Arriva España

If your idea of Sherry begins and ends with the glass of sweet Pale Cream your granny used to drink, the notion that anyone would want to pair this most complex and underrated of beverages with food will probably make you gag. But put aside that sick bag. Sherry, Andalusia's gift to the world of fortified wines, is becoming increasingly trendy among chefs.

I recently had a meal at El Bulli, Spain's most celebrated restaurant, and asked the sommelier to choose a selection of wines to partner head chef Ferran Adrià's 39-course dégustation menu. Rather you than me, mate, I thought. Of the seven wines we drank that night, three were Sherries: a Manzanilla Pasada, an Amontillado and an Oloroso. They worked brilliantly with the food. And by the standards of most fine wines, they were ludicrously cheap.

A few days later, I attended a lecture given by Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck. Here was another top chef talking about the unique qualities of Sherry. His theory, based on research done in conjunction with Reading University, is that certain taste compounds in Sherry accentuate the flavours of umami-rich foods such as meat, fish, shitake mushrooms and cheese. According to Blumenthal, Sherry is rich in non-volatile compounds, known as diketopiperazines (or DKPs). 'Sherry has the ability to stand mouth-feel with certain foods: it gives an extra dimension of pleasure,' he said.

Will it change the image of Sherry in the UK, though? Possibly. Sherry is still perceived as a drink for old people, vicars and tweedy academics, although what I call the Ryanair effect (cheap flights to Spanish cities) has brought the drink to a younger audience. When you're sitting in a bar in San Sebastian, Jerez or Seville with a glass of Manzanilla and a plate of Iberico ham, Sherry tastes like a different wine.

Some people are put off Sherry by what they perceive as its complex labelling. But it's actually pretty simple to understand. Sherry can be divided into two main styles: those that grow a protective film of yeast called 'flor' and those that don't. The former includes Fino, Manzanilla (which only comes from Sanlúcar de Barrameda), Amontillado and Palo Cortado; the latter Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez (made from raisined PX grapes). Amontillado and Palo Cortado are wines where the flor died and oxygen got at the wine; Fino and Manzanilla are wines where they didn't, which explains why they are the freshest and lightest styles. Oloroso, often fortified to a higher degree and deliberately oxidised, is the richest and most flavoursome.

There's nothing wrong with a fresh, salty glass of young Sherry, but the really complex stuff is generally an average of 10 years old or more. I say an average, because Sherry is nearly always a blend of vintages. Since 2000, really old Sherries have been entitled to use the words VOS (Very Old Sherry) and VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry) on their labels if they are over 20 and 30 years old respectively. Two VOS Sherries I love are the bone dry, thrillingly austere Sandeman Royal Esmeralda 20-Year-Old Fine Amontillado(£11.75 per 50cl, stockists from Stevens Garnier, 01865 263 300) and the nutty, multi-faceted Harveys Palo Cortado (£18.95, 20%, www.johnharveyandsons.com, 0800 434 6602). Believe it or not, these are pricey for Sherries. You can drink wines that are nearly as good (but not as old) for less than £10. My current favourites are the savoury, off-dry Taste the Difference 12-Year-Old Oloroso, E Lustau(£6.99 per 50cl, 20%, Sainsbury's) and the salty, bitter-edged Hidalgo Manzanilla Pasada Pastrana (£8.49 each for two bottles, 15.5%, Majestic). The latter is what they serve as an apéritif at El Bulli. If it's good enough for Ferran Adrià, it's good enough for me.

Buy of the week

2006 Capoposto Rosso, Alberto Longo, Puglia

£11.75, 13%, Lea & Sandeman

Puglian reds tend to be pretty rough and ready, but this Negroamaro is unusually fine and elegant, with sweet red fruits, fine-grained tannins and real class.

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