Sure, Let’s Have Sherry, Baby: Lustau sweet wine for sweet times

Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry and “pop tarts”

You probably know by now that sweet treats do not meet cute with dry wines whether red, white, orange, rose, or sparkling. But sherry? Sherry loves just about everything! Girl Scout cookies and wine? Sherry! Halloween candy and wine? Sherry! Valentine’s Day desserts? Sherry, the fortified wine made from white grapes grown in Jerez, Southern Spain comes in several styles, and oloroso or cream sherry is the one you want for dessert.

The process for making sherry differs from the typical wine at table. Sherries are aged for many years in solera where a special yeast “flor.” in casks before they are bottled and held longer. In this process, they seek to recreate that of wines which crossed the oceans in the 17th century. 

Celebrating 125 years, Lustau began in 1896, when José Ruiz-Berdejo started cultivating the vines of the Lustau family’s estate. As a side gig, he also made wine and sold it larger Sherry producers (almacenista). His daughter María Ruiz-Berdejo Alberti bought a small winery in Jerez de la Frontera, and winemaking moved there. In the 1940s her husband Emilio Lustau moved the winery again and in 1945 Lustau began their own brands and exporting them in the 1950s. In the 1990s Lustau merged with another family business which provided capital, and the expansion included moving into six 19th century bodega buildings in the centre of Jerez which they restored. 

Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry

Menu for Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry 

  • smoked squash soup
    made with sherry (NOT cooking sherry; we used the Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry) finished with pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil 
  • desserts 
    “Desserts to Die For” blueberry apple heart tart
    “Desserts to Die For” raspberry “poptart”
    Trader Joe’s Belgian chocolate hearts 
    Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Shortbread Hearts
    Trader Joe’s Raspberry Heart Cookies 
  • a cheese board before, during, or after for dessert would be great; choose creamy cheeses, foie gras, or pate
  • find more pairing ideas and recipes on the Lustau website
  • serve sherry cold, at cellar temperature (50 degrees), or on ice
  • Rule of thumb for pairing Sherry:
    “If it swims, Fino. If it flies, Amontillado. If it runs, Oloroso.”

Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry with pumpkin soup and shortbread cookies

Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry

ABV: 20%
SRP: $31
Grapes: 80% Palomino + 20% Pedro Ximénez
Importer Europvin USA
Sample for my review 

Appearance:  Dark mahogany, kaluha, rich wood, root beer 

Aroma: Cask, sherry cask, raisin, orange, clean stone, rich and clean at the same time, rum raisin ice cream. 

Palate: Brown sugar, orange oil, great acidity, nicely sweet, not cloying, creme brûlée, vanilla and cream.

Pairing: I really liked the contrast between the sweetness in the sherry and the saltiness of the soup; there was an interesting tango between the two. The smoked squash highlights the barrel toast in the sherry cask. There is an earthy richness with the pumpkin seeds and the creme fresh and the  toasted pumpkin seed oil that works well with the richness of the sherry, this was an unexpected very pleasing pairing that work well on any coursed menu. Good but not fabulous with the shortbread jam sandwich cookies, it likes the richness of the cookies and the cooked flavor in the jam, Very nice with our chocolate heart cookies, the flavors went so well together and the crispy sprinkles on the outside added another layer of fun crunch that went with the sherry.

Lustau East India Solera Cream Sherry

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