Patricia Langton looks at the emergence of sherry-specific bars |
| Wednesday, 18 November 2009 | |
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Sherry veteran Graham Hines, former head of Wines from Spain, is once again heading the UK generic campaign. The precise details of the 2010 campaign have yet to be defined, but what is known is that funding has been reduced so promotional and PR activities need to be carefully honed. Hines restarted the UK campaign with Sherry Mondays, two tasting events which were held in London in September and featured the lighter, dry styles and the more structured and sweeter styles respectively. The choice of wines on show, including 17 manzanilla and fino sherries, reflected the much wider choice of wines now available on the market across all styles. Equally importantly, the right kind of people rolled up to taste the wines: the room was full of young sommeliers and other representatives from the capital's quality-led restaurant scene which will soon include a sherry bar (see box). Indeed an impressive sherry list is becoming easy to find in London - there's a feeling that it's now de rigueur for quality Spanish and tapas style restaurants to offer a decent sherry selection. The new Barrica restaurant in Goodge Street, London, is a good example: it offers a comprehensive list of sherry (and Montilla) wines which are carefully explained and arranged by style with accompanying food pairing suggestions. Director Tim Luther says: "Sherry is the first thing on the drinks menu in the hope that we can get people thinking about it and drinking it." Customers seem to be enjoying sherry in restaurants but they tend to go for the lighter, slightly less expensive and arguably more food-friendly styles. Just south of the river, at Ransome's Dock, Martin Lam says: "The biggest trend in London over the last two years is definitely towards fino and manzanilla, and away from the heavier styles of the past." He credits the likes of Brindisa restaurants and fino with driving this trend and the fact that this style is "more acceptable to younger drinkers". Adnitt runs a wine club alongside his restaurant business and the reaction to sherry at the club's tasting events is worth noting. He says: "People are more curious than anything else, they are often quite intrigued and they don't know what to expect from sherry." This suggests a lack of familiarity among the new generation of consumers, it draws attention to the need for tasting and educational activities (whether from the generic campaign or brand owners), and it also hints at untapped potential... Maxxium is targeting specialist off-trade retailers and quality food outlets in the on-trade for the Harveys VOSR range - Bristol's The Bordeaux Quay restaurant lists all four and offers tapas style food to accompany them. González Byass should also be credited with a dynamic and imaginative approach to sherry and food pairing for Tio Pepe. The latest initiative from the sherry house, in collaboration with the chefs at London's Ibérica restaurant, aims to highlight Fino's versatility with different foods and make it more visible. It pairs Tio Pepe with a plate of hot appetisers ideally suited to the wine including tuna belly. There is therefore plenty of evidence that sherry is finding contemporary appeal and the respect that it deserves as a quality wine. The challenge, as ever, is to introduce more people to the wines.
Bar Pepito: the Bigg sherry project Soon after the New Year, Londoners will be able to shake off the winter blues at the capital's first sherry bar: Bar Pepito will be an off-shoot of Camino restaurant, one of the new breed of contemporary Spanish restaurants and located in the Kings Cross area. The sherry bar will have the established Camino business alongside to support it, but Camino's Richard Bigg has a clear idea of what he wants to achieve with Bar Pepito. He explains: "We want to get younger people into sherry... it needs to be demystified, presented in a simple way and fun". Inspired by Bigg's recent research trip to Jerez, Bar Pepito will be "85% traditional and 15% modern" and measure approximately 26 sq m. The sherry list will be manageable in size and it will cover all the key styles taking in the three sherry grapes - Palomino, PX and Moscatel - and the three sherry towns - Jerez, Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The sherries will be paired with around 13 mainly cold dishes including classics such as jamón and they served in small glasses (100ml will be the largest) to ensure that they are enjoyed at the correct temperature. Bar Pepito will also accommodate sherry classes for groups of 18-20 people. Sherry's off-trade value: £95.8m MAT to 24.03.07 - Private label sherry commands around 30% of the category. Harveys Bristol Cream's volume share is 27.3% at 13.06.09. Source: Nielsen
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Let's not lament the declining sales figures for sherry. This classic wine's future lies in smaller volumes and higher quality wines and encouragingly more people are getting behind serious sherry, especially in the on-trade. Indeed, a closer look at current trends could reveal where sherry is headed and, hopefully, how to win the customer over.
