As you may remember, I took a weeklong trip to Jerez at the end of the summer this year, and fell madly in love with sherry. Touring the bodegas, I gained such an appreciation for the craftsmanship and years of tradition that go into making sherry; it's surprising to me how affordable sherry can be, considering all the work behind each bottle.
We're lucky to have industry folks at places like nopa and Gitane who have put together extensive sherry lists and cocktails for us to taste, but unless you've tried an oloroso before, you're not likely to take a leap of faith and just order it, right? Well, let's fix that, because personally speaking, I can't believe I wasn't drinking more sherry before I took my trip; the flexibility of sherry and food pairing was a big epiphany for me. And it's freaking delicious.
So it is with great excitement that I am announcing the ~SECOND TABLEHOPPER TASTING~ on Tuesday November 10th, with this one about sherry! And we're going to have quite the teacher: while in Jerez, I met César Saldaña, the director of the Consejo Regulador de Jerez (translation: the council that regulates sherry in Spain). He is one of the most passionate educators about sherry, and definitely one of the top experts. When I found out he was going to be in town for a few days, I simply had to put this event together.
We'll start with an opening reception in the kitchen at Stable Café (have you seen this place yet? It's so cool.), with some tastes of fino and manzanilla, along with Spanish-inspired bites from James Stolich of CookWithJames (you may know him from his CookWithJames Underground Supper Club dinners). Bartender Neyah White from nopa will also get things started with a sherry-based cocktail, the Pear Brown Sugar Shrub.
Once we sit down in the gallery for the education portion of the evening, we'll be tasting other sherry styles, like an amontillado, palo cortado, oloroso, and Pedro Ximénez and cream sherry to finish. Oh yes, and Neyah is going to have a cocktail for us to wrap up with, the Barrel to Barrel, made with single malt scotch, oloroso, Pedro Ximénez, and nocino. Please don't expect a full meal, but there will definitely be plenty of savory bites for you to enjoy throughout the evening.
César is going to give you an introduction to sherry like no one else could—even if you already know the difference between a palo cortado and an amontillado, you'll still come away with deeper sherry knowledge in this tasting. Suffice to say, this is going to be a rare and one-of-a-kind evening with the (very charming) César in the casa.
Seats are limited, so act quickly.
¡Hasta luego!
tablehopper tasting: sherry
Tue. Nov. 10th, 2009
Stable Cafe
2128 Folsom St.
Cross: 17th St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
6:30pm reception
7pm—9pm wine and food tasting
$59 (includes ticket processing fees)
buy tickets here
