If you believe sherry is the sweet relic of a grandmother's cupboard, the Al Ándalus will stage one of travel's great palate conversions. Palace Tours has watched sceptics board in Seville and disembark in Madrid carrying bottles of fino like contraband.
One name, a whole spectrum
Sherry runs from fino and manzanilla — pale, bone-dry, faintly saline, drunk ice-cold — through nutty amontillado and muscular oloroso, to Pedro Ximénez, a dessert wine so dark and dense it is nearly a sauce. Nobody dislikes 'sherry'; they merely haven't met their style yet.
The cathedral cellars of Jerez
The route's bodega visit walks you beneath high whitewashed naves where barrels age in the solera system — young wine patiently marrying old, some casks decades deep. Paired with the dancing horses, it makes the Jerez day many guests' favourite of the week.
At the table
Aboard, sherry works as the local sommelier intends: fino with almonds and jamón at the evening aperitif, oloroso alongside game, PX over dessert — all within the fare, as the dining guide describes. Consider the week a tasting course with palaces attached: dates here.
