José Andrés on Sherry

What happens when a renowned chef from the north of Spain marries a woman from the south of Spain? 

He picks up a sherry habit.

Asturias, the mountainous region between Galicia and the Spanish Basque country where Andrés grew up, is not exactly wine country, though pioneering vintners are beginning to produce some excellent whites. And so the future chef grew up drinking the hard apple cider featured in cider houses and bars all over the region.  He learned to drink wine in United States, where he arrived in 1991 as a young cook with $48 in his pocket and a few knives. He now has 26 restaurants, has been named “Outstanding Chef” by the James Beard Foundation, and was awarded the National Humanities Medal.

Sherry didn’t grab Andrés' attention until he started spending summers in Andalucía on the Costa del Luz with his wife, Patricia, who is from Cadíz. 

Of course, while there, Andrés spends some time in the magic triangle of sherry— El Puerto de Santa Maria, Jerez de la Frontera, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. In Sanlúcar, he always stops in at Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana. “It’s right in the middle of town and I love their sherries,” he explains. “No less important is Bodegas Barbadillo for their Solear manzanilla and La Arboledilla, one of the most beautiful of the cathedral-style sherry cellars.”  He’s a big fan of the exquisite sherries from Equipo Navazos, too, which he cites for picking up some of the best barrels around. 

Whenever he travels, Andrés finds his way to wine country, but for the Washington, D.C.-based chef, visiting a sherry bodega is special. “I don’t know if it’s the older barrels or the connection between the grapes and the land. Because of the solera system, with time the barrels and the sherry inside are connected one with each other. And this, to me, is very special.”