Sunday 17 July 2016

17.7.16 Sherries Obama Missed; Jerez to be Twinned with Reims?

President Obama missed a gourmet experience featuring Sherry in Sevilla, having had to cancel his visit at the last minute because of the shooting of five police officers in Dallas. Torres y García was the restaurant chosen, and they had prepared a special menu of rustic Andaluz dishes, all accompanied by Sherry except one – Tinto Taberner from Huerta Albalá. The Sherries were Lustau’s Manzanilla Papirusa, Amontillado Fino El Tresillo from Emilio Hidalgo and Old Harvest Pedro Ximénez from Ximénez Spínola.

The restaurant, in Calle Harinas, is run by a married couple, Genoveva Torres and Juan Manuel García, who trained with Ferrán Adriá, Martin Berasategui and Gordon Ramsay. It is their fifth in the city and all of them are super popular, serving rustic style food of top quality. They are huge fans of the wines of Andalucía and as soon as they heard they might be chosen to serve the President, they decided the wines should be Andaluz. But the secret service had to check the place over first and everything was very hush-hush. They were not told how many people to cater for, the President’s preferences, what time they were coming, only that the visit would be short.

The Imperial dining room at Torres y Garcia, where Obama would have eaten

Because of the events in Dallas, however, it was not to be, but while there was disappointment in Sevilla this time, it is highly likely that the Obamas will return. They are very fond of Spain; the President himself called the country “irresistible”. When they return they will hopefully have more time to explore the riches of Andalucía in more depth.


The City Council of Jerez is working with its counterpart in Reims to establish commercial, cultural and institutional links which could lead to the twinning of the two cities, which are among the most important wine cities in the world. Reims is, of course, famous for Champagne, and it is felt that a strategic alliance between businesses and sharing of resources could be used in joint promotion and the development of wine tourism projects. Also foreseen is an interchange between the universities, especially in the departments of oenology. This is a really interesting idea as Champagne and Sherry have more in common than many realise.

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