Sherry Flashcards
What does flor need precise levels of in order to thrive?
3 points
1) Alcohol
2) Temperature
3) Humidity
What is the climate of Jerez?
Hot Mediterranean
Which vineyards in Jerez are the coolest?
Those nearest the coast
To what strength are sweet sherries fortified?
17% ABV
What are the exact criteria for classifying a base Palomino wine?
There aren’t any - it varies according to the house style of the producer, and their need to meet demands for volume and style
What enhances the impact of oxidation in oxidative styles of sherry?
The air present in the part-filled butts
What is the difference between Medium and Cream sherries?
- Medium sherry is made from wines with both biological and oxidative ageing characteristics
- Cream sherry is made only from oxidative wine
What is used to sweeten Medium and Cream sherries?
Pedro Ximénez wine
What do the best examples of Medium and Cream sherry balance in terms of flavour?
Toffee, leather and walnut from the dry wine
Vs.
Dried fruit from the sweet wine
Why can a sweet Oloroso/PX blend no longer be labelled as ‘Oloroso Dulce’?
Due to changes in the law, Oloroso can now only denote a dry style of wine
How is Amontillado made?
3 steps
1) Wine undergoes a period of biological ageing
2) It is refortified to 17% ABV to kill the flor
3) The wine is fed into an Amontillado Solera system
What is the name for the soil of the Jerez region?
Albariza
What is the main characteristic of Albariza?
High chalk content
What vessel would be used for the fermentation of Palomino wine?
Stainless steel tanks
At what temperature would Palomino wine ferment?
Why is this unusual?
20-25°C
This is high for a white wine
Why is Palomino wine fermented at a relatively high temperature?
To produce a neutral base wine without varietal aromas
What is the ABV of Palomino wine at the end of fermentation?
11-12% ABV
At what stage are grapes for sweet sherry pressed?
Once the desired must weight has been achieved
What is the average age of wine taken from a biologically aged solera system?
3-4 years
Why can’t wines in a biological solera system age for more than 7 years?
By that time, the oldest criadera (and the solera in general) will have a very low level of nutrients and the flor will start to fail, exposing the wine to oxygen
What, in the solera system, helps preserve the base character of oxidised sherry, and how?
- The introduction of young wine
- The base wine would become overly oxidised
- What is a sherry ‘butt’?
- How much does it hold?
- A large oak barrel used for ageing
- 600 litres
Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso and PX can qualify for age-indicated status. What are the 4 categories?
1) VORS (Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum) - 30 year blend
2) VOS (Vinum Optimum Signatum/Very Old Sherry) - 20 year blend
3) 15 years old*
4) 12 years old*
* applies to whole solera system
What is the rainfall like on Jerez?
2 points
- High as an annual average due to coastal location
- Limited in the growing season
Where is the majority of Pedro Ximénez grown?
Montilla-Moriles
What does albariza naturally do in summer which enhances its moisture retention?
Forms a hard crust which limits evaporation from the soil
Why do sweet sherries only ferment to a few degrees of alcohol before fortification?
The grape juice has such high sugar concentration that the yeast struggle to ferment the sugars
How does albariza allow the vines of Jerez to cope with low rainfall in the growing season?
(2 points)
1) Good drainage
2) Deep with excellent water storage capability
Why must Palomino grapes reach the press as quickly as possible after harvest?
1) Very high temperatures at harvest time would cause rapid oxidation, and an oxidative style might not be desirable
Is fortified sherry immediately put into the solera system?
No, it will be set aside for a few months first
Which Jerez variety:
- Accounts for most of plantings
- Low acid
- Quite neutral
Palomino
At what stage of production is sherry fortified?
After fermentation and classification
Which sherry style:
- Luscious
- Varietal dried citrus peel
Muscat
What is the effect of the climatic difference between Jerez and Sanlúcar de Barrameda on Manzanilla vs. Fino?
