How Sherry got its groove back

Campaign

How Sherry got its groove back

Apr 19, 2026

Sherry has had an image problem. Too often boxed into Christmas or written off as old-fashioned. Which never made much sense to us. Because behind all that baggage was a category with depth, versatility and serious untapped commercial value.

That was the thinking behind ‘The Sherry Shift’, our 2024-25 campaign for Sherry Wines to help put Sherry back on the table, in stores and firmly back in conversation.

Shifting Perceptions

The goal was simple enough. Help the trade see Sherry not as a nostalgic leftover, but as a category with genuine relevance and serious retail potential. Not by dressing it up in more heritage and hoping for the best, but by making a much clearer case for why it deserved space on shelves and on wine lists.

And it worked. In 2025, while wine consumption in the UK was falling and fortified wine sales were down, Sherry grew by 7.4%.

Not bad for a category many had underestimated for years. Better still, it showed that with the right framing, the right energy, and a bit less dusty baggage, people were more than ready to take another look.

Shifting Perceptions

And it worked. In 2025, while wine consumption in the UK was falling and fortified wine sales were down, Sherry grew by 7.4%.

Shifting Perceptions

And it worked. In 2025, while wine consumption in the UK was falling and fortified wine sales were down, Sherry grew by 7.4%.

Shifting Conversations

It started in summer 2024 with the launch of Sherry Sunset. Cream Sherry served over ice with fresh orange. Simple. Sociable. Unfussy. The kind of serve that made Sherry feel less like a seasonal cameo and more like something you might actually want to drink on a warm evening. A radical thought, apparently.

Rolled out across supermarkets and independent retailers through tastings and point-of-sale materials, the campaign appeared in 27 stores and delivered a 30% uplift in Cream Sherry sales at Booths.

Shifting Conversations

Rolled out across supermarkets and independent retailers through tastings and point-of-sale materials, the campaign appeared in 27 stores and delivered a 30% uplift in Cream Sherry sales at Booths.

Shifting Conversations

Rolled out across supermarkets and independent retailers through tastings and point-of-sale materials, the campaign appeared in 27 stores and delivered a 30% uplift in Cream Sherry sales at Booths.

Then came Sherry Week, which helped turn that shift in perception into something much harder to ignore. In the UK alone, the campaign generated 1,846 events, up 123% year on year. More than 100 independent wine merchants took part, supported by tastings, point-of-sale materials, staff training, digital toolkits, and a national incentive that brought the trade closer to Jerez itself.

And the commercial impact followed.

Shifting a category

Majestic Wine saw a 170% uplift, with online sales up 117% year on year. Waitrose reported Sherry outperforming the wider fortified market and gaining share. Booths showed that summer Sherry could more than hold its own. Which, frankly, it always could. It just needed better timing, better context, and fewer old assumptions getting in the way.

Training played a big part too. Certified Sherry educators delivered tailored sessions for Lea & Sandeman, Jeroboams, Amathus Drinks, Laithwaites, Majestic Wine, Waitrose, The Oxford Wine Company, Direct Wine Shipments, and Mr and Mrs Fine Wine. And where

We also brought key buyers, journalists and independent retailers closer to the category through a trade and media immersion trip to Jerez. Seeing Sherry in its proper setting helped reinforce what had been there all along. Our partnership with The Drinks Business helped reposition Sherry as a category with momentum, not nostalgia.

Shifting a category

Sherry Supper Clubs

Then came the Sherry Supper Clubs, which brought buyers, sommeliers, journalists, and independent merchants together around the table with chefs including Ravinder Bhogal, José Pizarro, Ping Coombes, and Ben Lippett. Because if Sherry is going to win people over, it helps to meet it where it makes the most sense. With food, in context, and in good company.

Sherry Supper Clubs

By the end of the campaign, Sherry had recorded its strongest growth in five years, with sales up 7.4% in the UK alone. The Sherry Shift rebuilt confidence, changed perception, and helped return Sherry to where it belongs. On the table. In stores. And firmly back in conversation.

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