Sherry Wine News

The Dorchester's Lucia Montanelli wins the UK final of the Tio Pepe Challenge

We are delighted to announce that Lucia Montanelli of The Dorchester is the winner of the UK Final of the Tio Pepe Challenge.

The judging panel were unanimous in awarding Montanelli top scores for her cocktail creation consisting of her signature sherry cocktail, ‘’Don Tio” and her take on the classic Sherry Cobbler. She also impressed with her blind sherry tasting and venencia skills (the traditional method of pouring sherry from a barrel.)

“Don Tio” combines Gonzalez Byass Nectar PX with Tio Pepe, London No.1 Gin, Maraschino and Boker’s Bitters. It is garnished with an orange twist.

Montanelli will travel to Spain during the Feria de Jerez to compete in the International Finals on 17th May.

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The UK Finals of the Tio Pepe Challenge took place on 4th April, 2017 at Hush, Mayfair and the judging panel consisted of Simon Difford of Difford’s Guide, Walter Pintus of The Connaught and Boris Ivan of Gonzalez Byass. The judges were impressed with the creativity and skill displayed by the 10 finalists who were: Dardan Hoti of Blue Bar, Dario Cuichan Davalos of Grosvenor House, Gabor Molnar of Boisdale, Giuseppe Panetta of Quaglino’s, Matyas Busek of Mr Fogg’s Residence, Mirko Sacco of Novikov Restaurant and Bar, Oliver Kritzler of Milk & Honey, Rob Simpson of The Clove Club, and Steve Lawson of Mash. We would like to thank all competitors for their enthusiasm and professionalism throughout the day and Tio Pepe will be featuring all their recipes on their website in the coming weeks. Please join us in raising a chilled glass of Tio Pepe to congratulate Lucia. ¡Salud!

Photo Credits: Simon Williams Photography.

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