Sherry

Question 1

What is the region and climate like in Spain where Sherry is made?

Answer 1

Jerez

The climate is hot, sunny Mediterranean.

Question 2

What is the prevailing cool humid westerly wind that moderates temperatures within vineyards located along the coast?

Answer 2

Poniente

Question 3

What is the hot, dry wind that blows from the east that can seriously stress the vines and damage the grapes?

Answer 3

Levante

Question 4

Name the soil type in this area and how it benefits the grapes.

Answer 4

Albariza has a very high chalk content. It provides good drainage but its depth and ability to store water helps sustain the vines throughout the hot, dry summers.

Question 5

Name the three grape varieties permitted in Jerez.

Answer 5

Palomino
Pedro Ximenez (PX)
Muscat of Alexandria

Question 6

Describe the Palomino grape and why it is suited for making sherry.

Answer 6

It is low in acid and lack obvious varietal aromas. Ideal for Sherry production where the styles of wine are largely determined by either biological or oxidative maturation.

Question 7

Describe the Pedro Ximenez grape and what type of Sherries it makes.

Answer 7

It also has little varietal flavour. Think skin makes it ideally suited to being sun dried and used in the production of sweet Sherries. Very little is produced in Jerez, but rather the neighbouring region of Montilla-Moriles grows it successfully.

Question 8

Describe what type of Sherries Muscat of Alexandria makes and how much of it is grown.

Answer 8

only small amounts are grown and it is only used to make sweet wines.

Question 9

Which grape variety is used to make the dry wines of Jerez

Answer 9

Palomino.

Question 10

Describe the handling of Palomino before pressing.

Answer 10

Due to the high temperatures are harvest, the grapes must be rushed to the press to avoid oxidation.

Question 11

What temperature is Palomino fermented at and why.

Answer 11

Fermentation takes place in large stainless steel tanks at temperatures ranging from 20-25℃. This may seem high for a white wine, but this suits the aim of a Sherry producer whose goal is to produce a neutral base wine that is dry with 11-12%abv.

Question 12

How are wines selected for biological vs oxidative ageing?

Answer 12

Lighter, paler wines with more finesse are selected for biological ageing and darker, richer, heavier wines are selected for oxidative ageing. Flor (film forming yeast) will have started growing on the surface of all the wines by this point.

Question 13

What determines which wines are suited for biological vs oxidative ageing?

Answer 13

Wines made from grapes grown in cooler coastal vineyards and/or fermented at lower temperatures are more suitable for biological ageing. Wines made from grapes grown in the warmer inland vineyards and/or fermented at higher temperatures are more suitable for oxidative ageing.

Question 14

Describe fortification.

Answer 14

96%abv neutral spirit is used to fortify the wines once the first classification has been made.

Question 15

Describe sobretabla.

Answer 15

When the fortified wine is set aside for a few months before being incorporated into the solera system.

Question 16

Describe the process of biological ageing, the desired abv level of the wine and why sobretabla is important during this stage.

Answer 16

Wines are fortified to between 15-15.5%abv, which is the ideal strength for the development of flor.
Sobretabla is very important for these wines. The producer needs to evaluate the flor development and then classify the wine a second time to deterring the style and character that is best suited for its respective solera system.
Wines that fail to make the grade are either refortified and sent for oxidative ageing or rejected.

Question 17

Describe the process of oxidative ageing.

Answer 17

Wines are fortified to 17%abv and the flor dies at this strength.
Sobretabla is not as critical because there’s no flor to develop flavours.

Question 18

How are the grapes handled when making naturally sweet styles of Sherry?

Answer 18

Grapes destined for naturally sweet wines are sun-dried to concentrate their sugar levels. This process develops flavours of raisin.

Question 19

Describe the processes of fermentation and fortification of naturally sweet styles of Sherry.

Answer 19

Once the desired must weight (amount of sugar in the grape juice, which determines potential alcohol levels) is achieved, the grapes are pressed and fermentation started.
Due to the high levels of sugar in the grapes, the yeast struggle to ferment all the sugars and rarely manage more than a few degrees.
Once fermentation stops, the must is fortified to 17% abv.

Question 20

Describe the oak barrels used in the Solera System’s maturation process

Answer 20

Sherry is aged in 600L oak barrels called butts. The butts are often used to mature unfortified wines before they are used to mature Sherry so that oak flavour is eliminated. The oak is needed to encourage the wine to oxidize and this is why the butts are only 5/6ths filled.

Question 21

What is a challenge for maturing Sherry in Jerez.

Answer 21

Keeping the environment cool.

Question 22

Describe the solera system.

Answer 22

It is used to sustain biological and oxidative ageing.
The solera system is made up of a number of groups of butts, referred to as levels, which hold wines of different average ages. These levels are called criaderas and the maturation process involves moving wine between the levels over time to achieve a blend of younger and older wines.

Question 23

What is the difference between the solera system and the solera.

