SHERRY'S A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW

In the same way you might think a can of White Lightning equals ‘tramp in a park’ you might reasonably think a glass of Amontillado equals ‘gran on the sofa at Christmas’. Sherry has long had a dubious reputation which buddies it up
with the blue rinse brigade and cheese-on-a-stick parties circa1973, but a new wave of chic Spanish restaurants springing up around London are heralding it as a thoroughly modern, highly sophisticated aperitif which deserves a timely renaissance.

Firstly, prepare yourself for a taste surprise. Forget the sickly, fortified sweetness of Bristol Cream (sophistication in a brand name, non?), and with the right choice of vineyard you can expect fresh, caramelized, dry or even salty sherry.

Hotshot restaurateurs Eddie and Sam Hart opened the sleek and seriously over-subscribed Soho tapas bar Barrafina in 2007 after the unlikely success of Fino, a basement in Bloomsbury which drew London’s great and good to its pricey little plates of chorizo and tortilla. Join the queues at lunch or dinner or just cut to the chase and stake your claim to a barstool early to sample a range of perfectly chilled sherries. The Angel Zamorano and Pastrana are pleasantly astringent little numbers which cut through the delicious, oily offerings which include excellent Jabugo ham, cut from the whole shoulder joint skewered behind the bar.

The equally popular, even newer Dehesa, a moodily-lit, rather stylish operation on a corner off Carnaby Street has a delicious Pastrana which reckons well with the gamey taste of their unctuous pâté.

Head East to the perennially trendy yet grown-up Eyre Brothers and you will find a £30 half bottle of Amontillado which could change your mind permanently about the usual first-course Sancerre.

Eschew the Bristol Cream in favour of a dry Fino and raise your glass with pride as a sherry now equals ‘adventurous oenophile in situ’.