Sherry Wows Westham

[photos, left: Eduardo Ojeda, winemaker, explaining the intricacies of sherry production to the audience during the masterclass; far left: Ian, Christine Horeau of Horeau's Restaurant and Eduardo Ojeda on the sun-patio of the restaurant, at the break before lunch was served.]

I give below our recent Press Release, which shows that a good time was had by all. Both the meal and the sherries were exemplary:

A delighted gathering of Sunday-lunchers welcomed Eduardo Ojeda, winemaker with sherry bodega Valdespino, to Eastbourne last Sunday (14th October) at Horeau's Seafood Restaurant in Westham. He had flown in from Spain especially to give a Sherry Masterclass there, organised by independent wine merchant, Cooden Cellars, as part of the Feastbourne festival of events.

During the masterclass the audience was taken through a short presentation on the different styles of sherry and how they are made. This was followed by a tutored tasting of some of the sherries. Amongst them were super-dry Manzanillas and Finos as well as nutty and caramel Amontillados, through to the more traditional sweet creams. But the star was undoubtedly the ultra-luscious, dark brown sweet El Candado made from the Pedro Ximenes grape which came in a bottle with a padlocked top (El Candado means padlock in Spanish) allegedly first put on the bottle in 1822 to prevent the husband of its original customer from drinking it all! It was just like drinking liquid Christmas pudding, said one customer. Fantastic poured over vanilla ice cream, said another. The tasting was rounded off by a precious bottle of over 30-year old Palo Cortado, worth 170 pounds.

A short break on the sun-kissed patio of the Restaurant allowed a gentle breather before the guests were treated to a wonderful four-course lunch consisting of tartare of salmon, dill and creme fraiche starter, cream of garlic and almond soup, roast loin of pork with prune stuffing and summer vegetables and creme brulee, each course being matched with a different sherry.

Ian Jarman of Cooden Cellars remarked: It's been really wonderful to see the many different sorts of sherries available, and to discover how well they go with different foods. There's a sherry that is perfectly suited to almost any occasion and it's been great to see the positive reactions of people to them. It's been a real eye-opener and a tremendous show case for the not-so-staid image of sherry.

Cooden Cellars continue their promotion of worthy but often maligned wines with their Masters of Riesling tasting at Eastbourne College on Thursday 19th October.

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