La última reunión del año de los Sherry Explorers fue increíble y muy, muy dulce.   Trece incansables exploradores del vino de jerez, presentaron cada uno un postre al concurso de frutos de otoño que organizamos en el Restaurante El Faro de El Puerto.  A pesar de la lluvia, que no paró en toda la tarde, nos juntamos casi ochenta personas dispuestas a disfrutar de diferentes postres armonizados con una variedad de vinos de primera.

The last Sherry Explorer´s meeting of the year was incredible and very, very sweet.   Thirteen of our tireless, sherry-wine explorers each presented a dessert for the “Fruits of Autumn” contest which we held at the El Faro restaurant in El Puerto.  In spite of the rain, which did not stop during the entire evening, there were almost eighty hearty souls that gathered in order to enjoy the various desserts which were each carefully paired with a particular type of sherry wine.

El jurado,  con el Chef Fernando Córdoba al frente, tuvo que 1º– mirar atentamente la presentación de cada uno de los 13 postres y adjudicar hasta 20 puntos.  2º — probar todos los postres y dar hasta 40 puntos a los tres que más les impresionasen por su sabor.  3º –maridar cada uno de los postres con el vino que las elaboradoras de los mismos habían elegido y adjudicar hasta 20 puntos.  4º– Finalmente hasta 20 puntos más para el sabor y aspecto en conjunto.  Como veis un duro trabajo, al que yo me apuntaría todos los días.

The jury, with Chef Fernando Córdoba leading the way, had to: First, carefully examine the presentation of each of the 13 desserts and award up to 20 points;  Second, try all of the desserts and award up to 40 points to the three which were the most impressive in terms of their taste;  Third, pair each dessert with the wine which the participants had recommended and award up to 20 points; and Fourth, had to award up to 20 points for the taste and presentation of each of the desserts as a whole.   As you can see, it was a difficult task, to which I would gladly sign-up for every day.

Mientras el jurado trabajaba, en la sala también estábamos muy ocupados.  La copa de bienvenida fue el Mosto que los Sherry Explorers habíamos vendimiado con el sudor de nuestras frentes.  En agosto y con nuestros amigos de Spirit Sherry en la Viña “Hija de la Z” en el Pago Plantalina.  Está buenísimo, se nota que se ha hecho con mucho cariño y con mucha destreza y es que ¡¡ya llevamos vendimiando tres años!!

As the jury worked diligently, those of us who awaited their decision were also very busy.  Our welcoming glass of sherry was the wine must that resulted from the grapes that the Sherry Explorers harvested with the sweat of our brows.  As you recall, it was in August, with the help of our friends from Spirit Sherry, at the “Hija de la Z” vineyard in the Pago Plantalina.  It is excellent.  You can tell that it was made with a lot of love and a lot of skill.  Of course, it helps that we have been participating in the grape harvest for three years now.

Seguimos con nuestro programa y llegó el momento de contar a nuestros nuevos amigos quienes somos los Sherry Explorers y qué conlleva el juramento (seguir aprendiendo, promocionar y disfrutar de nuestros vinos).   Fue una ceremonia, emocionante y divertida.  ¡Ya somos 406 Sherry Explorers!

We continued with our program and, as always, it was time to tell our new friends who the Sherry Explorers are, and what our oath means (continue learning about our sherry wines, as well as promoting and enjoying them).   It was an exciting and fun ceremony.  We are now 406 Sherry Explorers strong!

Seguidamente el Dr. Juan Jiménez nos explicó la elaboración del vino Olavidium, un  proyecto de I+D de la Universidad Pablo Olavide.  Os recomendamos su web: https://olavidium.es/

Afterwards, Dr. Juan Jiménez explained to us the process of creating the new wine – Olavidium.  It is the result of a recent R + D project at the Pablo Olavide University in Seville.  We highly recommend that you look at their website, via the following link:

https://olavidium.es/

Finalmente llego el momento de la entrega de premios.  Fernando Córdoba nos comentó que había sido verdaderamente difícil elegir los tres postres ganadores.  Estaba sorprendido de las elaboraciones y se notaba el elaborado trabajo de todos.  El primer premio fue para Rosi Molina, el segundo para Sofía Nieto y el tercero para Colette Bruneau.  A ellas y a todas las que participaron: ENHORABUENA!  El Faro aportó también una gran variedad de postres exquisitos y de vinos de jerez.  Creo que el 99% de los que estábamos allí nos pasamos pero ¿y lo que disfrutamos?  Gracias a todos.

Finally it was time for the jury´s decision and the awarding of the prizes.  Fernando Córdoba told us that it had been truly difficult to pick the three winning entries. He was very impressed with the their presentation and he could tell that a lot of preparation went into each of them.  The first place was for Rosi Molina, the second for Sofía Nieto and the third for Colette Bruneau. To them and to all who participated: CONGRATULATIONS!!  As an extra treat, the El Faro restaurant also provided us with a great variety of exquisite desserts and sherry wines.   I think that 99% of those of in attendance broke our diets, but there is no doubt that we enjoyed every moment of it.   Thank you to everyone.

Aquí está el video con las fotos que os pondrán los dientes largos.

Attached is the video with the photos which will make your mouths water: