There are many types of sherry wine, from light and dry to rich and sticky sweet. 

There is always a sherry wine to match any dish. There is a perfect match in the sherry spectrum for ingredients that are traditionally difficult to match (artichokes, chocolate, sushi, etc.).

Sherry is a rather general term. Under the umbrella of “sherry”, there are wines of all kinds, from the lightest to the driest to the sweetest.

Our goal in this post is to explain how to pair sherry with typical English dishes.

6 English dishes to pair with Serry wine

• Fish and chips 

The saltiness and low acidity of manzanilla work perfectly with fish and chips. 

This wine would be a good pairing as it is dry, light, delicate, and floral giving incredible nuances to the dish. The cuisine of the Jerez region is predominantly fish-based and a good dry sherry was the perfect match. The natural acidity of sherry and the light salty notes of a manzanilla pair very well with the crispy batter and the fish.

There, they say that what grows together, stays together!

• Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s Pie is a combination of minced lamb, peas, carrots, onions, and garlic topped with a generous layer of fluffy mashed potatoes and baked. It is a light yet very filling dish with strong “meat” and “potato” flavors. 

Oloroso Sherry wine complements this intensely flavored dish well, thanks to its elegance and minerality as well as its spicy and fruity taste.

• Haggis

Traditionally, haggis is served with mashed potatoes, turnips, and whiskey cream sauce along with mashed potatoes and turnips.

On this occasion, the perfect pairing is with an Oloroso Sherry Wine. In Spain, this fortified wine, with its notes of spices, caramel, nuts, and dried fruits goes very well with hearty stews and all kinds of red meats. 

• Steak and kidney pie 

Another classic pie is steak and kidney pie; an attractive mixture of meat and spiced onions wrapped in a shortcrust pastry and baked in the oven. This dish is both rich and spicy, but also soft and delicate.

This classic pie often pairs well with a fruity, sweet Sherry wine that can match the intensity of the flavor but does not overpower it. It certainly goes perfectly with this staple of British cuisine.

• Sticky Toffee pudding

For the lushest of British desserts, it pairs perfectly with possibly the most deliciously sweet wine in the world: Pedro Ximénez, also from Jerez.

The grapes from which this sherry is grown are harvested and dried on straw mats in the sun until they essentially become a sultana. This concentrates its flavors and sugars and produces mind-blowingly sweet and syrupy wines.

This is why it pairs so well with the moist sponge cake covered in the characteristic toffee sauce, with vanilla ice cream on top.

• Eton Mess

An English classic. An exquisite dessert with a combination of red fruits, meringue, and cream.

This type of dish is perfectly paired with sweet Sherry wines such as Pale Cream or Naturally Sweet Sherry wine (Moscatel o Pedro Ximenez)

As Sherry wines are more accessible than people think when paired with food, as you have seen. Spain has a saying: “If it swims, use Fino/Manzanilla, if it flies, uses Amontillado, and if it runs, uses Oloroso”.