notbob wrote:
> Not the babe. The drink.
>
> On my recent trip to the big city, I bought some pale dry sherry
> instead of Chinese rice wine, a commom substitute. I've previously
> used Dry Sack with good results. The store only had Harvey's Bristol Creme
> Sherry(?), but I bought a cheaper brand. It tastes like a decent, but
> not great, Chinese rice wine, but that's another thread.
>
> My concern, now, is about sherry, the drink. Seems like in all those
> Brit dramas, movies, books, etc, everyone is drinking Sherry. "Would
> you like a glass of Sherry, my dear?" Fine. I get the gist, sherry
> being a reinforced wine and all that, but why only the Limeys? You
> never read about it in American literature. Anyway, my question, and
> the point of this post, is, what's a good sipping sherry. I assume
> "sipping", cuz I've never heard of a sherry depth charge or a tomato
> sherry. What say the rfc brethren?
>
> nb
>


There are two basic "flavors" of sherry, dry and sweet or cream. Most
recipes calling for "sherry" mean the dry kind unless it's a dessert.
In Spain, where it is produced, dry sherry is used as an aperitif while
sweet/cream sherry is used as a dessert or after dinner wine. There
are five or six various types based on sweetness, blend, and color.

It would not surprise me if British distributors cornered the market
centuries ago to control the distribution of limited production as they
did with another wine drunk in Europe but not much in the US, Madeira,
from the Portuguese island of the same name. It, too, ranges from very
dry to very sweet in about 4 or 5 stages. (I recall Bual, Malvasia, and
Sercial. I'm sure there are more.)

gloria p