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WSET 3 > SHERRY > Flashcards

SHERRY Flashcards

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1
Q

Jerez climate?

2 winds?

A

Hot, sunny, Med climate
Annual rainfall is high
Rainfall in growing season is limited

Vineyards near coast are cooler and benefit from the prevailing cool humid westerly wind “Poniente”

Temperature can be sent soaring by the hot dry Levante which blows from the east

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2
Q

Well known soil?

A

Albariza- High chalk content, provides good drainage, but vitally its depth and excellent water holding capacity mean that it can store enough water to sustain the vines during the hot dry summers

It forms a hard crust that limits evaporation from the soil

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3
Q

3 main grapes?

A

Palomino
Pedro Ximenez
Muscat of Alexandria (Used to make sweet wines)

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4
Q

Palomino characteristics?

A

Vast majority of plantings in Jerez

Wines naturally low in acid and lack obvious varietal aromas

Ideal for Sherry production where the styles of the wine are largely determined by either biological or oxidative maturation

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5
Q

Pedro Ximenez characteristics?

A

Very little varietal flavour

It’s thin skin makes it ideally suited to being sundried and consequently it is used in the production of sweet sherries

Very little planted in Jerez
Most of the grapes come from Montilla Moriles

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6
Q

What grape makes the dry wines of Jerez?

A

Palomino

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7
Q

Dry- Where does fermentation take place?

A

Large stainless steel tanks

Temps ranging from 22-26 C

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8
Q

Dry- 2 types of classification for wine?

A

1.Those that will be sent for biological ageing
(Lighter/pale wines with more finesse will be picked for biological ageing)

2.Those that will be sent for oxidative ageing
(Darker, richer, heavier wines are selected for oxidative ageing)

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9
Q

Dry-What wines are best for biological ageing?

A

Wines made from grapes grown in cooler coastal vineyards and/or fermented at lower temperatures

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10
Q

Dry-What wines are best for oxidative ageing?

A

Wines made from grapes grown in the warmer inland vineyards and/or fermented at higher temperatures

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11
Q

Dry-What happens after first classification?

A

Wines are fortified using a 95% abv neutral spirit

Wines are then set aside for a few months before they are incorporated into a solera system (Sobretabla)

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12
Q

Dry-Biological ageing wine rules?

A

-Fortified btwn 15 and 15.5% abv (Ideals strength of the development of flor)

-Sobretabla is very important(Producer needs to wait and see if flor develops correctly and a 2nd classification is necessary to determine whether the wine has a style/character that is suitable for its respective solera system

-Wines that fail to make the grade are either refortified and sent for oxidative ageing or rejected all together

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13
Q

Dry-Oxidative ageing rules?

A

-Wines are fortified to 17% abv (At this strength the flor dies)

-The period of sobretabla is not as critical for the quality of these wines because there is no need to wait and see if flor flavours develop

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14
Q

What happens once you pick the grapes for naturally sweet wines?

A

Sundried to concentrate their sugar levels

This process develops flavours of raisin

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15
Q

Sweet- Once fermentation has stopped what does the must get fortified to?

A

17% abv

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16
Q

Traditionally the legislation has stated the wines of DO Jerez can only be matured where?

A

At bodegas within the city limits of Jerez de la Frontera
OR
In the 2 small seaside towns of Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa Maria

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17
Q

What is sherry aged in?

A

600 Litre oak barrels called Butts

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18
Q

How full are the butts?

A

5/6 full
Allows for oxygen to reach the wine (oak also helps with this)

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19
Q

What is the solera system?

A

Maturation system for biological and oxidative ageing

Made up of a number of groups of butts, here called levels which hold wines of different average ages
These levels are called Criaderas and the maturation process involves moving wine between them over time to achieve a blend of younger and older wines

20
Q

Main advantage of the solera system?

A

Wines taken out of it for bottling or blending is the same every time

21
Q

What does biological ageing require?

A

The presence of flor which is made up of a number of yeast strains

22
Q

How does Flor work?

A

They form a thick layer on the surface of the wine

They feed off the alcohol and other nutrients in the wine and oxygen in the atmosphere to produce carbon dioxide and acetaldehyde

23
Q

What gives biological sherries their unique flavor?

A

Acetaldehyde

24
Q

What does flor need to thrive?

