Thanks, Philadelphia

I was in Philadelphia a few months ago for the National Homebrewers' Conference.  Not knowing what to expect, I fully expected a couple of guys who were up to no good making trouble in my neighborhood. Little did I know, Philly is a fantastic city full of great bars and restaurants and we had a fantastic time eating and drinking our way around the city.

We went to a lovely little tapas place called Jamonera.

I wasn't going to drink there, since we had some homebrewing parties to attend later that night.  However, that plan was ruined when I saw they offered flights of sherry.  "Sherry?" I thought, "I don't know anything about sherry."  The extent of my sherry knowledge is that my mother drinks the cooking sherry when my grandmother (her mother-in-law) is in town.

I'm never one to pass up a learning opportunity about food or drink so I was compelled to order a flight.  It was amazing, everything I had was far from the rich, syrupy, cloying ingredient I was expecting.  I wish I had written down what I had.  I swear the waitress did that for me, but I can't for the life of me find the note.  I think I'll likely be on a quest for a while trying to find those beverages. 

The first attempt was a bottle of Fino from Jerez by Lustau en Rama.

Apparently it's bottled straight from the cask without any finishing, filtering, etc.  It's quite good, but not quite what I was looking for as it's a bit sweeter than I usually prefer.  It's probably the sweetest sherry I like, and I'll probably keep it stocked as I continue my quest for drier sherries.  It's great by itself and pairs nicely with most foods I've tried it with, although I do think spicy food would overpower it.  Not a bad first try!!