Sherry Flashcards
Wset
What’s the name of the center of Sherry production?
Jerez
What’s the climate like in Jerez?
Hot, sunny Mediterranean climate, coastal sites are cooled by the humid westerly wind called - poniente.
Extra heat can be caused by hot and drying - Levante wind that blows from the east.
What’s the name of the soil within Jerez region?
Albariza
It has very high chalk content and provides good drainage
Grape varieties used for Sherry production?
Palomino, Pedro Ximénez, Muscat of Alexandria
At what temperatures wine is fermented for Sherry production?
20°-25°
It’s generally high for white wine production but suits the needs of Sherry production
What’s the percentage of base wine for Sherry production?
11%-12% abv
What are the two classifications types considered in Sherry production?
Based on the flavour characteristics of the wines, grapes will either be selected for biological ageing (typically lighter paler wines with more finesse) of oxidative ageing (darker, richer, heavier wines)
During ageing….grows on the surface of all wines?
Flor
What is the next step in Sherry wine making after classification?
Once the classification has been made the wines are fortified using a 96% ABV neutral spirit.
The wines are then set aside for a few months before they are incorporated in a Solera system. This stage is knows as sobretabla.
What is the process for wines assigned for biological ageing?
- fortified to 15%-15.5%
- ideal strength for flor development
- for these wines the period of ‘sobretabla’ is very important (the producer needs to wait and see if the flor develops correctly on these wines and therefore the second classification is necessary to determine whether the wine has a style and character that’s suitable for ‘solera system’. If these wines fail the second classification, they are.used in oxidative ageing or are rejected all together.
Oxidative ageing process
These wines are fortified to 17% abv; at this strength floor dies
The period of ‘sobretabla’ is not as critical because there is no need to wait and see if the floor qualities debelop
What is the process for sweet Sherry
- once picked, grapes are sun-dried to concentrate sugar levels (develops flavours of raisin)
- the grapes are pressed and fermentation starts
- the amount of sugar makes the yeast struggle to ferment and it rarely manages to produce more than a few degrees of alcohol.
- once fermentation has stopped the must is fermented to 17%. ABV
What are the maturation requirements for Solera System?
-must be aged in 600-litre oak barrels called butts
-the butts are often used to mature still wines before it’s used for Sherry production, so that any oak flavour is eliminated
-the oak barrels are not filled completely to encourage more oxidation
-solera system consists on levels called ‘criaderas’, and the maturation process involves moving wine between them over time to achieve a blend of younger and older wines.
‘solera’ means the final level in the system that holds wine of the oldest average age.
-wine for bottling is taken from the Solera and 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’
-all of the wine taken from first criadera’ is then mixed together and the blended wine is used to top up each butt in the Solera
-the first criadera’ is then replenished in exactly the same way from the second criadera’ and so on.
-the criadera’ containing the youngest wine is usually replenished with sobretabla wine.
-the number of criaderas can vary from 3-14
What’s the name for warehouse in Jerez?
Bodega
What type of Sherry is made using biological ageing?
When is it best consumed?
Fino. Best consumed young.