A

Precise levels of alcohol, temperature and humidity

Favors cool to moderate temps and high levels of humidity

Grows more in spring and autumn

25
Q

When can flor not thrive?

A

In a wine with an abv of above 15.5 %

26
Q

What biologically aged sherry should be consumed as soon as possible right after bottling?

A

Finos- They quickly lose freshness

27
Q

What sherries are aged oxidatively without the presence of flor?

A

Oloroso
PX
Some Muscat

28
Q

What sherry is aged oxidatively after a period of biological ageing?

A

Amontillado

29
Q

How long can oxidative sherry be aged?

A

Upwards of 30 years
Alcohol rises to 22% abv as water evaporates

30
Q

Fino and Manzanilla characteristics?

A

-Have only undergone biological ageing

-Pale yellow in color, aromas of citrus fruit, almonds, herbs and bready notes from flor

-Do not improve in bottle, should be consumed as fresh as possible

31
Q

Manzanilla de Sanlucar de Barrameda wine characteristic?

A

Made exactly the same way as Finos from Jerez, but the cooler more humid conditions on the coast guarantee a thick layer of flor throughout the year

This results in wine with more intense tangy aroma

32
Q

What is Manzanilla most famous for?

A

Fino style wine that is called Manzanilla Fina

33
Q

What is en rama?

A

Unregulated labelling term
If regulated it will be used for wines that have not been fined or stabilized for tartrates
The wines can be filtered

34
Q

What is Oloroso?

A

-Have only undergone oxidative ageing
-Brown in color
-Full bodied
-Oxidative aromas-Toffee, leather, spice, walnut

**Very old Olorosos can become very concentrated and develop an astringency that is balanced when blended with younger wines in the solera system

35
Q

What is Amontillado?

A

-Have undergone a period of biological ageing, followed by a period of oxidative ageing

-Once the flor has died the wines are refortified to 17% and fed into an Amontillado solera system

-Amber/brown in color
-Less full than Oloroso
-Have yeast and oxidative aromas
-Yeast aromas fade as wine ages
-Can be matured as long as an Oloroso

36
Q

What is Palo Cortado?

A

-Rare
-Aroma character of Amontillado, but body and richness of Oloroso
-Variety of different methods
-Can be difficult to tell apart from both Amontillado and Oloroso
-High quality

37
Q

What type of ageing do naturally sweet styles undergo?

A

-Oxidative
-They are rare
-More regularly used as a component in sweet sherries

38
Q

Dry sherry styles?

A

Fino
Manzanilla
Oloroso
Amontillado
Palo Cortado

39
Q

What is Pedo Ximenez?

A

-Naturally sweet sherry, often reaching 500 g/l of sugar
-Deep brown
-Aromas of dried fruit, coffee, licorice

40
Q

What is Muscat?

A

-Naturally sweet sherry
-Similar characteristics to PX, but retain a varietal dried citrus peel character

41
Q

What is Pale cream?

A

-Sweet style
-Must undergo a short period of biological ageing, prior to sweetening, typically with RCGM
-Similar in appearance to Fino, but rarely have a pronounced flor character

42
Q

Traditionally what was Medium and cream?

A

Medium- Needed to show characteristics from both biological and oxidative ageing

Cream-Needed to show purely oxidative characteristics

43
Q

What will the new legislation for Medium and Cream wines entail?

A

-Producers will be able to choose what degree of biologically aged or oxidatively aged characteristics they want when making both of these styles

-They will continue to be differentiated by RS levels, with cream being sweeter than medium

-Currently these wines (especially the premium ones), are sweetened with PX
-Best wines balance the toffee, leather of the dry wine with the dried fruit notes of the sweet wine

44
Q

What terms can only be used for dry styles of wine?

A

Amontillado
Oloroso
Palo Cortado

**Historically a sweet Oloroso, PX blend could be labelled as Oloroso Dulce, but this is no longer the case

45
Q

how many categories of age indicated sherries?

Top 2 categories are?

What do they indicate?

What do the 2 lesser categories apply to?

A

4

-VORS= Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum (Very old rare sherry)

-VOS= Vinum Optimum Signatum (Very old sherry)

*These indicate that the average age of the blend is at least 30 years old and 20 years old respectively and each batch must be tested to see whether it complies

**The lesser categories, 12 years old and 15 years old apply to a whole solera system and can be used more flexibly

WSET 3 (37 decks)

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