As the writer of a ‘New Booze’ column, I never thought I’d be able to talk about sherry, but here we are: Bodegas Grant is the newest sherry producer imported to the US, and just in time for a resurgence in popularity of this previously obscured wine. Sherry has been produced for centuries and plays an integral role in the aging of spirits, as sherry casks add unique flavor to a variety of spirits, but there has been very little rhetoric surrounding it in the modern cocktail community until recently. There is a romance and an unmatched mystique to this wine, but many bodegas outside of Jerez, sherry’s production region in Spain, have been shuttered due to the world’s waned enthusiasm. A new, boutique sherry producer being imported is both exciting and relieving.

Bodegas Grant is located in El Puerto de Santa Maria, southwest of Jerez on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. El Puerto is best known for its Fino and Amontillado sherries, as a coastal town is ideal for producing these fresh and delicately-profiled wines. A bodega’s vicinity to water creates a heartier flor – a layer of flowerlike yeast on the top of the wine – within the barrel to protect the wine from oxidization, maintaining the wine’s intended delicacies.

Grant’s fino, called “La Garrocha,” is distinctly floral, with bright meyer lemon and sea air on the nose. The palate grows in fresh fruit character for just a moment, before turning dry and  briny with just a touch of peach blossom to finish. It shows amazing balance between freshness, acidity and oxidation; its delicate playfulness makes me wonder if that’s why it is named after the dance– la Garrocha.

By Amy Murray of Cask SF