Gonzalez Byass Sherry & Candy - A Halloween Treat

Who likes Halloween candy and wine? Or in this case, sherry? Our friends at Gonzalez Byass wanted us to explore this concept through three of their sherries: Alfonso Oloroso, Nectar Pedro Ximénez, and Harveys Bristol Cream. These wines were all produced at their Jerez distillery in Spain which we visited in August 2019 in A Family Visit to Gonzalez Byass for Tio Pepe.  Please read this post as a refresher on sherry regarding the region, the Palomino and Pedro Ximenez (PX) grapes, production, styles, and the solera systems.

On their own, these are three enjoyable wines. The Alfonso Oloroso boasts pecans and walnuts within its dry profile. The Harveys Bristol Cream has a milder aroma, more body (nuts and caramel), and suitable acidity to balance the sugar. And the Nectar Pedro Ximénez is all figs within a savory and complex core which also includes caramel and nuts.

With the candy, we conducted two tastings featuring different candies. The first sitting paired the three sherries with Milk Duds, Reese's, Payday, and Butterfingers. The Butterfingers worked best with the Harveys Bristol Cream by adding even more nuts to the palate. The Milk Duds paired nicely with the Nectar Pedro Ximénez as the chewy caramel worked into that wine's depth. The Reese's was a huge hit with the Alfonso adding chocolate and bringing forth some orange from the wine. And the salt from the Payday helped the peanuts blend into the Alfonso.

The second tasting confirmed some of the lessons learned from the previous sitting. In general, the complex and rich Nectar Pedro Ximénez requires a candy with either complexity or chewiness. And candies with chocolates and nuts work well with the Alfonso Oloroso and Harveys Bristol Cream. 

Specifically, the Almond Joy and Tootsie Roll paired best with the Nectar, particularly the Almond Joy where the coconut added even more nuances to that sherry. Same for the 100 Grand bar - the caramel blended into that wine's depth.  The Hersheys wrapped around both the Alfonso and Harveys tasting like a chocolate nugget with nut filling. The Crunch bar was similar. The Baby Ruth worked best with the Harveys with the chewiness elevating the wine. And finally, the Whoppers didn't play well with any of these sherries. The sensation was disjointed with one sensation of candy then wine or vice versa.

Finally, a stand-alone sitting showed to use KitKats with the Alfonso Oloroso. 

Disclosure: We received samples from Gonzalez Byass in order to share our opinion about their products, but this isn’t a sponsored post.

International #SherryWeek with González Byass

November 4th through the 11th has been designated International #SherryWeek by Consejo Regulador de las Denominaciones de Origen "Jerez-Xérès-Sherry" or in short, Vinos de Jerez.  We generally skip these marketing campaigns but for Sherry, expect a steady stream of posts here and on social media all week. Let's start with González Byass, perhaps the most popular sherry producer through their Tio Pepe winery in Jerez and two of their sherries.

Vina AB Amontillado ($24.99)
This wine starts with a Tio Pepe base after the standard four years in the Tio Pepe solera system. This means that it consists of 100% Palomino Fino grapes that have fermented and aged in a process that allows for the development of flor -- a unique layer of yeast produced naturally in Jerez. This layer protects the wine from oxygen and after four years of age, provides the wine with its unique aroma and character. After four years, the wine is then transferred to the Vina AB Solera where it remains for an additional eight years which extracts elements from the American Oak such as caramel and vanilla. The wine also features the essence of dried fruits and nuts while staying relatively dry.

The Vina AB Amontillado can be consumed by itself yet for Halloween, we found that a Butterfinger pairs nicely, with the peanuts complementing the dried fruits and nuts.  However, this wine's best usage is an ingredient in cocktails with many offered by a quick search online. It appears the Gin is the most popular companion with my favorite becoming a version of the Tuxedo.  The base is 1.5 ounces of London dry gin and 1 oz of Vina AB, then .5 oz of Lusardo Maraschino, three dashes of orange bitters, and one dash of absinthe.  Not having any Lusardo or absinthe on hand I replaced these with Monarch Bitters - using Pistachio Cherry Syrup and Cayenne Ginger bitters.  A rather delicious cocktail.


Noé VORS Pedro Ximenez ($49.99)
Dessert in a bottle. The PX grapes were fermented and fortified in the Nectar Solera system where the grapes were fermented to 7% and then fortified to 15%. After eight years of aging, the wine enters the Noé Solera system for 30 years. This results in a complex and textured wine, sweet figs and lifting acidity. If you care to pair with candy, try a Twizzlers - but this is a fantastic wine solo.



Disclosure: We received samples from González Byass in order to share our opinion about their products, but this isn’t a sponsored post.