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16 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Sherry |
- Most sherry producers own vineyards but this is not usually enough meaning more grapes have to be bought in.
- Almacenistas are permitted to mature the wine but not sell it. |
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Climate |
- Warm Mediterranean and very sunny.
- Temperature can be affected by the prevailing winds.
- Poniente wind is cool and humid. - Levante wind is hot and dry. Can increase temperatures to 40C.
- Annual rainfall is high due to it being coastal. - Most rain is in autumn and winter but frequent downpours at harvest (September - October). |
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Viticulture - Soil |
- 3 soil types in Jerez:
- Albariza - -Most vineyards planted on this type. High chalk content. -Rootstock selection is important to avoid Chlorosis. - Good drainage but deep enough to retain sufficient moisture.
- Barros - Clay
- Arenas - Sandy
- Post harvest, rectangular pits are dug out between vines to help retain water. Once March/April arrives (budburst) the soil is smoothed out. - Albariza soil also forms a hard crust on the surface during summer which also help water retention. |
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Grape Varieties |
- Palomino - 95% of plantings. - Produces wines low in acid and lack varietal aromas.
- Pedro Ximenez - Very little planted. - Grown in Montilla-Moriles. - Low varietal character.
- Muscat of Alexandria - Grows best in arenas soil. - Sweet wine production. |
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Vinification - Dry Sherry |
- Palomino is used.
- Grapes are harvested and taken to be pressed as quickly as possible to avoid oxidation due to high temperature.
- Level of pressure during pressing has significant impact on style of wine.
- Most producers do fermentation in stainless steel tanks.
- Temperatures range from 20-25C which is high for white wine but produces desired base wine.
- In the initial 7 days, most of the sugar is converted to alcohol.
- Fermentation then continues slowly for up to 12 weeks until all the sugar has gone. Resulting wine is 11-12% abv and very dry.
- Wine is then racked off its lees and left in a large unsealed tank for the flor to form.
- Flor is made up of several strains of yeast and forms a thick layer on the surface.
- Feeds of the alcohol and Oxygen in the atmosphere to survive and produced CO2 and acetaldehyde.
- Flor also need temperatures of cool to moderate and high levels of humidity and can't survive above 15.5% abv.
- Acetaldehyde gives some sherries its unique flavour. |
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Vinification - Sweet Sherry |
- Pedro Ximenez and Muscat are used to produce sweet wines.
- Sugar levels are concentrated in the grapes by sunning them and turning them into raisins once they have been picked.
- This gives the grapes additional flavours.
- The juice is too concentrated for the yeast to survive so the level of alcohol is usually very low so the must is fortified to about 17%. |
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Classification and Fortification |
- First classification: - For Dry Sherry, if the flor develops well and the wine has a light body, it is classified as Fino. - Full bodied wine with little or no flor is Oloroso. - Juice that is fermented at lower temperatures and pressed gently after harvest will have a better chance of developing plenty of flor, producing Fino. - Juice fermented at higher temperatures and pressed heavier tend to produce Oloroso.
- The wine is then fortified. - Fino fortified to 15% abv to promote growth of flor and inhibits unwanted micro-organisms. - Oloroso is fortified to 17% which kills off any remaining flor .
- Wine is then transferred to oak barrels to rest for a 6-8 months - this stage is called Sobretable.
- Second Classification: - Important for wines originally classified as Fino. - If flor has developed properly, wine remains Fino. - If flor has failed to develop properly, wine is re-classified as Oloroso and fortified to 17% or sent away for vinegar production. Some producers reclassify these failed Finos as Palo Cortado. |
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Maturation |
- Fermented in stainless steel - Has to be ages in well seasoned 600 litre oak barrels. - Oak flavour in barrels is eliminated. - Oak is used to allow transfer of Oxygen which is encourages by having the barrels 5/6 full. - Must be matured by law for at least 3 years.
