XECO SHERRIES
So how do I drink XECO sherries?
Chilled as an apéritif. Mixed with tonic. In a spruced-up cocktail. Or served solo (optionally with ice), XECO’s dry sherries suit any mood, any day.
The beauty of dry sherries is that they’re fantastically easy-going wines. Due to the special sherry production method, the wine is non-vintage and consistent year after year. Plus they can be kept in the fridge for up to a week, without the need of those cumbersome vacuum wine conservers. (Seven days to put away a bottle of XECO? More than enough time.)
With years of experience in the wine trade (but precious little in front of the camera), our three founders (aka The XEQUITAS) are dedicated to sharing their love of this glorious wine. For a quick history on sherry—and a laugh at their expense!—check out our XECO mini-movie or scroll down for more info on how to enjoy these remarkable wines.
XECO Fino
Our XECO Fino is made from the Palomino Fino grape variety which produces a crisp and refreshing dry wine that is extremely versatile.
Like all sherries, it is made through a special process of fractional blending that is unique to wines from Jerez in Spain (but for more on that, please visit our blog) and has been aged for four years on location in Andalucia in American oak casks. This gives it a uniquely dry and savoury quality that works brilliantly with all sorts of food - from olives, to sushi, to fish and chips. (Shhhh… but our favourite place to be on a Friday night is on the sofa, fish and chips on the lap, Netflix on the telly and an ice-cold Fino to hand. Yum.)
Drink it extremely chilled, either straight-up in a wine glass or mixed with a good quality tonic or lemonade. Do experiment! This fortified little beauty demands your attention and will pander to your wildest cocktail ideas. (Also - tag us in your concoctions on social @XECOWines)
XECO Amontillado
Rich and really quite sweet on the nose, this wine is bone dry by the time it lands on your tongue making it a wonderful aperitif. Amontillado Sherries are partially aged oxidatively meaning the wine has been aged in contact with oak.
Now, the Spanish pronounce it ‘ah-mon-ti-ya-doh’ but you, dear customer, can say it however you want (in the XECO office, we refer to it affectionately as 'Monti').
However you say the word, what won't change is its wonderfully nutty, aromatic character, its glorious amber hue or those subtle flavours of sun-baked fruit and fresh vanilla.
Always drink it chilled (it’s excellent alongside a slice of cheese or 3) or mixed up in a Monti Manhattan.
De-lightful.
Where is XECO Sherry Made?
Just as ‘champagne’ isn’t champagne unless it comes from Champagne (France), sherry is not sherry unless it comes from Jerez (formerly ‘Sherish’) in the Andalusian region of Southern Spain. Pronounced, 'heh-rez', Jerez literally means sherry in Spanish.
This so-called ‘Sherry Triangle’ was the first region in the country to be awarded ‘Denomination of Origin’ status. So, if your aunty’s 100yr old sherry has a ‘Made In Portsmouth’ sticker on the back, please break it to her gently.
What does all this mean? Consistency. Pride. Pedigree. Continuity. A perfect execution of product, forever linked to a single part of Spain. Nowhere else in the world makes this particular style of wine with its unique system of 'criaderas' and 'soleras'—also known as the 'solera system'.
To create XECO, we collaborated with the beautiful and historical bodega Díez Mérito, which laid down its soleras in 1876. Thanks to the vision of its new owners, the Espinoza family, Diez Merito is entering a new chapter in its distinguished history.
The region’s soil and climate, the family’s skill and dedication and a firm belief that sherry is ready for 'a revolution, a renaissance', matches perfectly with the ambition of XECO to drive a sherry-sized wedge into the drinks landscape for a new generation.