International Sherry Week and Copa Jerez align for autumn celebration

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 20 April, 2021

International Sherry Week will this year coincide with the biannual food and wine focused Copa Jerez competition during November.

Billed as “the world’s biggest Sherry party”, International Sherry Week will be delivering a “dynamic hybrid” version of the show, to take place in Andalucia on 8-14 November under the auspices of the D.O. of Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla.

Both online and physical tastings, pairings and “innumerable other sherry-tastic happenings” will mark the this eighth edition, with registrations for the world’s biggest gathering of sherry celebrants opening on 24 May.

Meanwhile, the ninth edition of Copa Jerez is due to run 8-9 November, having been moved from its usual timing in in May to align with its Sherry celebrating cousin.

The competition will also be accompanied by a “thematic conference”, the Copa Jerez Forum, which will focus on the latest knowledge and research about Sherry Wines.

Finalists teams of chef plus sommelier from restaurants in eight countries – Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US – will compete to win the Copa Jerez by delivering three-course Sherry-paired menus, under Covid-safe conditions.

The Forum will feature “world-renowned experts from the field of food and wine”, either online or in person, depending on pandemic guidelines.

“The entire Sherry community will come together, as every year, to delve deeper into this versatile wine from southern Spain which pairs so beautifully with all types of food,” said a UK spokesperson for the events.

Last year’s International Sherry Week, held on 2-8 November 2020, saw more than 2,000 events registered in more than 30 countries. Online initiatives opened up Sherry Week to an even larger public, said the organisers, with virtual bodega tours, seminars, tastings and a series of pairing dinners across four continents over 24 hours all part of the mix.

The 2021 Copa Jerez UK finals will take place at CORD by Le Cordon Bleu on Monday 24 May, with the deadline for entries being Friday 30 April. Applications from sommelier and chef team pairings should be submitted via www.sherry.wine/copa-jerez.

Three teams will then be chosen to compete at the UK Final, the winner of which will go forward to the international final in Jerez, 8-14 November.

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