Sherry Flashcards
What is the general climate of Jerez?
Hot mediterranean climate
What are the 2 winds that affect Jerez?
- Levante - hot, dry wind that blows from the east (can be damaging).
- Poniente - cool, humid, westerly wind (encourages flor).
What soil type is the Jerez region known for?
Albariza
What kind of soil is Albariza?
How does it help grapes grow in such a hot place like Jerez?
It is a deep, well-draining soil with high chalk content.
Albariza stores water extremely well – enough for the vines to tolerate the hot, dry summers.
It forms a hard crust that decreases water evaporation from the soil.
How do Jerez viticulturists maximize water collection for their vines?
After harvest they dig water collection troughs, or channels, between rows meant to capture any rain that falls during the autumn and winter. These troughs are purposefully dug to direct the collected water towards the vines, reducing run-off and increasing potential water retention.
These troughs are smoothed out in the spring.
What are the 3 main grapes of Jerez?
Palomino
Pedro Ximenez (PX)
Muscat of Alexandria (aka Moscatel)
What is the most planted grape in Jerez?
Descibe its profile
Palomino
low in acid and low aromatic profile
which is good since style is dtermined by biological or oxidative maturation
What is the profile of Pedro ximénez (PX)
For which sherry style is it used ?
Little varietal falvours
thin skin makes it ideally suited to be sun dried and used in Sweet sherry
Mostly in Montilla-Moriles
In which sherry style is used Muscat of Alexandria ?
Sweet Sherry
Name the dry styles of sherry
Fino and Manzanilla
Oloroso
Amontillado
Palo Cortado
Naturally sweet styles
Pdero Ximénez (PX)
Muscat
Name the Sweetened Styles of Sherry
Pale Cream
Medium and Cream
Describe Fino Sherry. When should they be consumed?
Biologically aged
Fino Sherry is dry, pale lemon, arromas of citrus, almonds, herbs, bready notes from flor.
Finos should be drunk as young as possible to enjoy their youthful freshness, and the bottle should be finished within a week of opening as it doesn’t last long after being opened.
What is Manzanilla and how is it different from Fino?
Biologically aged
Manzanilla is a Fino sherry, but Manzanillas can only be matured from the seaside village of Sanlúcar de Barrameda DO.
Manzanillas are lighter, brighter, more saline, and more delicate than Finos due to the cooler and humid climate of Sanlúcar, which guarantee a thick flor
Manzanilla fina is moire famous
What is ‘En Rama’ Sherry?
En Rama is a label for Fino Sherries that have had minimal fining and filtering. They are released only once per year and should be consumed in their infancy.
The legislation shoudl make it regulated.
Describe Oloroso Sherry.
Oxidatevely aged
Oloroso Sherry is clear, brownish in color, oxidized, toffee, leather, walnut and spice; it is full bodied
Old oloroso can become very concentraded and astringent, which is balanced with younger wines in solera
Describe Amontillado Sherry.
biologically and oxidatively aged
An Amontillado Sherry started off as either a Fino or Manzanilla, but the flor died off leaving the wine exposed to oxygen. Therefore, an Amontillado undergoes both biological and oxidative aging.
After the flor died, Wine is then refortified to 17% and fed in amontillado solera system
Amontillado Sherries are amber or brown, less full-bodied than oloroso, dry, combine aromas from yeast and oxidation.
Can be matured
Describe Palo Cortado Sherry
Rare style
Identify at the second classification, but not always the case
Aroma of Amontillado but body and richness of Oloroso
use variety of method, and is difficult to tell apart from Amontillado and oloroso
Always wines of very high quality
Naturally sweet styles
Oxidative ageing
Rare and more regularly used as a component in sweetened sherries
Describe Pedro Ximénez (PX) sherry
deep brown, lusciously sweet (500g/L)
Pronounced aromas of dried fruit, coffee and liquorice
Describe Muscat Sherry
Take on similar charccterisstics to PX althouth retain dried citrus peel character
Describe Pale cream Sherry
Biological ageing priori to sweetening with RCGM
similar to Fino but do not have a pronounced flor character
Describe the medium and cream sherry
New legislation permit to have oxidative or biological ageing characteristics forth both style
Cream is sweeter than Medium
premium wines are sweetened by PX wines
Toffee, leather, walnut flavours, dried fruit notes
What are the age categories of Sherry?
VOS (Very Old Sherry/Vinum Optimum Signatum)
VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry/Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum)
What is the average age of a VOS?
A Sherry labeled VOS must have a minimum average age of 20 years.
What is the average age of a VORS?
A Sherry labeled VORS must have a minimum average age of 30 years.