Manzanilla has a more intensely tangy aroma due to the cool, humid coastal conditions of Sanlúcar, which guarantee a thick flor year-long
What is the maximum ABV of a wine with flor?
15.5% - the flor cannot thrive at any higher ABV
What environmental conditions does flor prefer?
2 points
1) Cool-moderate temperature
2) High humidity
- What is the main advantage of the complex solera system?
- How/why does this work?
- Consistency: the wine taken out for blending/bottling is the same every time
- Because the younger wine takes on the characteristics of the older wine with which it has been blended when introduced into a new criadera
For up to how long can oxidised sherries mature?
Over 30 years, though few make it to that age
Why are butts only part-filled?
So that the flor has easy access to oxygen
What is a bodega?
A warehouse used for ageing and storing sherry
True or false:
Most sherries are the product of one solera system
False:
The majority (including premium) are blends from several solera systems
Why does wine need to be drawn off the solera at frequent intervals throughout the year?
To maintain a ready flow of nutrients between criaderas
What is a flor?
A number of yeast strains which form a thick layer on the surface of a wine
What are criaderas?
‘Levels’ of butts which hold sherries of different average ages
- How do the growers of Jerez maximise the amount of water retained by the albariza during autumn and winter?
- When exactly do they do this?
- Dig rectangular pits between rows of vines to trap water and reduce run-off
- Once harvest has finished: smooth out the soil in spring
What ABV is the neutral spirit used to fortify sherry?
96% ABV
Why is sobretabla less important for oxidised sherries?
There is no need to wait and see if flor develops
Why are butts often used to mature unfortified wines before they are used for sherry?
To eliminate oak flavours
What is sobretabla?
3 points
The months before wine is added to a solera but after fortification, during which the winemaker waits to see if the flor develops correctly and thus which solera system it is suitable for.
What sort of base wine for sherry would be chosen for:
1) Biological ageing
2) Oxidative ageing
1) Light, pale wines with more ‘finesse’
2) Dark, rich, ‘heavier’ wines
- To what strength are wines for oxidative ageing fortified?
- What happens at this ABV?
- 17% ABV
- The flor dies
What are the two types of classification sherry is sorted into during autumn?
Wines which will be sent for:
- Biological ageing
- Oxidative ageing
What happens to sherry which fails to meet the standard of the solera during 2nd classification?
(2 options)
1) Refortification, and it is sent for oxidative ageing instead
2) Rejected completely
Which style of sherry:
- Rare
- Aromas of Amontillado
- Body and richness of Oloroso
- Can be identified at 2nd classification
- Very high quality
- Made with various methods
Palo Cortado
Most sherries undergo fining and filtration before bottling. Why might a producer choose not to, or keep it to a minimum?
Recent trend: minimum intervention for biologically aged wines, to keep vibrant flavours
What product of a flor gives biologically aged sherries their unique flavour?
Acetaldehyde
What is the difference between ‘solera’ and ‘solera system’?
Solera system = the maturation system as a whole
Solera = the final level in the system, which holds wine of the oldest average age
Which sherry style:
- Deep brown
- Luscious
- Up to 500g/l of residual sugar
- Dried fruit, coffee, liquorice
Pedro Ximénez
Name 3 oxidative styles of sherry
1) Oloroso
2) PX
3) Some Muscat sherries
True or false:
Flor is extremely sensitive to its ambient conditions
True:
Even the position of a butt within an individual bodega can influence the style of the sherry
What are the minimum and maximum numbers of criaderas?
3 - 14
Which sherry style:
- Short biological ageing
- Sweetened with RCGM
- Looks like Fino
- No pronounced flor character
Pale Cream
What is Manzanilla Fina?
The Fino-style wine for which Manzanilla is most famous
When does flor grow most vigorously during the year?
Spring and autumn
What are the names of the 3 towns where sherry is allowed to be matured?
