Tell people that Sherry is like Champagne without the bubbles and you will elicit reactions somewhere between confusion and contempt.Imbued with good taste and often with a price tag to match, Champagne is tied to celebrations, while isn’t Sherry the sweet tipple your grandmother imbibed out of a jug under the kitchen sink? Maybe for some, but a comparison of the spectacular, fortified sherry wines of Valdespino alongside some favorite Champagnes illustrates that the two have more in common than expected.The two industries are remarkably similar: Champagne Houses and Sherry Bodegas are controlled by the merchant class who dominate the marketplace. They buy grapes from small land holders, make wines by blending lots into their signature style, and then ship and market them around the globe. Champagne has had the good fortune of a strong marketing board, keeping its image elevated above the rest of the world’s wines. Sherry, once the favorite wine of kings, has been on a 50-year decline, and is possibly the most misunderstood and undervalued wine in the world.Marketing and economics aside, the best wines of both are a reflection of place — but these two have stark differences in their geography and climate. Champagne is the northern edge of where high-quality wine grapes can ripen. Its rainy, continental climate means harsh cold winters and hot short summers and wildly varying vintages. The home of Sherry, Jerez, is farther south than Sicily, nearly kissing Morocco. The balmy Mediterranean climate ensures plenty of sunshine for ripeness, but rain is confined to its short winters and the plants struggle to survive the summer heat.How can these fantastically different growing conditions be reconciled to produce wines that feel inherently connected? The answer is two fold: chalk (Albariza in Jerez) and aging.Both places plant vines on their highly prized chalk soils, which lends a mineral backbone, brightness, and sharp texture to wines grown in it. Aging, a requirement for the two, adds complexity and helps to integrate the structural components for a pleasant mouthfeel. The Grower Champagne movement bucked the trend of blending from vineyards across the region to highlight their singular parcels. Valdespino, against tradition, has always made single vineyard wines from its Marchanudo Alto vineyard. The acidity, intense minerality, and chalky texture pierce through both like a laser beam and are eerily similar side by side.As for flavors, even though production is markedly different, the compounds formed by extended aging are actually the same. A creamy roundness balances the sharp acidity and the nutty, biscuity acacia and green apple flavors were present in every wine tasted.Side by side comparisons of these two styles of wines is certainly a niche enterprise, but the eye-opening experience of tasting soils types through their differences is one you will never forget.
