Tio Pepe

Now Tio Pepe is a fino sherry that I have had many a times. When I saw it described as 5 anos on the menu of the Gonzalez Byass dinner, I was intrigued. Was this another variant? No, the fresh fino that one sees on the shelves has al;ready spent 5 years in solera, but under flor, so it remains fresh. The other revelation was that ice-cold is the proper temperature for fino, not white wine temperature.

Now my wife has this thing about some of the dry sherries smelling like bone setter's liniment (鐵打酒); that element seems stronger at warmer temperatures. With the Tio Pepe served ice cold as it should be, the nose was dry with a touch of salt as well as a touch of the fermented bean curd (腐乳). I was surpirsed to detect a hint of sweet fruit in its dry palate and was pleasantly surprised with the touch of lemon acidity. Shows why serving wine at the correct temperature matters so much!