The dish

Call me old fashioned.

There is something about the tradition and ritual of wine that I find oddly comforting.

I almost never come across a robust dry sherry by the glass in a restaurant ­ unless, of course, it’s a Spanish restaurant ­ but when I do I can hardly resist. This is a superb aperitif, but one that is hardly appreciated any more in this chardonnay-laden world.

The Domecq dry Manzanilla sherry recently crossed my desk, which reminded me of my passion for the dry sherries. Both the Domecq Manzanilla and “La Ina” (a dry fino) retail for about $15 a bottle. Try them with roasted almonds or Sevilla olives.


Rare is the oyster bar that offers a crisp Muscadet to wash down those savory bi-valves. But if there is a better wine pairing with oysters, I haven’t found it (with apologies to all those wonderful Sancerres and New Zealand sauvignon blancs that absolutely will do in a pinch).

The wines of Domaine Marc Ollivier are steely and flinty, more of the mineral world than the fruit world. Perfection with oysters, and most of Ollivier’s wines sell for less than $10.

Soon the blazing heat of summer will yield to the calendar and a chill will begin to settle in every evening as the sun goes down. This is the time for a small glass of tawny, the coppery colored Port. The Cockburn’s or Graham’s 10-year-old will do the trick nicely, warming the mood as well as the body and arousing the appetite. Each sells for about $30 a bottle, but one bottle should carry you for at least a couple of weeks, or a couple of hours if there is crowd over for dinner.

A light snack of herbed goat cheese and rustic bread fairly cries out for a biting, mineral driven Sancerre. The Pascal Jolivet 2002 Sancerre for about $20 could be my wine of choice, or the Jolivet 2002 Pouilly-Fume.

Is it any wonder these wines in these situations have become a cliché?

These are some of the simple pleasures in life, and usually those are the best.

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