Sherryfest 2015 spotlights dinners & seminars in New York City June 23-25th    New York, NY – Sherry lovers are eagerly anticipating the offerings for Sherryfest 2015 in New York City June 23-25th. Three consecutive days will feature fabulous rare sherry, pithy seminars, and expertly paired dinners hosted by some of Jerez’s most noteworthy producers. Seats are still available for seminars and dinners, highlights of which are on the website at http://www.sherryfest.com/events.   Four dinner events will showcase rare sherries paired alongside the cuisine of some of New York’s leading restaurants who have dedicated menus and bar programs which highlight sherry: Chef’s Club, Huertas, Toro and Racines, as well as a kick-off welcome party at Donostia.   Details include:   Tuesday June 23rd 6:30 PM at The Chef’s Club with the producers Tradicion and Delgado Zuleta Featuring four sherries from each producer ranging from Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso VORS, Manzanilla, Pedro Ximenez VORS and Moscatel, this four course meal will include a welcome sherry cocktail, smoked salmon and Comte croque monsieur, Sweetbread Viennoise with Morels & Asparagus, Blue Cheese and Apricot Marmalade followed by a chocolate and peanut house made candy bar.  All courses will have two sherries paired expertly with each dish.   Tuesday June 23rd 9 AM to midnight at Donostia with Williams & Humbert, Sanchez Romate and Lustau – Feel like a Spaniard with this late night fete in Alphabet City where a vast array of Pintxos and sherries will be shared in an “Omakase Vasco” menu highlights of which include: Alcachofa, Chorizo Picante, Tartaletas Erizo de Mar and Bonito, Tortillas of Sauteed Leek & Spinach and Morcilla & Chorizo, White Asparagus, Sardines with Romesco among many other tantalizing tastes.     Wednesday June 24th highlights two dinners both at 6:30 PM at Huertas and Toro Restaurants Huertas will feature the sherries of Barbadillo including Solera, Amontillado Principe, Obispo Gascon and Palo Cortado VORS. Emilio Hidalgo will also showcase their sherries including Fino La Panesa, Amontillado Tresillo and Oloroso Villapanes to be paired with a specially created menu by Chef Jonah Miller. .   Toro Restaurant will feature the sherries of Gonzalez Byass and Valdespino. There will be some special rarities served including Valdespino's Moscatel Toneles and González Byass' Apostoles! Also featured will be a fino course with Tío Pepe Fino en Rama and Inocente, Amontillado Viña AB and Tio Diego, Cardenal Palo Cortado and Pédro Ximénez Noe VORS.  The three course meal will feature an array of traditional Pinchos Y Tapas Frias Y Jamones which will include toasted bread with preserved sardines, goat butter & tomato, spicy shishito peppers with sea salt, Spanish tuna belly with a tomato tapenade and celery leaves on toast, as well as Jamon Serrano.   The Tapas Calientes will include marinated skirt steak with Cabrales blue cheese butter, patatas bravas, grilled garlic shrimp with Cacabel chiles and cauliflower and kohlrabi with pine nuts, golden raisins and anchovies. Dessert will conclude with churros with dark chocolate sauce.   Inaugural Grand Finale Dinner on Thursday June 25th will have a five course menu featuring the sherries of four producers including Williams and Humbert & Sanchez Romate & Valdespino & Lustau. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own fine and rare sherry bottles to share for the 4th course, which will be a BYOB special feature.   There are limited seats available for seminars on Wednesday and Thursday June 24-25th. Wednesday’s include:  Flor Aging in Manzanilla with Barbadillo, illustrating the development of flor in different microclimatic conditions; Aging Sherry without Flor with Bodegas Tradición & Delgado Zuleta, focusing on the sherries that are produced partially or entirely in an oxidative style: Oloroso, Amontillado and Palo Cortado; The Art of Blending with Lustau and Williams & Humbert, explaining the role of blending and describing the creation of individual sherries; Vintage Sherries with González Byass, presented by Antonio Flores, head winemaker, and including a selection of the house's añada sherries, some of the rarest sherries on the planet..   Thursday’s seminars are A History of Sherry in Cocktails with David Wondrich, noted author and contributor to Esquire Magazine, and Sherry in Wine Programs with Diez-Merito and Emilio Hidalgo, moderated by Levi Dalton. Sherryfest is the brainchild of noted wine writer Peter Liem, who authors ChampagneGuide.net and the recently published Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla: A Guide to the Traditional Wines of Andalucía, and Rosemary Gray, Wine Specialist at Flatiron Wines & Spirits. Launched in 2012 in New York City, Sherryfest immediately became the largest sherry event to ever take place outside of Spain, and Liem has become one of America’s greatest advocates of this storied yet modern beverage. Featuring an array of tasting events, seminars, and sherry dinners with bodega representatives, the event has since expanded to include Portland, Toronto, and San Francisco.   