Not Your Gran’s Drink: Why Sherry Deserves a Second Look
Andi Healey
Web Manager
Sherry is a whole family of wines, from bone-dry and salty to thick as treacle. Here is how to tell them apart, how to serve them, and what to eat with each.
- Sherry is a family of very different wines. Fino and manzanilla are dry, pale and salty. Oloroso and amontillado are darker and nuttier. Pedro Ximénez is dark, sweet and intense.
- Serve fino and manzanilla very cold, at 5 to 7°C, and finish the bottle within about a week. Richer styles are served cool, at 12 to 14°C, and keep for weeks.
- Use a proper glass and fill it about a third. Sherry's own promotion body says never to use a small "sherry" glass.
I hope you're enjoying the fact that it's currently International Sherry Week, as it’s as good an excuse as any to reopen a conversation (and a bottle) that most of us closed off years ago.
Sherry is wine. It comes from a small corner of Andalusia in southern Spain, it is made mainly from the Palomino grape, and it comes in a range of styles so wide that a bottle from one end bears almost no resemblance to a bottle from the other. A bone-dry, salty, ice-cold fino has more in common with a crisp white wine than with anything you’d associate with your granny's sideboard.
A Pedro Ximénez is closer to a dessert sauce.
Both are sherry.
That range is the story. Most of us have experienced only one end of it, in a small glass at Christmas, and made up our minds... "It's not for me."
This guide covers the rest: what the styles are, how to serve them, what to eat with them, and three easy ways to drink them without any ceremony at all.
What Sherry Actually Is
Sherry is made around three towns in Andalusia: Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. The dry styles come from the Palomino grape. The sweet ones come from Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel grapes that are dried in the sun to concentrate their sugar.
Two things make it different from other wine, and both are worth knowing.
Flor. This is a layer of yeast that grows on the surface of the wine in the barrel, think of it as a duvet for the wine. It protects from oxygen, which is why the sherry aged under it stay pale, fresh and savoury. Fino and manzanilla spend their lives under flor.
Oxygen. Oloroso is fortified to a higher strength, at least 17%, which stops flor from forming, so the wine ages in contact with air and turns darker, richer and more concentrated. Amontillado starts life as a fino or manzanilla, then the flor dies away and it carries on ageing, which gives it its nutty depth.
Palo cortado sits between the two, with the aroma of an amontillado and the palate of an oloroso.
The wines are aged through a solera, a stack of barrels in which wine is drawn from the oldest row for bottling and topped up from the younger rows above it, so every bottle carries a little of the older wine with it.
One more thing worth noting: the dry styles really are dry. Sweetness comes from separate grapes and blends.
How It Got Its Reputation
Britain has long been one of sherry’s biggest markets, and for decades the bottles that made the journey were mostly the sweet ones. Cream sherry, a blend of oloroso and Pedro Ximénez, was the classic. Pale cream, which is a fino sweetened with grape must, was made for export markets such as ours.
Add a thimble-sized glass and a bottle brought out on Boxing Day, offered round and then put back in the sideboard to wait for next year. That’s not a fair test of any wine. No offence to anybody’s granny, who probably loved it.
None of that says much about the dry end of the range, which is where most of the interest is now.
What Changed
Sherry Wines UK, the promotion body, says sherry is growing in Britain while other wine and fortified categories are struggling. That is a trade body talking about its own product, so take it with the usual pinch of salt. But some of its numbers are hard to ignore. It reports that International Sherry Week events across the UK rose by 74% in 2025, to 1,846, supported by more than 500 wine merchants, restaurants, bars and enthusiasts. That’s a lot of people standing in pubs saying ‘actually, it’s quite nice’.
What’s different is how it’s being drunk, or at least how we are being encouraged to drink it: cold, with food, and in long drinks, in the slot that an Aperol Spritz or a Negroni might otherwise have. Sherry Wines UK is putting its weight behind lighter, food-friendly styles, and more than 100 in-store tastings at independent merchants and national retailers are planned for the next year.
