Sweet and Sour Spectator

Amantillado is a style of sherry made by aging fino until the flor dies exposing the wine to oxygen that turns it deep amber and gives it a rich and nutty taste. If you want to know what fino is, or flor, or for that matter, Palo Cortado, Manzanilla, or Oloroso, take a look at the Wines of Jerez website; it is full of useful information on sherry and on the artisnal sherries you can find if you try, and which are so marvelous and different from sweet Bristol Cream sherries as to seem they are a gift from another planet.

Even though the amantillado is perfectly dry, the combination of idiazabal and amantillado leaves an ever-so-slight sweetness on the palate that combined with the sharp taste of the sheepsmilk cheese and the dry alcoholic nuttiness of the sherry is almost irresistible - it is addictive. The set-up in the picture is shows the sherry and the cheese along with some thin slices of hot sopressata and hot genoa salami. This was dinner last Sunday night, and a very fine dinner it was. As the aftertaste of the nuttiness, pepper, sheepsmilk and smoky sweetness lingered, for a moment I thought I heard castanets, and I put on a Segovia CD.

P.S. Here is something else to do with idiazabal: Sirloin steak al idiazabal. Bon Appetit!