Liem has called sherry “the hottest wine in New York,” and it has indeed been on an impressive, if still modest, comeback tour in the US in recent years. It has quickly become one of the most popular wine styles among sommeliers, writers, and the international wine cognoscenti, thanks to its excellent value and versatility with food. Imports have certainly increased over the last three years, with big houses like González Byass citing that shipments to the U.S. have increased threefold in the last decade.   Seminars range from $39-$49. Dinner prices range from $135-$145, which is all-inclusive of food, sherry, tax, and gratuity. All event attendees must be at least 21 years of age.  For media inquiries and interviews, please contact Kimberly Charles or Alexandra Fondren at Charles Communications Associates at 415|701-9463 or press@charlescomm.com. For additional event information, please contact Sarah Bray at info@sherryfest.com, or follow @Sherryfest on Twitter and Instagram.     # # #  

  Sherryfest 2015 arrives in New York City June 23-25th Peter Liem’s Popular Event with Intriguing Seminars, Dinners, and a Grand Tasting mark event’s 4th anniversary    New York, NY - Sherry aficionados are marking their calendars as Peter Liem’s popular sherry-focused event comes back to New York City June 23-25th this year.  Sherryfest is a week full of fabulous rare sherry, pithy seminars, and expertly paired dinners hosted by some of Jerez’s most noteworthy producers. The sought-after 4th edition of Sherryfest will be held in its originating city, New York, and will feature a variety of exciting events for both consumers and wine professionals. This year also debuts a cocktail-focused component for the event, solidifying the versatility of sherry around the country in leading bar and restaurant cocktail programs.  The full schedule of events includes four producer dinners and six seminars, as well as a Welcome Party to kick off the event series. The Grand Tasting day schedule includes two of the seminars including a History of Sherry in Cocktails with David Wondrich, noted author and contributor to Esquire Magazine, and Sherry in Wine Programs with Diez-Merito and Emilio Hidalgo, moderated by Levi Dalton. The first three dinner events will showcase rare sherries paired alongside the food of some of New York’s leading restaurants who have dedicated menus and bar programs to highlight sherry: Chef’s Club, Huertas, and Toro. The closing dinner will be the event's first-ever gala dinner, hosted by Racines NY. A full list of producers, dates, and times for these limited ticket offerings is here.     Seminar topics outside of the Grand Tasting day include Flor Aging in Manzanilla with Barbadillo; Aging Sherry without Flor with Bodegas Tradición & Delgado Zuleta; The Art of Blending with Lustau and Williams & Humbert; Vintage Sherries with González Byass.   Sherryfest is the brainchild of noted wine writer Peter Liem, who authors ChampagneGuide.net and the recently published Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla: A Guide to the Traditional Wines of Andalucía, and Rosemary Gray, Wine Specialist at Flatiron Wines & Spirits. Launched in 2012 in New York City, Sherryfest immediately became the largest sherry event to ever take place outside of Spain, and Liem has become one of America’s greatest advocates of this storied yet modern beverage. Featuring an array of tasting events, seminars, and sherry dinners with bodega representatives, the event has since expanded to include Portland, Toronto, and San Francisco.   The primary bodega hosts for the dinners and seminars are Bodegas Tradición, Delgado Zuleta, Barbadillo, Emilio Hidalgo, Valdespino, González Byass, Lustau, Sánchez Romate, and Williams & Humbert. Also participating in the Grand Tasting are such distinguished names as Gutierrez Colosia, Rey Fernando de Castilla, Hidalgo-La Gitana and Díez-Mérito.   