Recommendations

Roasted almonds with Osborne Fino Quinta Sherry

Out of the oven comes a dish of almonds, warm, salty and fragrant with rosemary. The fino sets a pale, dry wine against them that touches the same nutty register without adding nut itself.

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From the shelf

The bottle

Fino Quinta comes from Osborne and matures in El Puerto de Santa Maria, one of the three municipalities of the sherry triangle. The wine is one hundred percent palomino fino and, according to the bodega, goes through the traditional system of soleras y criaderas in American oak casks, under flor. That layer of yeast seals the wine off from the air and keeps it pale; at the same time it converts alcohol into acetaldehyde and consumes glycerol and residual acids, which explains the dry, sharp style. The bottle stands at 15 percent alcohol and comes in 75 centilitres.

Osborne Fino Quinta Sherry

The combination

Why this works together

A roasted almond is at its core roasted protein, fat and salt, and that is exactly where a fino takes hold. The salt on the nut is perceived more sharply because of the acidity in the wine, and because the wine brings no residual sweetness, that line of salt stays in place instead of disappearing into sweetness. The fat of the almond calls for something that takes it away, and that is where the combination of acidity and 15 percent alcohol does its work: every sip resets the mouth to zero. Finally there is an aromatic bridge. The acetaldehyde from the years under the flor gives the fino a yeasty, almost bitter almond tone, so that wine and nut speak in the same register. On its own product sheet, Osborne names almonds, olives and aged cheese as pairings for this bottle, and the Consejo Regulador puts nuts directly after olives for fino.

At the table

The dish

  • For 4 people
  • Ready in 30 minutes
  • Type starter

What you need

  • 300 g raw, blanched almonds
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1.5 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • sea salt flakes, to finish

How to make it

  1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.
  2. Put the almonds in a large bowl and add the olive oil, the chopped rosemary and the fine sea salt. Toss until every nut has a thin coating of oil.
  3. Spread the almonds in a single layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
  4. Roast them for 15 to 17 minutes. Check halfway and shake the tray, because the last minutes go fast.
  5. Spoon the almonds back into the bowl, add a little more fresh rosemary and toss; then spread them over the tray again to cool.
  6. Let them cool for ten minutes, sprinkle the salt flakes over them and serve them lukewarm.

In the glass

Serving

Serve this fino at 6 to 8 degrees; the Consejo keeps to 5 to 7 degrees in its own manual and Osborne gives 8 to 12 degrees on the product sheet, so you can choose within that margin. Use a catavinos or a white wine glass of about 200 millilitres, filled one third. Bear in mind that an opened fino stays good only briefly: about a week, stored closed and cool. After that, precisely the pale freshness for which you serve it with these almonds disappears.

All about Osborne Fino Quinta SherryBack to Recommendations from ’t Bockje

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