The Rarest Sherries. A Tasting from the UC Davis Archives

UC Davis' Department of Viticulture & Enology is proud to present The Rarest Sherries.  A Tasting from the UC Davis Archives

Sunday, April 17, 2016.  2 pm to 3:30 pm. Silverado Sensory Theater in the Robert Mondavi Institute Sensory Building, UC Davis.

Participation limited to 70.

Ticket cost $100.00  

Taste a style of sherry that has been lost to history.  Quina or quinado sherries were a made by adding quinine, for its medicinal effects and bitter taste, the latter balanced by residual sweetness.  The wines were promoted as both aperitifs and digestifs, and some even have medical symbols on the bottles.  Most have claims to revive or restore you to better health.  They were very popular in the early to mid 20th century but are now nearly impossible to find.

These wines from the 1940’s retain the bitterness from the quinine added, and are still very refreshing when mixed, as recommended, with sparking water (provided ). We will taste 10 of these Quinado Sherries including famous producers such as Osborne and Bustamante, and add a few surprises as well.

These particular wines came to UC Davis in 1985, when Mr. Dennis Foley donated a large collection of Sherries he had obtained from a Burgos, Spain drinking establishment that had closed in the 1950s. The wines appear to have been largely bottled in the 1940's, just after the Spanish civil war, but some are older and some are newer.  Since Sherries lack vintage dating and most of these companies no longer exist, exact dates are not accessible, but most are about 70 years old.

In most cases these are the only existing bottles available.  After the tasting we will poll the audience to see if there might be interest in purchasing a few bottles at a future auction.

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