Good ingredients and time make Cape's sherry fine

IF PENICILLIN can cure the ill, Spanish sherry can bring the dead back to life, Sir Alexander Fleming once said in tribute of the heart-warming fortified wine.

A bit of a hyperbole from the Scottish biologist, though perhaps he might have been so convinced of sherry's prowess as to believe it could have some medicinal properties.

With the wintry spell upon us, sherry might well be a fitting metaphor since it can instantly fortify flagging spirits.

For good measure, Monis fits the bill as the Cape's most long-standing brand of fortified wines, established in 1906.

Thanks also to Monis winemaker Dirkie Christowitz, who enjoys local and international acclaim for having made prize-winning sherry over the years. I sat down with Christowitz to talk about all things sherry.

Officially South Africa can no longer use the word sherry on our labels because the Spanish own the term since sherry is their indigenous drink.

How does Monis make its sherry?

Monis is made from Chenin blanc grapes grown in Stellenbosch, hand-picked when they have reached ripeness and are bursting with flavour.

After crushing, they are fermented with flor, a special type of yeast that forms a layer over the wine. The flor used at Monis was cultivated by the winemaking team over the last 60 years. The resulting dry white wine is fortified to 15.2 % alcohol and then inoculated again with flor for a secondary fermentation in oak barrels.

During the three years it takes for this process to be completed, the wine remains covered under a blanket of flor, imparting a unique taste and bouquet. This process results in the Pale Dry. To increase the sweetness of the Medium and Full Cream, the wine is then fortified with sweet wine.

Besides sipping sherry as a sundowner over ice, how else can one enjoy it?

Pair the sherry with a variety of foods and add it to soups, sauces and reductions to allow its beautiful nutty flavour to transform a meal.

What styles of sherry can one choose from?

There is Pale Dry, which is aromatic and crisp with a refreshingly dry character. The flavours are diverse, yet well balanced and on the nose the complex combination of salt and citrus lead to ripe pear and nuts. On the palate the sherry is clean with mineral notes, a dry lime flavour and cashew nuts that end in a rich, nutty and long dry finish.

Pair it with mushroom soup, risotto, Salmon, line fish and a platter of Parma ham, chorizo sausage, biltong, nuts and some strong flavourful cheeses.

Secondly, there is Medium Cream, which is silky smooth with a hint of sweetness and a nutty character. Bright, pale, natural gold in colour, the sherry holds butterscotch and pine needle on the nose. It has a long, silky flow across the palate with rich rather than sweet fine raisins, citrus and Christmas pudding flavours ending in a long finish.

Pair it with ripe Camembert cheese, roast chicken, spicy prawns, Carpaccio and chicken livers.

Then there is Full Cream, which is dark brown in colour. This one has sweet vanilla flavours, including nuts and honey. Rich toffee and brown sugar aromatics with hints of barley sugar, spice and honey also come to the fore with a beautifully balanced and delicate character.

Pair Full Cream with caramelised date and hazelnut praline ice cream, malva pudding, pan-fried duck or on its own, as a substitute for dessert.