Sherry Flashcards
Fortified wines have a …. alcohol content than still table wines
higher alcohol content
How do forified wines get to have such high alcohol content?
High proof, neutral grape spirit/ brandy is added to the base wine either before, during or after fermentation
What are the reasons to fortify a wine?
- add body
2. increase the wine’s ageability
what is the alcoholic range of fortified wines?
15 - 22% abv
When is Sherry fortified? … fermentation
AFTER fermentation
What is the typical result of fortifying a wine AFTER fermentation?
Dry wine that has higher levels of alcohol, anywhere from 15 - 18 %
What are the other 2 names Sherry is known as?
- Jerez
- Xérès
Sometimes you’ll see it spelled with all three: Jerez - Xérès - Sherry
Sherry comes from which country?
Spain
where in Spain in the Sherry region?
Spains’ most southern tip, in Andalusía, which is across the Strait of Gibraltar from North Africa
What are the 2 bodies of water cradling Sherry?
- Atlantic Ocean on the west
- Strait of Gibraltar to the south
Sherry was one of the first recognised DOs in Spain in this year.
1933
what is the climate of sherry?
What influences the climate?
- Hot, windy, can get humid
- Atlantic Ocean influences climate by cooling down Sherry with breezes
What are the 3 soils of Sherry?
- Albariza (most important!)
- Barros.
- Arenas
What kind of soil is Albariza?
A chalky clay, brilliantly white, that reflects the sun onto the vines.
It has excellent water retention which is important during the hot and dry summer months
what kind of soil is barros?
brown clay
- not as important as Albariza
What kind of soil is Arenas?
Sandy soils
- not as important as Albariza
What are the 3 grapes of Sherry?
- Palomino
- Pedro Ximénez (PX)
- Moscatel
Which grape in Sherry is the most planted?
Palomino
- it’s also the principal grape for all Sherry Styles
PX and Moscatel are grapes mostly used for what in Sherry? And also for….
Mostly used for blending, sweetening, and adding color to other Sherries.
Can be used as sweet wines themselves, bottled as single varietals. Only top producers - which is really just a handful - will bottle PX or Moscatel by itself.
most sherry sales are made from which grape?
palomino
after the palomino grape goes through primary fermentation, what is its flavor profile before it’s fortified?
Neutral, dry, still white (at this point it’s a base wine)
For Sherry, how much the wine is fortified depends on what … is being made?
style
what are sherries fortified with? why?
a mixture of neutral grape spirit + mature sherry.
It’s fortified with this mixture and not straight spirit so the base wine isn’t shocked
what are the 2 ways to age, or develop sherry?
- Biological ageing
2. Oxidative ageing
What are the 4 styles of Sherry made with biological ageing?
- Manzanilla
- Fino
- Amontillado
- Palo Cortado
What are the 2 styles of Sherry made with oxidative ageing?
- Olorosso
2. Cream
What is flor?
Wat does it do?
A thin layer of yeast, Saccharomyces, that develops on the surface of a maturing wine in barrel. It develops here because Sherry barrels aren’t filled up all the way, and that headspace allows for oxygen which in turn encourages the flor to form.
It protects the wine from heavy oxidation and spoilage
What is a solar system?
A fractional blending system which has levels, or ‘scales’, that hold wines at varying stages of development (some of which are decades old).
The younger wines at the top of the solera are progressively blended with the older, lower scales of the solar.
The bottom row of the solera system is called solera
When making Fino-style Sherries, it’s important to keep adding new wine to barrels so that the …. remains intact.
Flor
The newly added wine has nutrients which the flor metabolises and needs to stay alive
What is “running the scales”? Describe the process.
‘Running the scales’ is the gradual yet consistent replenishment of wine from younger barrels within a solera.
When Sherry is removed for bottling from the solera (bottom) scale, the solera scale is refilled with an equal amount of wine that has been pulled from the 1st Criadera. To refill the 1st Criadera, another equal amount is removed from the 2nd Criadera to top up the barrels in the 1st Criadera, and so on until the youngest Criadera is topped up with wine from the añada.
The youngest wines provide nutrients for the flor to keep it alive and active.
Fractional blending is done both horizontally and vertically to maintain continuity.
why isn’t sherry vintage dated?
sherry is rarely vintaged dated because it is a fractional blending system.
However, many sherries have their solera’s inception date printed on their labels.
what is manzanilla and how is it different from fino?
Manzanilla IS a Fino sherry, but Manzanillas can only come from the seaside village of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
Manzanillas are lighter, brighter, more saline, and more delicate than Finos due to the cooler climate of Sanlúcar.
So, all Manzanillas are Finos, but not all Finos are Manzanillas
What’s the purpose of a solera?
A solera creates a unique, distinct flavor profile for wine, making Sherry – when you smell and taste it – unmistakable.
The solera allows the winemaker, or Sherry house, to produce a consistent style of wine.
in a solera system, the barrel on the floor or closest to the floor are called …..
solera
in a solera system, the barres between the Añada and Solera are called …
Criaderas
There are First Criaderas and Second Criaderas
What is the difference between the First Criadera and the Second Criadera?
First Criadera is the level of barrels that have wine in them that is next oldest to the solera.
Second Criadera is the level of barrels between the Añada and the First Criadera; older than the Añada, but younger than the First Criadera
What is the maximum amount of Sherry that can be removed yearly from the bottom solera to be bottled?
No more than a third may be withdraw 3x in one year.
