Sherry with Heston Blumenthal

This is a very belated post. Back at the end of September, I was invited to a fantastic sherry tasting with Heston Blumenthal, along with London Bloggers Chris, Niamh, Helen, and Melanie. The tasting was organized by Vinos de Jerez. Besides consuming more Sherry than I have ever consumed in my entire life that evening, I learned a lot. And had fun too. Sherry…it's not just a dessert wine…

From dry to sweet…here are the main types of sherries…
Manzanilla
Fino
Amontillado
Oloroso
Palo Cortado
Pale Cream
Medium
Cream
Moscatel
Pedro Ximenez

The gist of the evening was that Heston and Professor Don Mottram of Reading University have scientifically investigated Sherry and found it to have flavour-enhancing properties that make Sherries great wines to pair with food. We were taken through seven different canapes, each accompanied by a different sherry. Here is some of what we had…I'd show you more, but I can't photograph in the dark for sh*t.

That's Heston's version of a scotch egg, but he calls it a Carmelized Pork Egg. (Made with quail's egg.) Served with Pale Cream.

And these are ecceles cakes with stilton and sherry buter, served with Cream Sherry.

And here's a sherry trifle served with Pedro Ximenez.

Other things we ate (but my photos are cr*p) included….gruyere fondue with Fino, crab with paprika on toasted country bread (served with Manzanilla), Pata Negra ham, peaches, balsamic vinegar, rocket, and marcona almonds served with Amontillado (my favorite dish of the night), and smoked mackeral rilettes served with Oloroso. Lovely, wouldn't you say?

P.S. Don't forget…blog about Your Perfect Day in London by October 24th. I'll summarize all the blog posts for all to publish on their blogs as a traffic-building exercise…