Sherry Flashcards
True or False: Sherry is a fortified wine from Andalucía on the southern coast of Spain. It reached its apex as a British favorite by the 1870s, and it became one of the first protected Spanish appellations in ___ with the establishment of a Consejo Regulador
1933
Jerez, the hottest wine region in Spain and the home of Sherry production, is located within the coastal province of ____, flanked by the____ to the northwest. The town of Chiclana de la Frontera marks the southeastern border of the roughly triangular region.
Cádiz; Guadalquivir River
What three towns of are at the center of Sherry production, and DO regulations require Sherry to be matured in and shipped from one of these three municipalities.
Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Sherry is the product of two DO zones: ___and ____ The two DOs share an identical production zone and similar production guidelines, but the latter must be aged in the seaside town of ______.
Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda
seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Three principal soil types characterize the Jerez region:
albariza, barros, and arenas
_____a chalky, porous, limestone-rich soil of brilliant white color, produces the best Sherry. The moisture-retentive soil retains water from autumn and winter rains, while the friable soil structure allows vine roots to penetrate deeply in a search for water trapped beneath its baked, impermeable surface during the arid growing season.
Albariza: The snow-white albariza soils are concentrated on the gentle slopes of Jerez Superior, a sub-region between Sanlúcar de Barrameda and the Guadalete River, which flows into the Bay of Cádiz just to the south of Jerez de la Frontera.
80% of the appellation’s vines are located in ____, and most pagos (vineyards) are located within the area of Jerez de la Frontera, including Macharnudo, Añina, and Carrascal. ____, at over 2000 acres, is the largest pago in Jerez.
Jerez Superior; Macharnudo
The more fertile—but more difficult to work—___ soils have a higher proportion of clay and are prominent in low-lying valleys. The sandy ____soils are most common in coastal areas.
barros; arenas
Moscatel is mainly cultivated in the arenas soils near Chipiona.
Three white grapes are authorized for the production of Sherry:
Palomino (Listán)- 95% of the vineyard acreage in Jerez
Pedro Ximénez (PX)
Moscatel (Muscat of Alexandria)
In Jerez, each vine is commonly trained in the traditional manner of ________, in which growers prune alternate spurs each year.
vara y pulgar: prune alternate spurs each year, one year’s vara (stick) will be pruned back after harvest to become the following year’s pulgar (thumb).
Hot, dry _____ winds intensify the region’s heat. Said to drive men mad, the howling winds blows from the east and essentially cooks the grapes on the vine during ripening.
levante winds
The humid Atlantic _____ wind alternates with the levante winds, and promotes the growth of flor, a film-forming yeast necessary in the maturation of Sherry.
poniente
List two sub-varieties of the Palomino variety:
Both sub-varieties are encountered in the region:
Palomino Fino
Palomino de Jerez -is more prevalent, prized for its higher yields and disease resistance
What two grapes are predominantly used for sweetening Sherry?Though, varietal bottlings of either grape are extremely rare in Jerez.
Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez
Which grape is mainly cultivated in the arenas soils near Chipiona?
Moscatel grape
Plantings of Pedro Ximénez in Jerez have diminished so greatly that the Consejo Regulador has granted special dispensation allowing producers to import Pedro Ximénez must from the nearby________DO.
Montilla-Moriles DO
Growers submit Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez to the ____ process for a period of one to three weeks, name and describe this process.
soleo process: in which grape bunches are dried in the sun on esparto grass mats prior to pressing. (Palomino may also be sunned, but rarely for longer than 24 hours and often not at all.)
True or False: Palomino Fino, the grape used for the majority of Sherry wines, must be pressed quickly after picking as it is prone to rapid oxidation.
True
A maximum 72.5 liters of juice may be pressed from 100 kg of grapes; any additional amount is relegated to the production of non-classified wines or distillate. The must (mosto de yema) is divided into what three stages of quality:
Primera Yema(free-run juice, accts for 60-70% of total mosto de yema), Segunda Yema (press wine), Mosto Prensa (poorer quality press wine for distillation) **(free-run)primera yema and (pressed)segunda yema are fermented separately.
Sherry is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks of 50,000 liter capacity. In either case, the fermentation is divided into two stages:
Tumultuous fermentation:hot,vigorous initial phase lasting up to a week Lenta fermentation:slow in which high temps subside, any remaining sugar in the wine is converted to alcohol over a period of weeks.
The delicate base wine of 11-12.5% abv is then separated from its lees, and the process of transformation begins.
After fermentation, wine is classified: each tank is either classified as palo-marked with a vertical slash, or as gordura, marked with a circle. What is the abv of each and the destined style?
PALO:fortified to 15-15.5% abv and are destined to become the more delicate Fino or Manzanilla styles
GORDURA:fortified to 17-18%—a high level of alcohol that will not permit the growth of flor—and will become (Oloroso Sherries)
What is mitad y mitad?
mitad y mitad-a gentler mixture of grape spirit w/mature Sherry, used to avoid shocking young wine–neither wine is fortified directly with spirit.
Both sets of wines are transferred to old Sherry butts American oak. Fino and Manzanilla styles undergo____aging, whereas Oloroso Sherry undergoes_____aging.
biological-Fino and Manzanilla
oxidative-Oloroso
At the heart of the biological aging process in Sherry is the film-forming yeast known as the _____—the “flower.” While the normal yeasts responsible for alcoholic fermentation die as the wine’s sugar is consumed, a specialized set of yeast species (of the genus Saccharomyces) arrives to metabolize glycerin, alcohol, and volatile acids in the wine.
flor del vino-Humid air carried on the poniente wind, a moderate temperature between 60°-70° F, an absence of fermentable sugars, and a particular level of alcoholic strength (15-15.5% abv) are prerequisites for the development of flor. Flor requires contact with oxygen, it forms a film on the surface of the wine, protecting the liquid from oxidation.
