President Obama missed
a gourmet experience featuring Sherry in Sevilla, having had to cancel his
visit at the last minute because of the shooting of five police officers in
Dallas. Torres y
García was the restaurant chosen, and they had prepared a special menu of
rustic Andaluz dishes, all accompanied by Sherry except one – Tinto Taberner
from Huerta Albalá. The Sherries were Lustau’s Manzanilla Papirusa, Amontillado
Fino El Tresillo from Emilio Hidalgo and Old Harvest Pedro Ximénez from Ximénez
Spínola.
The restaurant, in Calle Harinas, is run by a
married couple, Genoveva Torres and Juan Manuel García, who trained with Ferrán
Adriá, Martin Berasategui and Gordon Ramsay. It is their fifth in the city and
all of them are super popular, serving rustic style food of top quality. They
are huge fans of the wines of Andalucía and as soon as they heard they might be
chosen to serve the President, they decided the wines should be Andaluz. But
the secret service had to check the place over first and everything was very hush-hush.
They were not told how many people to cater for, the President’s preferences,
what time they were coming, only that the visit would be short.
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| The Imperial dining room at Torres y Garcia, where Obama would have eaten |
Because of the events in Dallas, however, it was
not to be, but while there was disappointment in Sevilla this time, it is
highly likely that the Obamas will return. They are very fond of Spain; the
President himself called the country “irresistible”. When they return they will
hopefully have more time to explore the riches of Andalucía in more depth.
The City Council of
Jerez is working with its counterpart in Reims to establish commercial, cultural and
institutional links which could lead to the twinning of the two cities, which
are among the most important wine cities in the world. Reims is, of course,
famous for Champagne, and it is felt that a strategic alliance between businesses
and sharing of resources could be used in joint promotion and the development
of wine tourism projects. Also foreseen is an interchange between the
universities, especially in the departments of oenology. This is a really
interesting idea as Champagne and Sherry have more in common than many realise.
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