A Discovery Of Amontillado

I recently went to Total Wine, which is a dangerous place - think a Costco-sized building full of different wines and spirits from around the world. Quite a few interesitng bottles were purchased.

I was looking for some Sherry by Lustau for Tash, as we had tried some lovely sweet Lustau Sherry as a dessert finisher at a bar one night, and accidentally picked up and purchased a bottle of Amontillado Los Arcos that was mixed in with the sweeter Lustau Sherry that Tash likes.

It turns out it was quite a happy accident.   Of course we were expecting a sweet Sherry so the initial taste was rather not what were were expecting but it quickly grew on me.

The Amontillado is a dry sherry, not sweet but very refined and is most pleasant to drink. It is dry but not sand-papery. Not bitter, nor overly tannic, nor harsh as you might expect a fortified wine to be, it drinks most smoothly, and has a lot of depth and subtle flavors, and the aftertaste is very nice indeed.

If you think all sherries are sweet dessert wines think again.  

While there's absolutely nothing wrong with sweet dessert wines and the sweeter sherry, Amontillado changes your concept of what sherry can be.  This smooth, dry, light brown colored liquid stands on its own.

How good is it?  Well, after drinking this, I can understand why the fellow in the tale of the Cask of Amontillado was so easily lured with the promise of trying some fine Amontillado. 

So if you come across a bottle of Lustau Los Arcos Amontillado Sherry, don't run away thinking it is a dessert drink.  Instead, it's a rather fine wine. Apparently Sherry also offers impressive health benefits (This study brought to you by the Sherry industry), so there's yet another reason beyond simple enjoyment to consume it responsibly.