It makes sense: fortifieds are a traditional building block for a whole branch of cocktails. And if vermouth is the go-to spiritous wine, sherry is next in line. It has its own cocktails to call on too – the Bamboo (no. 39 in our list of classics) the Cobbler, and many more that name sherry as either the protagonist or supporting act. Sherry is a welcome addition to the Bloody Mary, for instance, and outside of classics it’s considered a unique ingredient – with their involved production process, nothing tastes quite like the wines from Jerez. That’s sherry generalised, but this is a diverse category. From arid finos and manzanillas, to nutty amontillados and palo cortados, round and rich olorosos to the naturally sweet Pedro Ximenez – sherry has many personalities.
It’s no surprise, then, that the brand topping out list offers the gamut of styles. Indeed, this brand is best known for the almacenista system, whereby sherries of small private holdings are bottled under the Lustau banner, referencing their name. It means the brand offers a wide range of quality-end wines and this variety and provenance, added to the fascinating production of sherry, is a rabbit warren that shoos eager bartenders inside.
Lustau was the house sherry in 29% of cases, and a top three option in 61% of bars. It was also top of our trending list. The fino Tío Pepe, probably the most famous brand in sherry (and produced by Gonazlez Byass) ran Lustau close – it too was the number one sherry in 29% of bars but fractionally less likely to be among the top three (58%). The Gonzalez Byass self-titled range provided the house sherry in 13% of bars and was on the podium in a third. Sandeman, which produces fortifieds across Iberia, was less likely to be a house pour but was a top three sherry in 12% of our sample. Valdespino, one of the oldest bodegas in Jerez, was in regular reach in 11% of bars polled.
Methodology
The results of this report are the culmination of a questionnaire of 106 bars around the world, each cherry-picked to take part based on their performance in global bar awards. We aim to find out not only which brands sell best but also what’s trending. These two data sets give us an insight into the brands that are doing the most volume and the brands that are hot right now.
To read more on the methodology of the Brands Report click here.
