherry with bitters, sugar syrup and citrus. But, if the drink is rich and well made, why should it be an offense? "Everyone who enjoys it as he wants." This is how forceful César Saldaña, president of the Sherry Wine Regulatory Council, is. For him, adding Jerez wines to cocktails is not a problem, quite the contrary. “Cocktails are an important part of the market for Jerez wines. Because just as in Scotland there are orthodox absolutes who believe that mixing whiskey is a sin, it is through this formula that whiskey has reached the whole world. That same orthodoxy, years ago, did not allow us to cool Jerez wine, but if we have come this far it is because we have known how to adapt to the tastes of consumers and to new times”.
Saldaña explains that the United States is a great consumer of sherry in cocktails. “In fact, the first cocktail to be drunk with a straw and on the rocks was invented there, more than 150 years ago: the Sherry Cobbler. Later, other drinks with sherry arrived, such as the Bamboo, the Adonis or the Coronation. We calculate that in the United States more sherry is consumed – especially fino or manzanilla – in the form of cocktails than by itself”, explains Saldaña. "However, they are a door to discover the world of Jerez wine, to interest the consumer in the other varieties, the oloroso, the amontillado, the palo cortado". Although the cocktail scene in Spain has grown unstoppably in the last 10 years, the circumstances are different. “We don't have as much of a cocktail culture, although we do have a mix: the rebujito, made with manzanilla or fine, is a drink that is widely spread in the south. But when the generous ones appear in cocktails outside of Andalusia, they tend to capture attention and hopefully create new consumers, since cocktail drinkers have an experimental profile and like to try new things, discover them for themselves”.
For Dean Shury, owner and bartender of 14 de la Rosa (Barcelona), the resurgence of the generous in the world of cocktails is a fact. “If you look at the cocktail menus of some of the best bars in the world, you will see that fortified wines are used more and more, especially sherries and vermouths. I think it's happening because there are many more of these fortified wines on the market and because they offer a lower alcohol option, something that is being valued more and more today."
Shury says that consumer tastes are changing and fortified wines fit this trend very well. “More balanced drinks are requested, with more alcohol, less sweets, with less fruit juice, and fortified wines allow bartenders to offer exactly this without the drinks losing interest. In addition, these types of wines give different flavor profiles that are difficult to create or find in other products. For example, sherry gives unique umami and nutty notes to cocktails.”
Where there was always vermouth before, today bartenders also choose to add manzanilla, fino, palo cortado and oloroso. “They are being used both in classic cocktails and in new creations. In the old days, more vermouth is used because the quality of this drink is finally better (and because bartenders have finally learned to keep it in the fridge). We are also seeing more and more classic cocktails with fortifiers, such as the Bamboo and the Adonis”.
For the cocktail expert and consultant François Monti, author of the book Mueble Bar (Abalon Books, 2019), fortified wines in cocktails have been slow to return to Spain, but they have finally done so. He agrees with Saldaña: “the Sherry Cobbler was the most popular cocktail in the United States during the 19th century and there, recently, it has been recovered, along with other cocktails based on generous amounts, by American mixology, which has marked the way for us. ”.
Monti argues that one of the reasons for this return is that there has been greater pride in local and national products for a decade. “And in the case of generous wines, they are a product of enormous nobility. You don't see ports or marsalas as much as you do sherries, which are perceived as products with a touch of mystery, a bit difficult to understand, with a complex flavor profile, with some mystique, and that attracts bartenders as it did in its moment gin, tequila or mezcal ”. He points out that this return has to do with his own recovery in other sectors of gastronomy: "if a bartender sees that a sommelier proposes pairings with these products, he will think 'and why not me? '".
Complexity, depth and body, fortified wines work well where vermouth does. “In a negroni you can use a port or a sherry, something that we see more and more due to the current trend of lowering the alcohol. This type of wine allows us to make drinks with less alcohol content without losing complexity and intensity. In addition, they have a lot of complicity with certain distillates and drink profiles, such as citrus: if we want to make a low-alcohol Margarita or Daiquiri, it is not about putting less alcohol, but 3 cl of tequila and 2 cl or 3 cl of manzanilla, or if we make a version of the Negroni with less gin, we will put amontillado, and thus we will maintain the classic structure of the cocktail with the same power”.
1. Mix and serve in a frozen martini glass. Decorate with two touches of orange blossom water spray.
2. Pour all the ingredients into the cocktail shaker and fill with ice cubes.
3. Close the shaker and shake for 10 seconds or until the liquid reaches temperature.
4. Strain (double strain) into the serving glass
5. Place the orange slice and the sprig of mint in the glass.
