All about Sherry: an introduction, an amazing tasting, and why we should be drinking more of it I love Sherry. Its one of the treasures of the wine world, but for a while now it has been woefully underappreciated. In this article, Im going to try to convince you to drink more of it by sharing my enthusiasm, as well as some notes from a big tasting of many of the top Sherries. Sherry is a fortified wine made from vineyards in the far south of Spain, where extreme heatsummer temperatures regularly exceed 40 ºCis countered by cooling breezes from the Atlantic. Table wines made from here wouldnt be terribly exciting, but the complex process of Sherry production, including the addition of spirit once fermentation is complete (fortification), results in complex, stable wines. This stability is one reason for the historical popularity of sherry: it became highly fashionable in the UK in the late 16th century, at a time when temperature controlled shipping and storage wasnt an option. Sherrys popularity peaked in the late 1970s, when roughly twice as much was exported from the region than is shipped today. The region has since been through a painful contraction, but is now bouncing back, largely because of the consistently high quality of the wines that are now made here, and the fact that they offer great value for money.
Now for the slightly boring (but important) bit. The background facts. The vineyards are mainly located within a triangle formed by the Sherry towns Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The characteristic vineyard soil in the region is known as albariza. A blinding white colour in bright sunlight, it has a high chalk content, and retains water well. In such a warm, breezy region, evaporation levels are potentially very high, so this characteristic is important. Vines are pruned by a method called vara y pulgar, which is similar to the French Guyot, with a single cane of some seven buds and a short replacement cane of a couple of buds. Harvesting is almost always done by hand.
Typically, a single chalk slash on the face of the cask will indicate that a wine is to become a fino; two slashes will indicate it is to become an oloroso. Fino wines will then be fortified to 15 º alcohol, and olorosos to 17 or 18 º. At this latter level of alcohol, the flor dies, and so olorosos are not protected from oxygen during their development in the way that finos are.
Also important to the flavour of sherry is the solera system. This is a rather complex arrangement of barrels (butts) where wine travels from one to another in a precise order during its maturation. Rather confusingly, the lowest level of butts is known as the solera, which is the name also used for the entire system. This is the final stage in the maturation process, and this is where the wine leaves the system. Up to one-third of the wine may be withdrawn each year from these barrels, but typically the amount taken will be 1015%. They are fed by wine from the next level of butts, knows and the first criadera. The first criadera is in turn topped up by a third level of butts, the second criadera. Wine in the second criadera is usually replenished by new wine, but there can many levels in the most complex of the solera systems. Sherry that has been through a solera system such as this will therefore contain a mixture of vintages. The system helps maintain a house style, and results in consistent wines. Some vintage-dated sherries that have not been through a solera exist, but these are a rarity. An amazing tasting
Wines tasted 10/08 Back to top |
an amazing tasting, and why we should drink more of it (2024)
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