Brioche de aceitunas y flor de Jerez. FOTO: José Luis López de Zubiría

Moments of inspiration when the bards bathe in sherry in Verdi’s 1893 opera. Great deeds of sherry hidden deep within bodegas. Battles of a team determined to find the perfect harmony liquid and solid. Since last year, the R+D team and sommeliers have been working to replicate the environmental confitions of the cellers of Jerez in our home in the mountains of the Basque Country. We have had one unique objective: to create the conditions to grow the sherry flor, the layer of yeast which forms on the surface of those sherry wines, typical of Jerez. Then it can be appreciated as both food and drink.

It was serendipity which led the team to this point. While looking for a sherry for another creation, a conversation in a cellar brought about the challenge: “unite the Mediterranean and cantabrean seas” by means of gastronomy. The way to achieve this could be no other than replicating the sherry flor which is what makes these wines unique.

This journey which was the first for the creative team with the sommeliers gave wave to a line of research and creativity. From then on Mugaritz has continued the research in order to find the most extreme harmony by exploring them from the beginning of the creative process.

The R+D team which has been working on new creations based on fermentations since 2012, took the reins of the project. The flor is a layer of microscopic yeast and when it rises to the surface of the wine after fermentation it appears in the form of flower. We tried again and again but the flor always died after three days. The trials devoured barrels and barrels of wine sent to us from Gonzalez Byass after Antonio Flores, wine maker, challenged us to unite both seas.

In the end, we have no other option rather than reproducing the environmental conditions of the cellar in Jerez here in to so that the flor could survive. When finally we managed to grow it successfully we created a wine gelatin to feed it so that it will continue to expand thanks to glicerine and sugar, its natural nutrients. This yeast which protects the wine from the oxygen sneaks into the casks, which lends that unique flavour which we associate with sherry. We wanted to take a step further. We wanted it to transcend the glass and find a new stage on the plate.

The flor is ed into butter which we serve with a brioche of black olive from Andalucia. Fine wine, closes the circle: sherry flor in solid and in liquid. This is the result of the synergy of two teams whose passion has brought them to explore the limits.