Sherry sales have been improving lately - figures are up by 7.5% since 2000. About time, too. It's fabulous stuff, and more restaurants, bars and hotels should be listing it. And no, I'm not talking about just keeping a bottle of Tio Pepe behind the bar - or in the fridge, hopefully - but providing a decent selection: a couple of manzanillas and finos, say, with an amontillado and an oloroso to show that you're serious.
And you don't have to push it just as an aperitif. Sherry goes extremely well with a whole range of foods. Think about serving the drier styles with a starter - the saltier the better - and a sweeter, nuttier style with creamy puds (the richest sherry, PX, is stunning drizzled over vanilla ice-cream) or with strong cheese.
The Spanish will think nothing of washing down a whole meal with certain sherries. At Bigote, in Sanlucar de Barrameda, locals eat course after course with bottle (after bottle) of manzanilla.
Sam and Eddie Hart were so taken with the stuff that they've named their new restaurant after a style of sherry. Fino opened in London, off Charlotte Street, three weeks ago. The Hart boys aren't new to the industry; their father is Tim Hart, of Harts restaurant in Nottingham and Hambleton Hall hotel in Rutland, whose restaurant has held a Michelin star for more than 20 years.
The boys are also familiar with Spain - their mother was brought up in Majorca, where they spent many summers. They speak Spanish, too. Eddie lived for a year in Madrid studying Spanish and Sam opened a cocktail bar and nightclub in Mexico City before spending time in Barcelona, eating his way around the city's famous restaurants and tapas bars. In fact, one particular restaurant - Cal Pep - is the inspiration for their new venture.
As the names suggests, Fino is well stocked with sherry. There are 10 in all, offered by the 125ml glass, by the half-bottle and a couple by the bottle. They range in price from £3.50 for La Gitana Manzanilla, to £7.50 for the Oloroso Almacenista from Lustau.
At the moment the sherries are from just two producers - Hidalgo and Lustau - from three suppliers: Morris & Verdin, Laymont & Shaw and CG Bull & Taylor. "But we will list more as we get established," promises Sam.
Anyway, if sherry is not your bag, there's always one of 70 wines to choose from. There are Spanish wines (though not enough for my liking), with stars such as Pazo de Senorans Albari¤o (2001, £4.50/£22.50) and Vega Sicilia Unico (1987, £180), plus an entry from forward-thinking Navarra producer Castillo de Monjardin (1996 Pinot Noir is £3.90/£19.50).
And then there are the rest, from Argentina to Tasmania. It's an interesting selection, chosen, no doubt, with a little help from the Hart boys' father, Tim, who is famously passionate about wine.
And just to prove the point, manzanilla worked well with (almost) all the elements of the "Fino Gourmet Selection" (£25 per person, minimum two people), including the clams with sherry and ham, ham croquetas and the classic tortilla. But maybe not so good with the milk-fed lamb cutlets, which begged for a glass of Ribera del Duero, sadly unavailable by the glass.
Shorts
New man at Laphroaig
Famous Islay malt distillery Laphroaig has a new distillery manager, announces owners Allied Domecq. Robin Shields replaces Iain Henderson, who retired at the end of last year. Shields, formerly of Coors, once applied for the post of assistant distillery manager 20 years before. "It's fate," he says, "and I'm looking forward to it with immense relish."
Cellar schmellar
Want a cellar but have no space? Autour du Vin (020 7935 4679) is celebrating 10 years of distributing EuroCave - the big guys in wine storage and cellaring systems. To mark the event, the shop is offering a 20% discount on all products on 11 and 12 April at its new London W1 store.
Beer is big
The Meantime Brewery in Greenwich, London, has opened a new packaging facility which will allow it to launch new 33cl Champagne-style bottles specifically for the on-trade. And check out its new raspberry wheat beer, which launches later this month, devised by master brewer Alastair Hook and his six-strong brewing team.
Tom and Gerry
Gearóid Devaney is to head up the wine team at Tom Aikens's new London restaurant, which opens later this month. Devaney has recently come back from a year-long stint as sommelier at three-Michelin-starred Pierre Gagnaire in Paris, and was with the two-Michelin-starred Capital restaurant in London's Knightsbridge before that. So what's he got planned for Tom's new gaff? "It'll be mostly French," he reveals, "though other major wine-producing areas will be represented, with a focus on smaller producers in some of the less fashionable appellations where the quality of the wine deserves more recognition."