This is what Darrell had to say about this sherry:
Darrell wrote:Tom,
This was a sherry we had for some time and in several bottlings. Recently, I had the pleasure of drinking some bottles from a bottling in the 1940s. It was a blend shipped by Duff Gordon, the then name of the owning house of Osborne Duff Gordon was a mark which Osborne owns that they used for exports to the anglosaxon world. Duff Gordon was the firm in Puerto Santa Maria where the father of Washington Irving of early American writing fame worked or was involved. I don't remember exactly right now. But Irving was involved. Duff Gordon was also a name to be contended with in the interwar years in British society. It was represented here in the US by the old firm of Munson Shaw. Osborne was no. The bodegas are opposite each other in Puerto.
The Solera India used to he held for the Spanish diplomatic corps as a wine. The bottle you had was the next to the last bottling under the Duff Gordon label. It is now under the Osborne label. At that time in the early 80s, the wine was a lot of two butts, and one criadera. It was quite sweet at one time, but time removes the sweetness component, the sugar polymerizes and tastes less sweet, but the sugar is still there. I think the firm is from 1768, not the solera. But the solera was already famous in the 20s.
This is an example of what was called East India sherry. The India refered to here was the Spanish holdings in Asia, at that time the recently lost Phillipines. So it would have been an example of the "shipped" sherry that was then in vogue. This kind of wine has really no price. It is an old in wood wine, now even older in bottle with all the complexing that bottle age gives to sherry, especially sweet sherry. The wine dries up, so to speak, When Harveys used to sell old in bottle sherry, the wines, even dry wines were sweetened to then have bottle age round them out. I do not know if you ever bought any of the old in bottle Harvey wines we sold, but they were really splendid. This kind of wine is really not commercial anymore. Time is too much money! But buying some of these old wines and then laying them down makes really splendid things out of what was really remarkable things. Unfortunately, the market here has no notion of this. Perhaps I should do a grand sherry tasting one day with some of the old bottles we have just so tasters can see what delights are produced. We have old Gonzalez Byass wines that are simply stunning. But the new bottling are also still stunning, but need bottle time. For some reason, the producers themselves really do not like this kind of wine. We had a bottling from Mackenzie, a Three Crown Amontillado, bottled in 750s and magnums that mimics the older style of old in bottle amontillado which Harveys used to have in Jerez. But in those days, they couldn't sell Bristol Cream in Spain since it was bottled in England. I have some magnums of Bristol Cream which are probably 50 years old in bottle which should be tried.
Unfortunately there is no NEB group for sherry. There should be.
I am pleased you enjoyed the wine.
Darrell
As always...the edumacator.
Tom