1) Jerez de la Frontera
2) Sanlúcar de Barrameda
3) El Puerto de Santa Maria
Name the 3 grape varieties permitted in Jerez
1) Palomino
2) Pedro Ximénez
3) Muscat of Alexandria
What is the name for the resting period for sherry before it is put into a solera?
Sobretabla
Which Jerez variety:
- Very small amounts grown
- Used for sweet wines
Muscat of Alexandria
What are the names for:
1) The cool, humid westerly wind
2) The hot, drying easterly wind
which 1) benefits 2) stress and damages the vineyards of Jerez?
1) The Poniente
2) The Levante
Which Jerez variety:
- Little varietal flavour
- Thin skin
- Suitable for sun drying
- Planted mostly in Montilla-Moriles, not Jerez
Pedro Ximénez
Wines made from Palomino grapes grown in cooler coastal vineyards then fermented at lower temperatures are suitable for:
Biological ageing
What is the full name of the town which gives the sherry region its name?
Jerez de la Frontera
Wines made from Palomino grapes grown in warmer inland vineyards then fermented at higher temperatures are suitable for:
Oxidative ageing
Why are grapes for sweet sherries sun-dried after picking?
2 points
1) To concentrate their sugars
2) To develop flavours of raisin
To what strength is Palomino-based sherry fortified if it will be biologically aged?
15 - 15.5% ABV
Which style of sherry:
- Brown
- Full body
- Toffee, leather, spice, walnut
Oloroso
What happens to the alcohol level of oxidative sherry as it matures?
Why?
It can increase to up to 22% ABV as the water content evaporates
What does flor protect a wine from?
Oxidation
Why might criaderas from the same solera system be kept in different bodegas?
To reduce the risk of losing an entire solera system in one catastrophic event
What kind of ageing can happen in a solera system: biological or oxidative?
Both
Which style of sherry:
- Amber/brown
- Medium-medium + body
- Autolytic aromas
- Oxidative aromas
- Can mature up to 30 years
Amontillado
What would be the advantage of blending from different solera systems in the case of old Oloroso?
It would balance the intense flavours of very old wine with freshness from younger wines
Can biologically matured sherries such as Fino be bottle-aged?
No - they quickly lose their freshness
What does a flor feed on?
3 points
- Alcohol
- Nutrients
- Oxygen
What does a flor produce?
2 points
- Carbon dioxide
- Acetaldehyde
Which 2 styles of sherry:
- Dry
- Pale lemon
- Citrus, almond, herbs, bread
- Salty/tangy
- Do not improve in the bottle
Fino and Manzanilla
Which sherry style if aged oxidatively after a period of biological ageing?
Amontillado
Give the 4 steps of solera maturation.
1) Wine for bottling taken out of the solera in equal amounts from each butt
2) Solera is not fully emptied. Butts replenished with same volume of wine from next level: the ‘first criadera’
3) Replenishment: equal volumes taken out of 1st criadera butts, blended together & used to top up solera
4) 1st criadera replenished with 2nd criadera; youngest topped up with sobretabla wine
How do bodegas keep the maturation environment cool in the hot climate of Jerez?
(5 points)
1) Thick whitewashed walls
2) High ceilings
3) Windows facing the Poniente winds
4) Damp earth floors: humidity
5) Some are air-conditioned
What would the Fino/Manzanilla label ‘En Rama’ denote?
Wines which have undergone minimal fining and filtering
What is a ‘level’ in the context of the solera system?
A group of butts
What would you call wine matured in the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda?
Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Why might the consistency of a solera system be spoiled?
2 reasons
1) If poor quality wine is fed into the system
2) If too much wine is taken out each year
How does a producer decide if a sherry’s flor has developed suitably?
A second classification, during which they decide which solera system fits the style and character
Broadly speaking, how is maturation in a solera system achieved?
By moving wine between criaderas over time to achieve a blend of younger and older wines
- What form of ageing have all naturally sweet styles of sherry undergone?
- What is their primary use?
- Oxidative
- Blending into sweetened sherries
