WINES FROM SPAIN

SHERRY

Ashish Dighe

by

INTRODUCTION
Be it no, amontillado or oloroso, Sherry is a complex, esoteric fortied wine with the versatility to go from apritif to table wine to after-dinner sipper. One of the attractions of the world's great fortied wines is that each is inextricably tied to a storied, exotic locale: Port to Portugal's winding Douro River Valley, Madeira to a rocky island off the coast of Morocco, Marsala to sun-drenched Sicily, and Sherry to a trio of frontier towns in southwest Spain.

THE WINE REGION

Real Sherry comes from the demarcated area of from the South of Spain. The Sherry triangle is the area between 1. Jerez de la Frontera 2. Puerto de Santa Maria & 3. Sanlucar de Barrameda

GRAPES
The grape used for most sherries is the Listan Palomino.
Listan Palomino

For sweeter varieties, Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel grapes are used.

Pedro Ximenez

Moscatel

SOIL
Usually of three types 1. Albariza: a white and chalky absorbent composite common to the vineyards nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Guadalete and Guadalquivir rivers. 2. Barro: heavy mud and clay soil and 3. Arena: mainly sandy soil.

MAKING SHERRY
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Gathering of grapes. Laying the grapes on mats to dry. Crushing. Fermentation in oak or steel tanks. The new wine stored in a group of small casks called criaderas. Development of or. (Saccharomyces beticus) Segregation of wines based on quality. Fortication. Classication into appropriate solera. Maturation Bottling

MAKING SHERRY
The Solera System 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Casks placed on top of each other, 4 or more scales high. The oldest wines are always at the bottom with the youngest criadera wines forming the top row. It is a system of maturing and blending. The wine required for sale is partially drawn off the bottom casks. No more than 1/3 is extracted per year. This is replaced by similar amount of wine taken from casks in the scale immediately above. The younger wines take the characteristics of the old wines.

STYLES OF SHERRY
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. FINO: This is the ultimate of sherries - pale, dry, light and delicate. It is the driest and palest of the traditional varieties of sherry. The wine is aged in barrels under a cap of or yeast to prevent contact with the air. MANZANILLA: It is an especially light variety of Fino Sherry made around the port of Sanlucar de Barrameda. MANZANILLA PASADA: It is a Manzanilla that has undergone extended aging or has been partially oxidised, giving a richer, nuttier avor. AMONTILLADO: It is a variety of Sherry that is rst aged under or but which is then exposed to oxygen, producing a sherry that is darker than a no but lighter than an oloroso. Naturally dry, they are sometimes sold lightly to medium sweetened. OLOROSO: It is a variety of Sherry aged oxidatively for a longer time than a no or amontillado, producing a darker and richer wine. With alcohol levels between 18 and 20%, olorosos are the most alcoholic sherries in the bottle. Again naturally dry, they are often also sold in sweetened versions. (Amoroso). PALO CORTADO: It is a variety of Sherry that is initially aged like an amontillado, typically for three or four years, but which subsequently develops a character closer to an oloroso. This either happens by accident when the or dies, or commonly the or is killed by fortication or ltration. JEREZ DULCE: They are made either by fermenting dried Pedro Ximnez or Moscatel grapes, which produces an intensely sweet dark brown or black wine, or by blending sweeter wines or grape must with a drier variety. Cream Sherry is a common type of sweet sherry made by blending different wines, such as oloroso sweetened with Pedro Ximenez.

6. 7.

SAMPLING
Sampling wine directly from a Sherry butt may be performed with characteristic ourish by a venenciador, named after the special cup (the venencia) traditionally made of silver and fastened to a long whalebone handle. The cup, narrow enough to pass though the bung hole, withdraws a measure of sherry which is then ceremoniously poured from head height into a copita held in the other hand.

STORAGE & SERVICE

Once bottled, sherry does not benet from further aging and may be consumed immediately, though the sherries that have been aged oxidatively may be stored for years without losing their avor. Bottles should be stored upright to minimize the wine's exposed surface area. As with other wines, sherry should be stored in a cool, dark place. Fino and Manzanilla are the most fragile types of sherry and should usually be drunk soon after opening. Sherry is traditionally drunk from a copita, a special tulip-shaped Sherry glass.

THE SHIPPERS
1. Pedro Domecq 2. Gonzalez Byass 3. Williams and Humbert 4. John Harvey & Sons 5. Sandeman 6. Croft

SHERRY
PART 1

Ashish Dighe

SHERRY
PART 2

Ashish Dighe

QUESTIONS?