Sainsbury's Taste the Difference 12 Year Old Dry Oloroso Sherry

I'll get this out of the way now: dry Oloroso (and dry sherry in general) is NOT the same thing your granny has in her drinks cabinet. That stuff is likely a cream sherry, and is sweetened by mixing with sweeter sherries.

At the moment dry Oloroso is my favourite style of sherry. Quick sherry primer: there are 2 basic styles of sherry, those made with a protective layer of yeast covering the sherry in the cask (called a flor), and those without. An example of the former is a fino sherry (i.e. Tio Pepe). Oloroso is of the latter variety. The lack of flor allows oxygen to interact with the wine and age it, and it give the wine a darker colour and a stronger, nutty flavour.

This is a fantastic aperitif wine. Just serve it with a bowl of nuts, or olives or cured ham (Spanish or Italian parma ham).

I've only tried one or two brands of Oloroso sherry, so I can't really say how this one compares to others on the market, but I really like it. This particular wine is made for Sainsbury's by Lustau.

Sainbury's
Taste the Difference Dry Oloroso Sherry
Jerez, Spain
£6.99
3.5/5