Jerez de la Frontera

Two weeks ago, a few friends and I traveled to Jerez, a city outside of Seville known because it is the birthplace of Sherry wine.  We had a long weekend because of Dia de Andalusia (a federal holiday) and decided to get out of the city for the day.  Jerez, whose name was once pronounced the same way as the wine it is famous for, was only a short train ride away.  The train station is across the street from me so I was able to roll right out of bed in the morning and make it to the train on time.  Unfortunately for my friends that lived on the other side of the river, in Los Remedios (a barrio, or neighborhood in Seville that translates to “The Remedies”), the walk was about a half an hour.

There were six of us that went to Jerez together.  Initially, we were going to leave in the late morning but when Leah (a friend from my program) and I heard that there was an espectáculo de caballo (“horse show”) decided to leave earlier to see the show, and I am so happy that we did.  The show was much longer and a lot more exciting than the show we had seen in Córdoba.  The horses knew more tricks in Jerez and there was even a number with horse-drawn carriages that reminded me of Cinderella!  The horses attend the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre (“Andalusian Royal School of Equestrian Art”), a beautiful Equestrian School located outside the city center.  Unfortunately we couldn’t use cameras during the show, but afterwards I was able to take pictures of the campus.

After the show, Leah and I decided we had enough time to tour a Bodega before meeting up with the rest of our group.  Bodega is simply the Spanish term for a winery or wine cellar and there are tons in Jerez.  The largest Bodegas run tours everyday to show how the world famous sherrys are made and stored.  While we were in Jerez, it was on the top of our list to go on at least one tour.

The Equestrian School just happened to be right across from the Sandeman Bodega and when we walked in we were just in time for a tour!  We learned a lot about the history of Sandeman sherry, a brand I had never heard of before.  Interestingly, Sandeman was the first brand of sherry to actually mark the barrels with a specific brand.  The idea caught on, and now almost all sherrys and, likewise wines, are labeled by their makers.

On our tour we learned a lot about the differences between dry and sweet sherrys, and how they ferment differently and for different lengths of time so that they can acquire just the right tastes.  At the end of the tour, we were able to try three of Sandeman’s most popular Sherry’s.  My favorite was the sweetest; although the taste was so rich I could only take small sips at a time.

In the afternoon, we wanted to explore the Alcazar.  When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that a festival was going on for Dia de Andalusia and cheese and chorizo (a type of Spanish sausage) companies had come from all over the region to sell their products.  Booths were set up inside the Alcazar and there were free samples everywhere!  We quickly called the rest of our friends and let them know about our encounter so that they could meet up with us.  There was more cheese and meat and olives and pastries than you could imagine.

"Acetunas" (olives)

Yes, this pastry did taste as good as it looks!

We all ate more than our fair share of everything; especially because each booth wanted to make sure we American girls tried every type of cheese and every type of meat since we will not be in Spain for long.  It surprised me how many different kinds of cheese there are!  We tried everything from soft goat cheese to cheese made with Rosemary!  They were all delicious and by the end of the afternoon, we were full.

We left the Alcazar just in time to watch a beautiful sunset before we needed to catch our train.  Overall, I spent an amazing day with amazing company that was well worth it.