SHERRY

Sherry is a great wine produced in Spain. Although it carries interesting flavors it is not one of the most popular wines people are drinking today. Sherry originates in the village of Jerez, in an area specifically called Jerez de la Frontera, which is one of the oldest wine producing villages in Spain. The climate in this part of the country produces mild and damp winters. Conversely, the summers are dry and often produce temperatures of 80 to 90 degrees and occasionally over 100 degrees. Nearly all the wine is produced from grapes grown on the Palomino Fino vines. The small remaining variety that’s produced is that of Pedro Ximenez grapes.

Sherry, for the most part, is fermented in steel vats that are temperature controlled, although the traditional growers ferment in oak casks. Sherry is a fortified wine, meaning alcohol is added at the end of the fermentation process and with sherry it is in the form of a grape spirit called Aguardiente with percentages ranging from15 to18.

There are two types of sherries: Fino and Oloroso. The difference between the two is determined by the presence of Flor. This is a type of yeast that collects as a thick film on the surface of the grapes on the wine casks and protects it from oxidation. This also imparts a distinctive flavor that is specific to quality Fino sherries. Fino sherry utilizes this yeast and is blended with 15 percent of the grape spirit. The Finos that lose their Flor early become deeper in color due to oxidation are named Amontillado. Amontillado’s that are bulk or commercially produced are no more than medium dry sherries by blending them with sweeter wines. These types of Finos make a great aperitif wine.

Olorosos are blended with as much as 18 percent of Aquardiente due to the absence of Flor in the maturation process. This also results in more direct contact of air, which in the aging the process slowly evaporates the wine while increasing the alcohol to nearly 24 percent and darkening the color. These sherries also come in various degrees of sweetness.

Cream Sherry is an example of a sweet Oloroso, which is produced by blending intensely sweet wines made from sun dried Pedro Ximenze grapes. More commercially made cream sherries are produced from the Palomino grapes that are dried to raisins under plastic tunnels. They are then pressed and fortified before fermentation. They are usually a dark golden color with a sweet taste and a nutty finish. pairing nicely with desserts.

Sherries are not available in a particular vintage. Through the maturation process called Solera, sherries are blended from different vintages to a uniform output year after year. The selected sherries are set in tier rows with the youngest on top, which is then blended on down until it reaches the bottom where the oldest sherries rest. This process is done repeatedly over time and since the younger wines are constantly being blended with older ones, there can be no specific vintage.

St. Peter’s Ale stirs a memory

One afternoon several years ago, I received word of the long-expected death of a friend. That evening, as cocktail hour approached, I discovered that there appeared to be not a single beer in the house, an unusual state of affairs, to say the least.

Rummaging around in the back of a cabinet, I spied an unfamiliar but distinctive bottle. Carefully extracting it, I discovered a single St. Peter’s Golden Ale, brought back to me by my wife from the United Kingdom many months before.

It was the right brew to toast a departed friend, and that’s what I did, appreciating both his memory and the mystical forces that put this eerily appropriate beer into my hand on that night.

For that reason, the St. Peter’s family of brews have special meaning to me. I had not encountered any of them since the occasion of my friend’s passing, and did not even realize that they are available in this country …. until The Little Rooster designated St. Peter’s Organic Ale as this month’s special beer.

You have only to heft the unusual flask-style bottle to know you’re in for a treat. The four-pack’s packaging describes the care that goes into St. Peter’s brews, their history and other details, including the fact that the bottle itself is a replica of one produced in the late 1700s for an American brewer.

But everything else about St. Peter’s is strictly British, from the water that’s drawn up from a well 100 meters below the brewery on the site of what was once a monastery in eastern England, to the locally grown organic barley and hops from around the countryside.

This particular brew, the Organic Ale, is light in color, mildly fruity in taste, friendly in demeanor. It’s lightly carbonated in the English tradition and in no sense overwhelming. It would go well with all manner of cold weather comfort foods, such as the one below

Couscous, boring? Think again

Until recently, I never paid much attention to couscous. Sure, I’d tasted this North African pasta that’s reminiscent of rice, but I thought of it as, well, dull. I’ve now discovered that it doesn’t have to be, and you can too.

Couscous is a wonderful accompaniment to spicy meat and chicken dishes, but without doctoring, it’s about as exciting as melba toast. With a little extra prep work, couscous can become not just a delectable side dish, but a memorable meal. Here’s how:

COUSCOUS A LA SCOTT

¾ - 1 lb. fresh exotic mushrooms, cleaned and dried
2 – 3 tbs. olive oil for sauteeing
6 scallions or 1 small onion chopped
1-2 cloves finely chopped garlic, or use jarred.
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (two, if you like it zingy)
Splash of white wine
½ cup of golden raisins, dried cherries, dates, craisins, or a combo
1-2 tbs. fresh chopped mint, optional
¼ cup chopped nuts, optional
Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup dry couscous, cooked according to package directions.

In a medium pan, sauté exotic mushrooms now available at most supermarkets in olive oil. Cut them into bite-sized pieces before cooking. Chanterelles are a good choice, but anything other than the garden variety white ones are just fine. Throw in some chopped scallions or onion, a little garlic and a blast of red pepper flakes along with a splash of white wine. The dish is transformed to the Middle East by adding a few golden raisins, dried cherries and a couple of chopped dates. Craisins also work well. Any combo of these sweet delights is sumptuous. In the summer, adding a tablespoon of fresh, chopped mint is a fresh and tasty surprise and I also like to add some chopped pecans, walnuts or pignoli if I have them.

Cook one cup of the couscous according to package directions, a five minute operation, fluff them up and stir in the mushroom mixture. One bite, washed down with a sip of St. Peter’s and you’ll be heaven-bound.

Did you know?

Britain recently gave a tax break to its 350 microbreweries in an effort to help them compete with the big boys. Brewers who produce less than 3,000 barrels a year pay half duty – a savings of about £40 a barrel. Brewers producing up to 18,000 barrels will get a graded discount on duty that could save them £120,000 a year.

A spokesman for Cardiff’s Bullmastiff Brewery said: “This allows us, for the first time, to compete with larger breweries on cost – we already beat them hands down on flavor.”

-- Scott Brinckerhoff

Scott Brinckerhoff of Haddam is a freelance writer specializing in business communications. He also brews beer, keeps bees and cooks "seriously." Each issue, he'll provide offbeat comments on our monthly beer, long with a recipe.