Answer 23

Solera system- refers to the whole process

Solera - refers to the final level in the system that holds wine of the oldest average age.

Question 24

Describe the solera system.

Answer 24

Wine for bottling is taken out of the solera system from the solera. An equal amount of wine is taken from each butt in this level.
The solera is not fully emptied and the butts are replenished with the same volume of wine taken from butts in the next level that contain wine of a slightly younger average age called the first criadera. Three steps are involved at this replenishment.
An equal volume of wine is taken from each butt in the first criadera.
All of the wine taken from the first criadera is then mixed together.
Finally, this blended wine is used to top up each butt in the solera.
The first criadera is then replenished in exactly the same way with wine from the second creadera and so on. The criadera containing the youngest wine is replenished with sobretabla wine.

Question 25

What is needed in order for biological ageing to take place?

Answer 25

Flor - yeast strains
They feed off the alcohol and nutrients in the wine and oxygen in the atmosphere to produce carbon dioxide and acetaldehyde. This is what gives biologically aged Sherries their unique flavour.
They require precise alcohol levels, temperature and humidity to thrive.
Cannot thrive in a wine with abv above 15.5%
It favours cool temperatures and high humidity. It thrives in the spring and autumn and dies back in the winter and summer.

Question 26

What is an advantage of the solera system?

Answer 26

It produces wine of consistent style and quality.

Question 27

How many years does a wine to further age if it’s coming from a biological solera system?

Answer 27

3-4 years. As the age of the wine increases, the overall level of nutrients in the oldest criadera and solera drops band by the time the average age reaches seven years, the levels are so low that the flor start to fail and oxidative characteristics develop.

Question 28

Which Sherries are aged biologically?

Answer 28

Fino, Manzanilla and Amontillados (partially)

Question 29

Which Sherries are aged oxidatively?

Answer 29

Oloroso, PX and some Muscat Sherries.

Amontillados are partially aged.

Question 30

How many years can a sherry be matured oxidatively?

Answer 30

Up to 30 years.

The abv can get up to 22%.

Question 31

Describe Fino and Manzanilla Sherries

Answer 31

They only undergo biological ageing.
Style: pale lemon in colour and have aromas of citrus fruit, almonds and herbs with bready notes from flor. Flavours are tangy or salty
Do not improve in bottle and should be consumed young.
Wines labeled ‘en rama’ indicate that they have undergone minimal fining and filtering.
Manzanilla Fina is the most famous Manzanilla Sherry.

Question 32

Describe an Oloroso Sherry.

Answer 32

oxidative ageing
Brown in colour, full-bodied and dominated by oxidative aromas such as toffee, leather, spice and walnut. Very old Olorosos can become very concentrated and develop an astringency that is balanced when blended with younger wines in the solera system.

Question 33

Describe an Amontillado Sherry

Answer 33

Wines that have undergone a period of biological and oxidative ageing. After biological ageing they are re-fortified to 17%abv to kill the flor. Then it is fed into an Amontillado solera system.
Style: Amber or brown in colour, less full-bodied than Olorosos and combine yeast derived aromas with oxidative aromas. The yeast aromas fade with time but they can be aged as long as the Olorosos.

Question 34

Describe a Pale Cortado.

Answer 34

Rare style of Sherry. Aromas of an Amantillado but the body and richness of an Oloroso. They can be difficult to tell apart.

Question 35

Name two types of natural sweet Sherry styles

Answer 35

Pedro Ximenez and Muscat.

Question 36

Describe the style of Pedro Ximenez.

Answer 36

Deep brown and lusciously sweet, often reaching 500g/L residual sugar. Aromas of dried fruit, coffee and liquorice.

Question 37

Describe the style of Muscat.

Answer 37

Similar style as PX but retain a varietal character of dried citrus peel.

Question 38

Name 5 types of dry Sherry.

Answer 38

Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso, Amontillado and Pale Cortado

Question 39

Name 2 types of sweetened Sherry

Answer 39

Pale Cream, Medium and Cream

Question 40

Describe Pale Cream Sherry

Answer 40

undergone a short period of biological ageing prior to sweetening, RCGM. Similar in appearance to Fino but without the pronounced Flor character.

Question 41

Describe medium and cream Sherries

Answer 41

A category that includes inexpensive and super premium wines. The premium wines will be sweetened with PX wine. The best wines balance the toffee, leather and walnut flavours of the dry wine with the dried fruit notes of the sweet wine. Inexpensive versions can taste cloying and lack complexity.
Medium Sherry - must show characteristics from both biological and oxidative ageing
Cream Sherry- only has oxidative characteristics

Question 42

Describe the age indication system of Sherry.

Answer 42

VORS - Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum/Very Old Rare Sherry - 30 years
VOS- Vinum Optimum Signatum/Very Old Sherry - 20 years
12 years and 15 years apply to a whole solera system and can be used more flexibly.
Only Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso and PX can qualify for age indicated status.