When in Jerez, visiting a sherry bodega is greatly recommended. I wasn’t too sure though because I didn’t know much about Sherry. For me it was just one of these drinks that was offered at my grandmother’s. In other words, kind of old-fashioned and nothing for me. But we were in Jerez, so we went to visit one of the authentic bodegas.
We chose Sandeman because it was close by our hotel, and it was ideal to combine it with a lunch at our favourite restaurant. Sandeman is probably better known for its Porto, but they also have a sherry bodega. In fact, the guide at the bodega told us that the sandman logo has both Spanish and Portugese elements in it. The hat is Portugese and the cape is Spanish.
For one or the other reason the schedule of the guided tours was completely different than the one published on their website. But hey, that happens more in the south. So just relax and go with the flow. It did mean the French, English and German speaking tours were too long of a wait, so we went for the Spanish tour. It gave us a chance to test and practice our Spanish.
The tour took us through all aspects of the making of a good sherry. It turned out that sherry is a very noble type of wine, that requires a lot of craftsmanship and skill. I was intrigued and amazed, and couldn’t wait until the tasting 🙂 And I wasn’t disappointed.
Depending on what you pay for the tour, you get 3 sherries, 4 old sherries, or 4 sherries + 4 old sherries + 2 brandies. Â You can also add tapas. I went for the 4 old sherries, and my wife for the 3 sherries, as such we could taste 7 sherries together. Take into account that are not stingy when serving the tasting glasses. Take that into account if you still have to drive afterwards.
Definitely worth a visit!
