The President of the Secret Sherry Society is pleased to present this week’s author on “Sherry Blogger of the Week,” Ana Kinkaid of YOUR CULINARY WORLD . Each week we will feature a new wine blogger committed to sharing with readers their passion and knowledge of wine. If you are a wine blogger and are interested in being featured on our website please email us at secretsherrysociety@gmail.com.
By Ana Kinkaid
www.yourculinaryworld.com
Sherry was not always the fortified wine that it is today. Indeed, its milder ancestral origins reach back to the ancient Greeks and Romans and then winds its way forward through the turbulent political history of Europe to the shores of America.
For example, few people know that the predecessor of today’s sherry sailed from the Spanish port of Cadiz in the holes of Christopher Columbus’ ships as Spain searched for India and found, instead, the New World.
Sherry was considered absolutely necessary for these ships as any water on board would quickly become unfit to drink due to long length of the journeys. Yet it was these very voyages that would bring England and Spain into conflict over gold, sherry and power.
As Spain began to profit from the new found wealth of Mexico and Peru, England noticed and was very, very envious. And though the new English queen named Elizabeth was delighted with her expanding colonies in North America, they could not begin to produce the immediate wealth arriving by the galleon load from Spain’s richer New World territories.
Knowing that an island kingdom (or ‘queen-dom’ in this case) must be strong to survive, Elizabeth turned a blind eye as Sir Francis Drake and other English sea captains raided and seized the treasures from Spain’s heavily laden and slower gold ships.
Finally Philip II, the King of Spain, had had enough of England’s daring Queen and her “sea wolves” (even though he had once asked her to marry him – she said “No!”).
Beginning in the 1580s, he ordered that a great fleet or Armada be built. His plan was to invade England, remove Elizabeth from the throne, crown himself king in Westminster Cathedral and claim Elizabeth’s oversea territories as his own. But England took preemptive action led by the skilled seaman Sir Francis Drake.
Drake boldly sailed into the Spanish naval shipyard at Cadiz and set fire to the ships waiting there to invade his beloved England. He also seized 2,900 casks of sherry from the Spanish naval stores!
As you might guess, it became all the rage in England to drink the captured sherry. Spanish sherry was suddenly the most popular drink in England, though legend tells us, the English loved to call it “sack” because, well, Drake had sacked the Spanish supply port.
Shakespeare even praised sherry or “sack” when he had Sir John Falstaff proudly declare in Henry IV, Part 2 that ”If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict themselves to sack”.
What better accolades could there be for sherry than Shakespeare’s own immortal words?
Today those words are echoed in America at the great Elizabethan Christmas celebrations at Yosemite Park’s famed Ahwahnee Hotel.
Each December since 1927, the amazing Bracebridge Dinners transform the Ahwahnee Hotel’s great hall into a 17th century English manor honoring a feast of food, song, laughter and, of course, sherry.
A little known fact is that the original event was designed by the famed American photographer Ansel Adams, who loved the Yosemite area and captured its stunning beauty forever in unforgettable images. Hurray for sherry!
So enjoy sherry this holiday season – you will hold history in your hand from the docks of colonial Spain to Shakespeare’s famed Globe Theater in London to the majesty of Yosemite’s soaring El Capitan peak.
Enjoy the Winter Season and this truly legendary wine. Viva sherry all year long – no matter where you are! Happy Holidays!
