Sherry Flashcards
1
Q
Location
A
- Andalucia
- southermost spain
2
Q
Climate
A
- warm mediteranean climate with high levels of sunshine
- rainfall is high when compared to most of spain. mostly falls in the autumn and winter
- two winds play an important role here, levante (hot) and poniente (cooling)
- the easterly wind blow dries and vacuum cooks the grapes on their stalks during the critical ripening stage
- results in a dramatically different metabolization fo fruit sugars, acids and aldehyds which produces a wine with an unusual balance peculiar to Jerez
- The poniente wind allows the growth of several saccharomyces strains in the microflora of the palomino grape. the is the flor which without thre would be no fino sherry
3
Q
Soils
A
- Albariza (limestone - deep and lime rich. white color also refelcts sun on to the lower parts of the vines)
- Baros (clay - produce second rate sherries)
- Arenas (sand - produce second rate sherries)
- Almost all vineyards planted on albariza
- great water retention but high risk of chlorosis
4
Q
Vineyard
A
- soils are ridged in teh winter to maximize the capture of water
- classic pruning method is Vara y Pulgar (single guyot) within limited training
- there is a push towards more of a modern wire trellising as this facilitates mechanical harvesting although most of the crop is hand harvested
- some level of canopy shade is important to protect the fruit from sunburn
5
Q
Grapes
A
- Palomino
- Muscat of Alexandria (Moscatel)
- Pedro Ximenez
6
Q
Vinification
A
- Harvest (tradition has picking the first week of september. Palomino grapes were left in the sun for 12-24 hours, PX and Moscatel for 10-21 days. Older vines were picked before younger ones and PX and Moscatel were picked first all because they required longer sunning. At night the grapes were corvered with grass mats as a protections against dew. Sunning is called soleo and primary purpose was to increase sugar content while reducing malic acid and tannin. Some producers now harvest the second week of sept. and forgo soleo for all grapes but PX and Moscatel. Grapes left in the sun for far fewer days than 10-21)
- Yeso (small portion of gypsum is added to precipitate tartrate crystals. process is of drying out. noticed this partually because of the albariza dust which has a high calsium carbonate content that would do the same task)
- Pressing (4 laborers were placed in a lagare to tread the grapes with boots containing nails. Each person tramped 36 miles on the spot during a typical session from midnight to noon. Now automatic horizontal, pneumatic presses are common)
- Fermentation (some ferment is small oak casks filled only to 90%. After 12 hours the fermentation starts and contineuses between 36-50 hours at 77-86. 99% of sugars are converted at this point. after 40-50 days, process is complete. Current methods use stainless steel and yield wines that are 1% higher in alc than those in cask due to the absence of evaporation and absorption.)
- Flor
- Cask Classification and fermentation (cellarmaster will sniff each cask and mark w/ chalk a note on how each cask is progressing. lower grade wines (little to no flor) are fortified to 18% to kill any flor thus determining the character from there on out. while flor protects the wine it is not invincible and will be at risk until it’s fortified to 15.3% which is the norm for fino and not truly safe until bottled. a 50/50 mixture of pure alcohol and grape juice is used however some use mature sherry for fortification instead of grape juice)
- Further cask classification ( wines often racked prior to fortification and always after. 2 weeks later, they undergo a second more precise classification. no further fortification or action will take place until 9 months have elapsed after which they will be classified regularly over a period of two years after which the final style is determined
7
Q
Vinos Generosos
A
- generous wines defined by CR as dry wines (max 5g/l) produced from the total fermentation of must, isially palomino grapes, at the end of which process, flor appears on teh surface of the base wine
- decision to fortify the base wine to either 15 or 17% determines the type of ageing whichteh wine will later undergo
5 types are:
- fino
- amontillado
- manzanilla
- oloroso
- palo cortado
8
Q
Fino
A
- one of two types of wine made naturally in a sherry bodega
- also a style of sherry, filtering and bottling a fino, the palest, lightest, driest apart from Manzanilla
- product of the fino type of sherry preserved and influenced by the film formin yeast flo
- may be made in any of the 3 sherry towns althought Fino De Jerez is the most common
- those made in Puerto de Santa Maria are called Porto Fino
- most Fino sold in splain has an alc. strength of about 15.5% and it bone dry
9
Q
Amontillado
A
- a fino sherry becomes an amontillado when the flo dies and the wine is exposed to oxygen
- happens automatucally if a find type of sherry is fortified to 16% since flor cannot work in taht high of an alc
- wine turns amber and tastes richer / nuttier
- it’s truly aged Fino
- cheaper amontillado’s are created artificcially by blending and usually sweetened
- tend to be medium
10
Q
Palo Cortado
A
- traditional and fully natural style of sherry based on a fluke of nature
- wine pre-selected for fino or amontillado
- these delicate wines never develop flor and end up ageing in oloroso fashion
- wines and an intermediate style, elegance of an amontillado with the power and the body of the oloroso
- rarest category of sherry
- they are dry
11
Q
Vinos Dulces Naturales
A
- term for fortified sweet wines
- made when brandy is added to cut the fermentation process
12
Q
Vinos Generosos de Licor
A
- defined in the regulations of the Consejo Regulador as wines obtained from the traditional process of cabeceo or the blending of Generosos wines with naturally sweet wines or in certain cases w/ concentrated must.
- wines vary with different degrees of sweetness, always with a sugar content of over 5 g/l
- according to the type of generoso wines used as a base and final levels of sweetness of the blend, the following types are obtained:
- Pale cream (fino w/ some sweetness)
- Medium (DO says any sherry w/ sugar over 5 g/l and up to 115 g/l can be called Medium. 5-45 Medium dry. 45 -110 Medium Sweet)
- Cream (semi sweet from oxidative ageing and involves the blending of oloroso (in was it known as cabeceo) with PX. Commonly known as sweet oloroso)
13
Q
Pale Cream
A
- highly successful brand laucnhed by Croft in the 1970’s
- essentially cream with with the color removed by charcoal or other treatments
- may also be sweetened by Fino
14
Q
Medium
A
-
15
Q
Cream
A
- brand name started when someone was tasting a new unnamed brand/ “If that is Milk, then this is Cream.”
- sweetest darkest style fo sherry
- created for sweettooth UK market by Harvey’s of Bristol
- most successful sherry in the workd
- product of blending blah sherries w/ sweeteners and colored wines
- have RS = to 4.5-6.5 baume
16
Q
12yr
A
- part of age certification system adopted by the Consejo REgulador
- those that don’t qualify for VOS or VORS but are worthy and subjected to prolonged periods of ageing and of fine quality
- average age between 12-15 and exposed to either total or partial oxidative, physico chemical ageing process
- certification applies to the whole system of criadera and solera from whence the wine submitted for certification is drawn
- sherry firm submits an application to the CR of the stocks to the brand for which they’ve requested an indicatino of age
- wines undergoing crianza ageing must be clearly defined in the bodega and the annual sales quota assigned to them will be proportinal to the qunatitiy of stocks held: 1/12 in teh case of 12yr old and 1/15 in the case of 15yr old
17
Q
15yr
A
- part of age certification system adopted by the Consejo REgulador
- those that don’t qualify for VOS or VORS but are worthy and subjected to prolonged periods of ageing and of fine quality
- average age between 12-15 and exposed to either total or partial oxidative, physico chemical ageing process
