Sherry Flashcards
Sherry’s history dates back to the rule of who?
The Phoenicians
When did Sherry industry begin to grow rapidly?
After Christian rule in the 13th century and consumption and exports grew rapidly as English, Irish and Flemish traders begin to ship wine.
What was established in 1933 to set regulations and control production of Sherry?
Consejo Regulador
When did Sherry sales hit their peak? And what was peak?
1970s, shipments reached 1.5 million h/L
The fall in demand of Sherry in the 80s resulted in what?
a surplus of Sherry, lots of cheap, low-quality wines
What is a business that dramatically crippled the Sherry industry in the 1940s
Rumasa, started as almancenista, then shipped his own, soon supplied Harveys of Bristol and became major supplier of Bristol Cream. Dominated Sherry industry as well as hotels and banks; govt then nationalized the company resulting in lots of closures and an abundance of low-quality wine.
Since the crippling actions of Rumasa, the Consejo Regulador has been doing what?
working to bring vineyard plantings, stock levels and sales back into balance to promote quality of sherry
Where is Jerez located?
In Andalusia in Southern Spain at low latitude and low altitude
What is the climate of Jerez?
hot mediterranean, with influences from Atlantic Ocean, hot dry summers, mild, rainy winters
What is the “poniente?”
wind from the Atlantic Ocean that provides a cool, damp, humid influence in the summer
What is the “Levante?”
hot, drying wind from North Africa that makes the climate more arid resulting in faster transpiration of grapes
Why is the Levante damanging?
the transpiration can cause too much sugar which makes it difficult for the flor to develop
Grapes for Sherry must come from what place?
the delimited 7,000 hectares known as Zona de Prouccion
What are the two DOs for Sherry?
DO Jerez-Xeres-Sherry or DO Manzanilla-Sanlucar de Barrameda
The Zona de Produccion has two categories, what are they?
Jerez Superior and Jerez Zona
Describe Jerez Superior
better vineyard sites, all albariza soil, makes up over 90% of plantings
What are pagos?
smaller delimited areas where vineyards can be, thought to produce wine with diff. characteristics
What is albariza a mixture of?
Limestone, silica and clay
Why is clay important in Albariza?
effective at retaining and gradually releasing water from winter rainfall
Why are high yields possible in Jerez?
The ability of the albariza to retain water and the grapes for Sherry do not need high concentration, flavor comes from maturation process
What does the light color of the albariza soil do?
It reflects light back up to the vine canopy aiding in ripening
Two other names for the palomino grape?
Palomino Fino and Listan
What are the % of grape varieties in Jerez?
97% palomino, 3% Moscatel and PX
Describe the Palomino grape
mid to late ripening; suited to dry sunny weather and capable of large yields, loses acidity quickly, neutral variety
Describe Moscatel
grown on sandy, areas soils; late ripening, suited to heat and drought; aromatic grape, used for sweet fortified wines
Describe Pedro Ximenez grape
used often as sweetening agent; small, thick-skinned and accumulates high levels of sugar, dried in sun to further concentrate sugar, neutral variety
What is changing in Sherry vineyards today?
In the process of being transformed to allow mechanization
What was traditional training system for sherry grapes vs now?
Traditional was replacement cane pruning but moving to cordon training and spur pruned (easier for machines)
Why is VSP good for sherry grapes?
ensures canopy remains open and arranged for machines but also prevents sunburn
What are max yields for Sherry?
80 h/L, but rare that is reached
How do vineyard managers manage water in sherry vineyards?
Each year after harvest troughs are build down the rows of vines to catch the winter rains, without them the rain would flow down sloped vineyards and not permeate the soil
What is the water trough system called?
Aserpia
Does Jerez have a disease pressure problem?
Not really since its so dry; but sometimes warm humid rain in spring can cause mildew so VSP used for circulation
Is Frost an issue in Jerez
No, hot climate and moderating influence from Atlantic prevents frost
What pest is an issue in Jerez and how do they manage?
European Grapevine Moth and using phermone traps
Why do they harvest as soon as possible in Jerez?
to avoid any autumn rain resulting in rot which is bad in biologically aged wines
When are sherry grapes picked?
around 12% abv
Since the palomino grape loses acidity near ripening, what often happens?
Acidification is used
How are sherry grapes harvested?
60% machine harvested, mostly at night
What is the typical winemaking process with sherry?
pressed on arrival, no skin contact, biologically aged wines usually free run juice used or light pressing unless oloroso, must clarified before fermentation, often different base wines made by fermenting different vineyards separately, cultured yeasts for fermentation abt 72-79 degrees in stainless steel.
Why does flor struggle in later press fractions?
Higher level of phenolics
Which wines use free run juice or light press and which used later pressings?
Biologically aged light, olorso wants heavier presseings
How do they usually clarify the must before fermentation?
cold settling, centrifugation or flotation
Why is it important to clarify sherry grapes?
The albariza soil is really dusty
There are two phases of sherry fermentation, describe them
The first phase is quick (only 7 days) and vigorous as the ferment temps are very warm, the majority of the sugar is fermented in this first phase. THEN FORTIFCATION; the second phase is slower and the rest of the sugar is fermented, takes a couple of weeks
Is Malolactic used?
No, don’t want because acid is already low and don’t want buttery flavors
How do they prevent malo?
chilling the must
Why would you not use SO2 in biologically aged wines to prevent malo?
Don’t want also kill the flor
What is the “First Classification?”
After fermentation, each batch of wine is tasted and sent for analysis to decide whether it will be biological or oxidatively aged
After classification what happens next?
The wines to be aged biologically get fortified to 15-15.5% Abv and those to be aged oxidatively to 17% abv (where flor cannot survive)
What is used to fortify sherry?
96% abv neutral grape spirit
What is sobretabla?
The stage after fortification when they are stored before joining the solera system, placed in tanks or wooden barrels
After a few months in sobretabla then what happens?
The Second Classification; The wines that were marked for biological aging get analzyed: Those that have a full layer of flor will be fino or manzanilla and those less delicate will be potential amondillado, those that are full bodied and intense will be marked for Palo Cortado: then everything goes into solera system
What is the Zona de Crianza
the three municipalities that make up the DO Jerez-Xeres-Sherry: Jerez de la Frontera; El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda
If a wine is labelled DO Jerez-Xeres-Sherry then it must be matured where?
In Jerez de la Frontera or El Puerto de Santa Maria or Sanlucar de Barrameda
If a wine is labelled DO Manzanilla-Sanlucar de Barramedas, where must it be matured?
In Sanlucar de Barrameda
What vessels are used for sherry maturation?
Old wooden vessels, ranges in size but usually 600 L butts. Usually American oak for historical reasons and cheaper
What design features do bodegas have in order to not need air conditioning?
thick walls keeps temps constant; tall buildings with high ceilings causing warm air to rise away from rows of butts; small window up high oriented to allow cool SW winds from Atlantic enter to lower temps and raise humidity; windows have thin blinds to diffuse sunlight and prevent dust and insects from entering; floors made of earth that can be wetted to lower temps and raise humidity
