Light peeps through a stained-glass window, casting long shadows on the giant columns and carved stone arches around me. As I sip a glass of amber liquid, my mouth fills with complex flavors of smoky salted caramel, leather, tobacco, and a delicious brininess. I’m not in a church, but in one of the oldest of the 19th-century wineries in Jerez de la Frontera, the Spanish sherry capital. My drink is a 30-year-old Palo Cortado, an exclusive VORS (Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum or Very Old Rare Sherry) made by the prestigious Lustau winery, a company founded in Jerez in 1896.
In my 16 years living in Barcelona, I’ve visited almost every corner of Spain but only a handful of places keep drawing me back. Jerez de la Frontera, in the Cádiz region, is chief among them.
Located in the Spanish deep south, this sun-drenched Andalusian city is less visited than its better-known neighbor, Seville, an hour’s drive away—but that’s likely to change this year. Newly crowned the 2026 Spanish Capital of Gastronomy, Jerez is marking the honor by hosting a year-long program of talks, tastings, tours, and networking events, culminating in November with the annual Sherry Week celebrations. The designation feels well timed: Buoyed by a recent ruling clarifying sherry’s definition, a new generation of sustainably minded vintners is producing terroir-driven wines to complement the city’s celebrated, old-school sherries, while young chefs are driving fresh culinary momentum across the city.
Lustau ages its sherry in 19th-century bodegas in the heart of Jerez de la Frontera.
Courtesy of Lustau
Jerez translates as sherry, and research suggests the alcohol has been produced in these parts for at least 2,700 years, making it one of Spain’s oldest wine-producing regions. Sales have dwindled since the 19th century, when exports sparked a golden age in the region, but Jerez has maintained its grandeur, from the whitewashed palace-houses in its medieval center to the magnificent Gothic cathedral, and the Moorish Alcázar fortress.
The drink is a fortified wine made primarily from palomino fino grapes and aged into a range of styles, from bone-dry, straw-colored manzanilla and fino to darker oloroso, palo cortado, or amontillado. Sweeter styles, such as pedro ximénez and moscatel, are made from their respective grape varieties. In Jerez, there’s no wrong time to drink sherry. It’s paired with everything from tapas in the city’s tabancos (flamenco bars) to tasting menus in Michelin-listed restaurants. Typically, drier sherries act as an aperitif, while sweeter sherries are enjoyed after dinner.
Last year, the European Commission decreed that wine can be labeled as sherry without needing to be fortified—which was good news for Jerez producers of “vinos de albariza,” or still white table wines, made from the same palomino fino grapes and grown in albariza, or limestone, soil.
Sherry is finding a new generation of fans in bars across the world, including at tapas spot Bar Torzino in London.
Photo by Nic Crilly-Hargrave
Winemaker Luis “Willy” Pérez, founder of Bodegas Luis Pérez, is the father of Jerez’s burgeoning nonfortified movement. Through research into the region’s history, he has discovered that fortification and aging are relatively recent developments. “Sherry in the 19th century was talking the same language as our generation,” he says, noting that skipping fortification pays homage to the region’s traditional winemaking.
Today, Bodegas Luis Pérez is part of a fast-growing group of wineries producing vinos de albariza. I sample them at Albariza en las Venas, arguably Jerez’s hottest wine bar, which serves natural wine from around the world alongside albariza bottles. On a rainy Monday night, I sip a mineral white from Bodega de Forlong, another pioneer of the movement.
“People come here because they want to learn about the new wines,” says Rocío Benito, who cofounded Albariza en las Venas with her business partner Juan Carlos Vidarte. “We’re experiencing a very beautiful moment in Jerez; a historic moment.”
Willy Pérez puts it another way: “There’s something happening in Jerez right now; lots of young people with a lot of energy. You can see the excitement in their eyes.”
The city is full of restaurants, many of them recent openings from young chefs who left to train in Spain’s finest kitchens and have since returned. Alejandro Bazán helmed the restaurant at the Guggenheim in Bilbao before coming home to set up Arima, a gastrobar with Andalusian roots and a Basque soul. That split identity is showcased in dishes like Basque-style king crab on potatoes oozing with local Payoyo cheese.
La Gloria Taberna, a no-fuss tapas spot founded by three friends with Michelin-star pedigrees, is another highlight. There, I gorge on nostalgic dishes such as juicy meatballs cooked in an amontillado sauce, paired with chalky El Muelle de Olaso wine from Bodegas Luis Pérez.
Chef Juanlu Fernández and his wife Dolce Nilda recently added vinos de albariza to the wine menu at Michelin-starred LÚ Cocina y Alma.
Photo by Alba Ariza (L); courtesy of LÚ (R)
Jerez’s most famous chef, Juanlu Fernández, is also getting in on the action. He and his wife, Dolce Nilda, recently opened Krombol Bakery and Bina Bar, a casual spot serving tapas staples like steak tartare and ensaladilla, a Spanish tuna-mayo salad. The openings complement LÚ Cocina y Alma, which Fernández opened in 2017. There, the wine menu now spans traditional sherry wines and vinos de albariza.
A trip to Jerez has always meant sun-drenched days, flamenco-charged nights, and endless plates of Iberian ham, Payoyo cheese, and vinegar-marinated chunks of dogfish al adobo, paired with more sherry than you’ll want to admit the next morning. But this year, the city is looking tastier than ever.
How to plan a trip to Jerez
Rooms at Casa Palacio María Luisa have sunny private balconies.
Courtesy of Casa Palacio María Luisa
Direct flights connect Jerez to Barcelona, Madrid, and other major Spanish airports. For accommodation, Casa Palacio María Luisa, is a 21-room property in a 19th-century palace built by an illustrious winemaking family. Alternatively, Hotel Bodega Tío Pepe opened in 2020 as the “world’s first sherry hotel” and occupies the former workers’ quarters of the historic González Byass winery. Major wineries, including Lustau, González Byass, and Tradición, offer tours and tastings in English.
