The Grapevine

Food & Wine Pairing: Manzanilla and Tapas

May 13th, 2016

For a change, “and now for something completely different” doesn’t mean an off-the-wall junk-food and wine pairing. Instead, it’s completely different in a completely different way. [level-members]

It’s different because today we’re pairing Manzanilla with tapas. I’m not sure we’ve ever even mentioned Manzanilla in a GSM post before. Too bad, because it’s delicious stuff.

Our pairing recommendation comes from Fiona Beckett’s Matching Food and Wine blog.

Like Champagne, manzanilla is local-specific, hailing from the region around Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The underlying varietal is Palomino, and it is similar to Fino sherry though somewhat lighter. It is probably the most dry Spanish sherry.

For the tapas, here are a number of excellent recipe ideas:

From Food & Wine, we have “super easy” tapas recipes, including garlic shrimp, chorizo filled dates wrapped in bacon, fingerling potatoes, and cauliflower fritters.

Food Network offers us this Spanish-style prawn, potato and cheese tortilla.

And to start your evening off, make these smoked paprika almonds.

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