Manzanilla sherry is about as far as you can get from rosé in wine. That’s one good reason to make it our next subject.
While rosé enjoys widespread popularity and marketing cachet, manzanilla resides largely in the hearts of sherry geeks. I’m not sure I qualify for full geekdom, but I do love sherry, and I have a sherry T-shirt, which at least should make me an honorary member of the club.
In any case, you do not have to passionately pursue all things sherry to fall for manzanilla. For me, it’s the easiest sherry to love. Perhaps, because of our past explorations of fino and amontillado sherries, the way will have been cleared for you to embrace manzanilla as well.
Manzanilla is essentially a fino that comes exclusively from the seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. Its coastal origin gives it distinctive qualities that differentiate it from other finos. Is it the briny wind blowing in off the Atlantic that provides its saline character? Or is it something else in the air, or in the earth?
The three manzanillas I suggest are:
Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana Manzanilla La Gitana (Hidalgo Imports, Miami) $18, 500 milliliters
Bodegas Yuste Aurora Manzanilla (Classical Wines, Seattle) $20, 500 milliliters
Valdespino Manzanilla Deliciosa en Rama Saca de Primavera 2018 (Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, N.Y.) $15 375 milliliters
If you can’t find these wines, look for other labels including Barbadillo, Emilio Lustau, Alexander Jules, Delgado Zuleta, La Cigarrera and Pedro Romero.
If you have some extra cash and want to try the very best in manzanilla, I urge you to splurge on a bottle from Equipo Navazos, a small négociant that scours the region for excellent barrels that would otherwise go into a larger blend. Instead, it acquires those barrels and bottles them separately. They can be revelations, but they can run from $50 to $100.
You may have noticed that the Valdespino is labeled “en rama.” That means it is a special selection that is bottled largely unfiltered, unlike most manzanillas and finos. The differences can be significant, and if you can find en rama bottles of manzanilla, snap them up. If you can’t, do not worry.
Whatever bottles you are able to get, please store them in the refrigerator or some other cool place. Serve them cold, in regular wine glasses, but pay attention to how they may change as they warm up in the glass.
You can serve manzanilla as an aperitif, or with classic snacks like Marcona almonds, cured anchovies, olives or Ibérico ham. Or you can drink it with a seafood dinner, especially one you eat with your hands: fried shrimp or clams, white bait, nothing too formal. After all, manzanilla is for the seashore, not the drawing room.
Follow NYT Food on Twitter and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. Get regular updates from NYT Cooking, with recipe suggestions, cooking tips and shopping advice.