There’s also the simple fact that it’s very good with food, which is the sort of thing that never goes out of fashion for long.
The Styles in Plain English
| Style | What it’s like | Serve at | Try it with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fino | Dry, pale and salty, with a bready, almondy note. Under flor. At least 15% ABV. | 5 to 7°C | Almonds, olives, white fish, salads, mild cheese |
| Manzanilla | Light, from Sanlúcar, north-west of Cadiz with a distinct tang of sea air. At least 15% ABV. | 5 to 7°C | Prawns, shellfish, tapas |
| Amontillado | Amber, dry and nutty, with more depth than fino. 16 to 22% ABV. | 12 to 14°C | Soups, smoked food, cured cheese |
| Palo Cortado | The aroma of an amontillado with the palate of an oloroso. 17 to 22% ABV. | 12 to 14°C | Spicy cheese, roast poultry |
| Oloroso | Dark, rich and still dry, with walnut and dried fruit. 17 to 22% ABV. | 12 to 14°C | Game, mushrooms, poultry, rich stews |
| Pedro Ximénez | Black, syrupy and intensely sweet, with raisin, fig and liquorice. One of the world's sweetest wines. | 12 to 14°C | Vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate, blue cheese |
| Cream | A blend of oloroso and Pedro Ximénez. Sweet, smooth and raisiny. | Chilled, or over ice | Puddings, or on its own with orange |
If you’re starting from scratch, fino or manzanilla is the best place to begin, and amontillado or oloroso is the next step. Pedro Ximénez is in a category of its own and is best treated as a pudding.
How to Serve It
Temperature. Fino and manzanilla are best very cold, at 5 to 7°C, which means straight from the fridge and, if you’re being proper about it, kept in an ice bucket on the table. The richer, oxidative styles are served cooler than room temperature, at 12 to 14°C. A short spell in the fridge before pouring usually gets you there.
The glass. This matters more than you’d expect, and it’s the single thing most likely to change your mind about sherry. Sherry Wines’ own serving guide says never to use a small glass, and recommends either the larger traditional catavino, a port glass or a smaller white wine glass. The tiny schooner may look the part, but it gives the wine nowhere to go. A properly shaped glass lets the aromas gather, and with sherry the aromas are half the point: almonds, sea salt, walnut, dried fruit.
A small-to-medium white wine glass such as a Riedel Vinum Sauvignon Blanc does the job well. For a relaxed Sunday, a Riedel O tumbler is ideal for a fino and tonic. If you want to see the difference for yourself, the glass experiment in our guide to hosting a wine tasting works just as well with sherry.
How much. Pour roughly a third of the glass. Sherry is stronger than table wine, at 15% and above for even the lightest styles and up to 22% for some, so small, frequent pours are better than one big one.
Keeping it. Fino and manzanilla are the most fragile. Once opened, keep the bottle in the fridge, tightly closed, and finish it within about a week. As a general rule, the richer styles are much hardier and will last up to two months. Our guide to how long wine lasts after opening has the rest.
What to Eat With It
Sherry is a lot more food-friendly than it gets credit for, and it’s particularly good with the foods that give other wines a hard time.
Fino and manzanilla are the tapas wines: almonds, olives, cured ham, prawns, fried fish, salty and vinegary things. Their saltiness and acidity suit exactly the dishes that make most wines taste flabby. They’re also good with salads and vinaigrettes, which is rare.
Amontillado is a good partner for soup, smoked food and cured cheeses, and a very good one for wild mushrooms. Oloroso suits rich, savoury dishes: game, poultry, stews and mushrooms. Both fit neatly into the autumn table, and our autumn pairing guide has a few more ideas.
Pedro Ximénez goes over vanilla ice cream, with dark chocolate or alongside blue cheese. It’s also good with a Christmas pudding, which we cover in our Christmas dinner guide, and with chocolate, as in our guide to wine and chocolate.