Liem has called sherry “the hottest wine in New York,” and it has indeed been on an impressive, if still modest, comeback tour in the US in recent years. Once derided as the démodé beverage of choice for the elder set (mostly thanks to the reputation left by the sweeter cream sherries), sherry—particularly dry versions such as fino and amontillado—has quickly become one of the hottest wine styles among sommeliers, writers, and the international wine cognoscenti, thanks to its excellent value and versatility with food. Imports have certainly increased over the last three years, with big houses like González Byass citing that shipments to the U.S. have increased threefold in the last decade. Grand Tasting registration is now open, and tickets for dinners and seminars are also available for purchase. The Grand Tasting at City Winery on Thursday June 25th is open to the wine trade from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and to consumers from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Though it is a free event, pre-registration is required for admittance. Seminars range from $39-$49. Dinner prices range from $135-$145, which is all-inclusive of food, sherry, tax, and gratuity. All event attendees must be at least 21 years of age. In addition to all the Sherryfest programming, there will be citywide in-store tastings on June 20th in addition to an official sherry cocktail evening at Pouring Ribbons also on the 20th.   For media inquiries and interviews, please contact Kimberly Charles or Alexandra Fondren at Charles Communications Associates at 415|701-9463 or press@charlescomm.com. For additional event information, please contact Sarah Bray at info@sherryfest.com, or follow @Sherryfest on Twitter and Instagram.       # # #  

San Francisco, CA -- Wine lovers will come together at Peter Liem’s California premiere of Sherryfest, for a week full of fabulous rare sherry, pithy seminars and expertly paired dinners hosted by some of Jerez’s most noteworthy producers. The sought after fifth edition of Sherryfest will be held in San Francisco from June 17-20, 2014, and will feature a variety of exciting events for both consumers and wine professionals. Events include producer-hosted dinners on June 17, 18 & 19, seminars on June 19 & 20, and a Grand Tasting on Wednesday, June 18 at Bluxome Street Winery. The four dinner events will showcase rare sherries paired alongside some of San Francisco’s most innovative cuisine, featuring such award-winning restaurants as Central Kitchen, Trou Normand, Bar Agricole and St. Vincent Tavern & Wine Merchant.   Seminars will be conducted at the beautiful 18 Reasons event space in the Mission District (save for the “Pairing Sherry with Food” seminar, which will be held at the newly opened Upstairs Central Kitchen). Other seminar highlights include “Flor Aging in Fino & Manzanilla,” “Old & Rare Sherry” and a special Mater Class on Palo Cortado, that rarest and most mysterious of sherries.   Sherryfest is the brainchild of noted wine writer Peter Liem, who authors ChampagneGuide.net and recently published Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla: A Guide to the Traditional Wines of Andalucia, and Rosemary Gray, director of RS Productions NYC. Launched in 2012, Sherryfest immediately became the largest sherry event to ever take place outside of Spain, and Liem has become one of America’s greatest advocates of this storied yet modern beverage. Featuring an array of tasting events, seminars and sherry dinners with bodega representatives, the event has since expanded to include Portland, Toronto and now San Francisco.   Primary bodega hosts for the dinners and seminars include Rey Fernando de Castilla, Williams & Humbert, González Byass, Barbadillo, Sánchez Romate, Tradición and Lustau. Also participating in the Grand Tasting are such distinguished names as Valdespino, Gutiérrez Colosía, Delgado Zuleta, Osborne, Bodegas 501, La Guita, Urium, Hidalgo-La Gitana, Aecovi, Dios Baco and many others.   Liem has called sherry “the hottest wine in New York” and it has indeed been on an impressive, if still modest, comeback tour in the US in recent years. Once derided as the démodé beverage of choice for the elder set (mostly thanks to the reputation left by the sweeter cream sherries), sherry—particularly dry versions such as fino and amontillado—has quickly become one of the hottest wine styles among sommeliers, writers and the international wine cognoscenti, thanks to its excellent value and versatility with food. Imports have certainly increased over the last three years, with big houses like González Byass citing that shipments to the U.S. have increased threefold in the last decade. Grand Tasting registration is now open, and tickets for dinners and seminars are also available for purchase. The Grand Tasting at Bluxome Street Winery is open to the wine trade from 11:00am to 4:00pm, and to consumers from 2:00 to 4:00pm. Though it is a free event, pre-registration is required for admittance. Seminars and the Palo Cortado Master Class range from $30-$50. The price of each dinner is $130, which is all-inclusive of food, sherry, tax and gratuity. All event attendees must be at least 21 years of age. For media inquiries and interviews, please contact Kimberly Charles or Alexandra Fondren at Charles Communications Associates at 415|701-9463 or press@charlescomm.com. For additional event information, please contact Rosemary Gray of RS Productions NYC at rosemary.s.gray@gmail.com, or follow @Sherryfest on Twitter and Instagram.     # # #