- Traditionally, bodegas had thick white walls and high ceilings with high windows pointing towards the poniente (cooling humid wind) to keep the wine cool during maturation. - Now large industrial buildings with air conditioning are used. |
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Solera System |
- Ageing system of different levels of butts holding wine. - Blends new wine (sobretable) at the top level which filters down to the bottom level where it is taken for bottling meaning the butts at the bottom have the oldest average age and the butts at the top have the youngest average age. - This process is to allow maturation by moving wine downwards through the levels which is achieved as follows: - Wine for bottling or blending is taken out from the bottom level which holds the wine of the oldest average age. - Solera is never fully emptied but uses wine of younger average age (first criadera) to replenish that level. - Wine from the first criadera is replenished by wine from the second criadera and so on. - Wine containing the youngest average age wine is usually replenished using sobretabla wine but occasionally, one solera system feeds into another e.g. Fino Solera System feeding into Amontillado Solera System. - Number of Criadera varies from 3-14. - Blending is achieved by moving some wine from from every butt in one level into every butt in the next level. - This blending ensures that wine taken out of the Solera System is of the same style and quality. - This consistency couldn't be maintained if too much wine was taken out so by law producers can only take out a third of wine in the Solera. - Criadera for one Solera System are usually kept in different buildings. |
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Biological Maturation |
- Fino Sherry develops its unique taste from the acetaldehyde produced by the flor. - Butts are part filled to allow the flor to have easy access to Oxygen which it needs along with alcohol (15% abv optimum level) and other nutrients to survive. - In the Fino Solera systems, young wine is needed to keep adding nutrients. - In order to keep the young wine present, wine from the solera level is drawn of at regular and frequent periods throughout the year. - The development of the flor protects the Fino from oxidation. - This style wine does not require bottle ageing and needs to be drunk as fresh as possible. |
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Oxidative Maturation |
- Oloroso, Amontillado and PX are aged oxidatively. - Due to no flor being present in these Solera Systems and only being part filled enhancing the air present, Oxygen has a large impact on these wines. - The regular introduction of younger helps maintain the Sherry characteristics which would otherwise become more and more oxidised. - Oloroso and PX has Sobretabla wine fed into the Solera System. - Amontillado wine has fully mature Fino that is refortified to 17% abv fed into the Amontillado system. - These wines have characteristics of Fino mixed with oxidative characters. - Very old Amontillado can taste similar to very old Oloroso. - Oxidised Sherry can be matured up to about 30 years but rarely make it to this point. - With age, alcohol level rises to 22% abv as the water content evaporates. |
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Dry Styles of Sherry (Vinos Generosos) |
- These wines are bottled directly from the Solera System. - Fino is the only one that sells in large quantities and they are usually sold at a premium price.
- Fino: - Pale lemon with pronounced aroma of almonds, herbs and dough derived from Acetaldehyde. Flavours described sometimes as tangy or salty. - Rarely aged for more than 3 years and never more than 7 and does not improve in the bottle. - Released at natural solera strength of 15% abv.
- Oloroso: - Deep brown colour. - Oxidative aroma or toffee, leather, walnut and spice. - If very old, can develop very intense savoury notes and astringent texture which can be balanced by a small amount of sweetness from PX. - Oldest wines can reach 22% abv.
- Amontillado: - Amber or brown colour. - Yeast aromas mixed with oxidative aromas. - Yeast aromas fade over time. - Can be aged for as long as Oloroso and reach similar levels of alcohol ( up to 22% abv).
- Palo Cortados: - Very rare. - Finest Sherries - Flor aromas of Amontillado - Body of Oloroso - Most producers identify at second classification from "failed Fino Sherry" but not always the case. - Palate can be very similar to Oloroso and Amontillado although they are almost always of the highest quality and super-premium prices. |
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Naturally Sweet Styles of Sherry (Dulces Naturales) |
- Pedro Ximenez: - Deep brown - Intensely sweet - up to 500 g/l of residual sugar. - Dried fruit, coffee and liquorice aromas.
- Muscat: - Similar characteristics to PX. - Dried citrus peel aroma. |
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Blended Sherries (Vinos Generosos de Licor) |
- Pale Cream: - Fino that is sweetened with RCGM (Rectified Concentrated Grape Must). - Labelled as Pale Cream.
- Medium Sherry: - Usually based on Amontillado and naturally sweet Sherry. - Sometimes blend of Fino and Oloroso. - Premium wines in this category are labelled as the wine that makes up the base of the blend.
- Cream Sherry: - Based on Oloroso and naturally sweet Sherry. - Well-balanced and complex - Premium wines take on the name of the wine that makes up the base of the blend.
- Manzanilla: - Matured in Sanlucar de Barrameda which is separate DO to Sherry. - Made in exactly the same way as Sherry but cooler more humid conditions on the coast guarantee a layer of flor all year round. - Wines have even more intense tangy aromas. - Most famous for Fino style which is Manzanilla Fina. - The Amontillado style is Manzanilla Pasada. |
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Age Indicated Sherry |
- 4 categories of age. The two top ones are: - VOS (Very Old Sherry) - Average age of the blend is 20 years old. - VROS (Very Rare Old Sherry) - Average age of 30 years old. - Each batch must be tested to make sure it complies. - Lesser categories are twelve years old and fifteen years old and apply to the whole solera system so are more flexible. - Only Oloroso, Amontillado, Palo Cotado and PX can qualify for age indicated status. |
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Vintage Sherry |
- Vintage date can be shown on bottle known as the anarda. - Not ages in Solera system, but aged statically and never move from their original butt. - Flor can not be sustained without new Sherry being introduced so anada sherry has an Oxidative character. |