If you’re serving more than one style, Sherry Wines recommends no more than three or four, ordered from lightest to strongest.
Three Easy Ways to Drink It
If the idea of drinking sherry neat still feels like a commitment, start with one of these.
75ml fino or manzanilla, 100ml tonic, a wedge of fresh grapefruit and plenty of ice.
Sherry Wines UK puts it at around 6.7% ABV and 74 calories, against roughly 9.2% and 155 calories for an Aperol Spritz. They would say that, but the arithmetic is plausible: it’s a lighter drink than you’d think.
Fino or manzanilla over ice, topped up with a lemon-lime fizzy drink and a squeeze of lime. It’s the iconic, refreshing drink of Andalusia, often called a rebujito, and it is exactly as delicious as it sounds.
1 part Amontillado, 3 parts ginger beer and a wedge of lime. The one most likely to convert a sceptic who’s only ever had sherry neat.
Where to Start
You don’t need a cabinet full of bottles. Three will do.
- A fino or manzanilla. Tío Pepe is the best-known fino and is easy to find. La Gitana is a widely available manzanilla that we’ve recommended before in our summer drinking guide.
- An amontillado or oloroso. Something darker for winter food, and the bottle that will last longest once it’s open.
- A Pedro Ximénez. For the ice cream, the cheese board and Christmas.
So, start with a fino and tonic. Move on to an amontillado when the evenings get colder. By the time the Christmas pudding is out, you’ll be pouring a Pedro Ximénez over the ice cream and wondering what you were so unsure about.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is sherry sweet?
Not necessarily. Fino, manzanilla, amontillado, oloroso and palo cortado are all dry. The sweet styles are Pedro Ximénez, Moscatel and the blended creams, and pale cream is a fino that has been sweetened. If you’re unsure, go by the style name: fino and manzanilla mean dry, cream means sweet, and medium sits in between.
Does sherry need to go in the fridge, and how long does it last?
Fino and manzanilla do. Once opened, keep them in the fridge, tightly closed, and finish them within about a week. Amontillado, oloroso and the other richer styles are hardier and will keep for up to two months once opened, stored cool with the cork or stopper in.
What glass should I use for sherry?
A proper wine glass, filled about a third. Sherry Wines recommends a large catavino or an all-purpose white wine glass and says never to use a small glass. A small-to-medium white wine glass such as a Riedel Vinum Sauvignon Blanc works well, and the extra space lets the aromas open up.
What is the difference between fino and manzanilla?
Both are dry, pale and aged under flor, from the Palomino grape. Fino is the bolder of the two. Manzanilla is the lightest style and is matured in the bodegas of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where the sea air gives it a distinct salty tang.
Is sherry the same as port?
No. Both are fortified wines, but they come from different countries and are made differently. Sherry is from Andalusia in Spain, and the base wine is fermented, with the dry styles staying dry. Port is from the Douro in Portugal, and spirit is added during fermentation, which stops it early and leaves natural sweetness in the wine.
Which sherry should a beginner try first?
A chilled fino or manzanilla, either neat in a wine glass or mixed in a fino and tonic. They’re the freshest and most versatile styles, and the quickest way to see why the old reputation doesn’t fit. If you prefer something richer, try a medium-dry amontillado or an oloroso with a roast dinner.
Sherry deserves a proper glass. Find the right one for the way you drink it.
Match the GlassWhy choose The Riedel Shop
Andi Healey is Web Manager at The Riedel Shop and has spent more than a decade helping people get more out of their wine glasses. A Surrey-based wine enthusiast with a particular interest in the stories, traditions and occasional peculiarities of wine, he believes that enjoying it shouldn't require a dictionary, a qualification or an unnecessarily expensive bottle. He writes about wine, glassware and the pleasures of drinking well, without fuss.
- Official UK Riedel specialist retailer
- Part of the Art of Living Cookshop family (est. 1972)
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