Explain the grape handling and fermentation of dry sherry style
- Grape must reach press as quicky as possible beause of the high temperature at harvest
- Fermentation in stainless steel tanks from 22° to 26° (which is high but good foro a netural wine
- base wine is 11-12% abv
Explain the first classification in dry Sherry style
- During autumn, wines are separated for biological or oxidative ageing.
- Lighter paler wines for biological, and darker richer wines for oxidative
- Wines from cooler coastal vinyeards or fermented at lower tempearutre are most suitable for biological
- Wines from warmer inland vineyards or fermented at higher tempratures are more suitable for oxidative
- At this time, the flor will have started on every wines
Explain Fortification and Sobretabla in dry sherry style
- Wines are fortified using 95% abv neutral spirit
- Set aside for a period of few months before incoporated into solera system . this is know as Sobretabla
Explain winemaking steps for wine for biological ageing in Dry sherry style
- wines are fortified to beetween 15% and 15.5%
- sobretabla is important because the flor needs to deelop correctly beore solera system
- A second classification takes place to determine whether the wine has a style suitable for its solera.
- Can be refortitied and sent for oxidative or rejected
Explain winemaking steps for wine for oxidative ageing in Dry sherry style
Forfitied to 17%
flor dies
Sobretabla is not as critical for the quality of these wines
Explain the grape handling for naturally sweet styles of sherry
grapes destined for naturally sweet wines are sun-dried to concentrate sugar
Results in raisin flavour
Explain the grape for naturally sweet styles of sherry
when desired must weight is achieved, grapes are presed and fermentation start
some struggle to ferment the sugar and wines are low alcohol
wine is fortified to 17%
Where can take place the maturation in solera system ?
new legislation permit at bodegas anywhere within the DO boundaries
Fino cannot be aged in sanlucar since it is for Manzanilla
What are the ideal conditions form maturation in solera system ?
cool
Whitewashed walls, hihg eilings, windows pointing towards poniente
Some now are air-conditioned
Sherry must be matured in which kind of barrel ?
600 litres oak barrels called BUTTS
Very old butts so no oak influence
butts are only ever five-sixths full
What is a solera system ?
A fractional blending system which has levels, or groups, of barrels (butts) called Criaderas, or ‘scales’, that hold wines at varying stages of development.
The wine is moved from one criteria to another to achive a blend of younger and older wines
solery system : whole
Solera: level in the system that holds wine of the oldest average
What is the name of the first stage of the solera system?
Sobretabla
What is the name of the final stage of the solera system?
solera
What is the name of the levels between sobretabla and solera?
Criadera (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
How many scales, or Criaderas, are typical for soleras?
Typically 3-7 scales, but a bodega can use as many as 12 or 14.
Why isn’t Sherry vintage dated?
Sherry is rarely vintaged dated because of its fractional blending system.
However, many Sherries have their soleras’ inception dates printed on their labels.
summarised the process of solera
- wine for bottling is taken out of solera, equal amount from each but
- The equal amount is taken out of all of te butts the 1st criader and the wines of the 1st criadera are blend
- This blend is used to fill up the solera
- first criader isi replenished with the same technique, all the way to sobretabla
What is the main advantage of solera?
wine taken our of it is the same every time.
cannot be maintained if poor quality winen is fed into the ssytem or if too much wine is taken out each year.
What is Flor in Sherry ?
made of of a number of yeast strains
Thick layer on the surface of the wine that feed off the alcohol in the wine and oxygen in the atmosphere to produce carbon diode and acetaldehyde
Is it acetaldehyde that gives biologically aged sherries their flavours
What needs flor to survive?
Precise levels of alcohol, temperature and humidity
Sensitive to conditions such as temperature and humidity of bodega
maximum 15.5% of abc to survive
Favours cool-moderate temperature
Regular adding of alcohol and part filled barrels helps flor survive for about 3-4 years.
Explain oxidative ageing in production of sherry
oxidative ageing is possible thanks to part-filled Butts that allowed oxigen
The solera system provides young wine which help to preserve base character of sherry , without becoming overly oxised
can be matured for upward 30 years
alcohol rise with age
Explain blending and finishing in sherry production
Most sherries are blends of wines from several solera systems, from different age
Undergo fininc and filtration prior to bottling (but some keep it to the minimum)Biologically aged wines can loose vibrancy by high levels of intervention.
What are the 3 oxidatively aged sherry?
PX
cream
Oloroso
What are the 2 biologically and oxidatively aged sherry ?
Medium
Amontillado
What are the 2 biologically aged sherry?
Fino/manzanilla
Pale Cream
