One of the city’s first sherry bars, Bar Pepito is small but perfectly formed, with tiled floors and cheek-by-jowl barstool seating that makes it impossible to be anything but convivial. Stop by for a plate of hand-carved jamon and a fino en rama from the González Byass bodega. Sherry flights are available for those wishing to sample a range of styles, or the same style at three different ages.

The gateway to more interesting, nuanced Spanish cuisine for many a Londoner, Brindisa is equally adept at being a gateway drug to serious sherry. Their flights walk drinkers through the various styles and their expressions: they also source their sherries direct from a bodega of one of the oldest sherry producers in the Jerez region, Hidalgo-La Gitana.

Another early adopter, Morito, and its big brother Moro next door, have around 20 different sherries available by the glass throughout the year. Sit up at the counter bar, or outside on the pavement, sip a Tio Pepe fino en rama and watch the world go by. Whether or not food is originally on the agenda, the Moorish-influenced menu is hard to resist.

The sherry list at Sack is a stunner, and the vibes are laid-back, with a helpfully annotated menu explaining the defining character of each sherry style. The low-key bar makes it an easygoing place to drink like young Spaniards do — staying late into the night to a soundtrack of disco, soul and funk. They do sherry cocktails if in need of something gentler, and the walls are adorned with the signatures of devotees: make sure to sign on the way out.

In true Andalusian style, there’s just about room to stand or perch on a stool in Copita, so prop up the bar with a glass of La Panesa fino from Emilio Hidalgo. On average it’s under flor (the yeast crust that forms over sherry as it ferments) for 15 years before bottling, making for a complex, golden aperitif.

To sip in the City, call into Hispania and grab some tapas. Try Matusalem Oloroso seco with a plate of Spanish cheese – Matusalem is the Spanish name for Methusaleh, a reference to the length of the sherry’s ageing. It’s a sherry with edges sanded down into smoothness: perfect for ending the night.

All the Salt Yard group restaurants have a decent sherry list, but Opera Tavern takes the title for atmosphere, and its Covent Garden location makes it ideal for a quick bite of jamon Iberico and an aperitif of the elegant and untreated antique palo cortado from Fernando de Castilla before a night at the theatre.

Pizarro’s little sister is a gem of a sherry and tapas bar, as you’d expect from London’s king of Spanish cuisine. Try José Pizarro’s personal favourite, the Fernando de Castilla Palo Cortado Antique, a really unusual one-off sherry. Originally aged under flor like an amontillado, the flor “disappears” before ageing is complete, meaning the sherry takes on oloroso’s oxidative smokiness as well as amontillado’s distinctive mineral snap. If this means little, there are sherry masterclasses for the uninitiated and curious alike: get involved.

One of the best things to happen to Broadway Market in Tooting was the arrival of The Tapas Room. From the team behind the popular, Basque-influenced Donostia Social Club, this market-stall sherry bar is for the seasoned sherry drinker as much as the first-timer. An ever-rotating menu of off-list bottles keeps things interesting: there will always be something new as well as an old favourite.