6th Copa Jerez - best sherry and food pairing in the world

Every two years, the world’s finest chefs and sommeliers come together in Jerez de la Frontera to compete in a unique international gastronomic competition, where dishes are paired with different sherry wines: Copa Jerez. Each pair of chef and sommelier, representing the restaurant where they work together, has already achieved top place in the national culinary pairing contest in one of the eight countries, which took place in 2014. This sixth Copa Jerez takes place this Tuesday, 9 June. The winner of the last competition, the fifth Copa Jerez in 2013, was Clou in Denmark. The nations represented in this year’s Copa Jerez are: Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the US, the Netherlands, the UK, and, for the first time, Russia. The Copa Jerez is not only a chance to showcase sherry wines and their perfect match with many types of food, but is also a powerful draw for restaurateurs and gourmet food and wine experts from around the world - around 500 are expected to attend . Each team of chef and sommelier has to produce three dishes, paired with three Sherry wines. Spain’s representative is the Caceres restaurant, Atrio, which has two Michelin stars. Its chef and sommelier, Alberto Montes Pereira and Jose Lopez-Montenegro, have chosen this as their three-course menu matched with Sherry wines:

• Carrot, nettle and fennel ravioli paired with Manzanilla Sacristia AB Seleccion Personal Antonio Barbadillo
• Pork tempura with tomato and amontillado sauce, crayfish and sweetcorn paired with Amontillado El Tresillo 1874 Viejo from Bodega Emilio Hidalgo
• Chocolate cream with PX, aniseed, orange, nutmeg, coffee and cinnamon, paired with Pedro Ximenez Antique Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla

The other restaurants competing in this year’s Copa Jerez are:

• The Lyttleton (The Stafford Hotel, London, UK)
• Marais Soir, Munich (Germany)
• Kiin, Copenhagen (Denmark)
• 15 Romolo, San Francisco (USA)
• Wine Religion, Moscow (Russia)
• Comme Chez Soi, Brussels (Belgium)
• Zarzo, Eindhoven (Netherlands)