Sherry Flashcards
What is Sherry?
Sherry is a fortified wine made in the area around the city of Jerez in Andalusia, Spain.
Consejo Regulador
“1933 - Spains first wine-related Regulatory Council, Consejo Regulador to control/protect the production and trading of sherry; it’s been working on bringing balance to vineyard plantings, stock levels, and sales to promote quality; sets max yields & min alcohol levels for base wines; also oversees bodega stock rotation and verifies authenticity of age-dated sherries
- PLUS engages in many forms of marketing which range from organization of events, international Sherry week, and educational courses for wine professionals all with the goal of promoting Sherry)”
Rumasa
Shipper that contributed to the consolidation of production facilities that drove down prices, a tactic that negatively impacted the sherry industry for many decades.
Andalusia
Southern Spain at low latitude (36) and low altitude (0 - 90 meters)
Climate
Hot Mediterranean (hot, dry summers, mild relatively rainy winters), 300 days of sun
Poniente
Westerly winds that bring a cooling, humid influence from the Atlantic
Levante
Easterly winds that bring hot, dry air from north Africa (this cases grapes to transpire more quickly, concentrating the sugars; negative because it makes it then difficult to ferment wines to dryness = a requirement for developing flor)
Risks
Sunburn (prevented by shading), drought (prevented by aserpia), chlorosis (prevented by rootstocks), mildew (prevented by airflow via VSP or fungicides), European Grapevine Months (prevented by pheromone traps).
Zona de Produccion (Marco de Jerez)
Grapes for sherry must come from this delimited area of around 7,000 hectares; Grapes grown here can be used for DO - Jerez-Xeres-Sherry or DO Manzanilla - Sanlucar de Barrameda (exception: Pedro Ximenez can be grown in Montilla mountains but matured in Zona de Crianza)
ZdP 1 - Jerez Superior
Better vineyard sites, all on albariza soil, over 90% of plantings
ZdP 2 - Jerez Zona
Second category of the Zona de Produccion (Marco de Jerez)
Pagos
Vineyards are divided into smaller areas called Pagos, each thought to produce wines with different characters due to aspect, location, small differences in soils, etc. Legislation underway to allow labeling.
Albariza
Limestone, silica, clay = retains and gradually releases water from winter rainfall; forms a crust to prevent evaporation; more water, higher planting densities, light color reflects light to aid ripening
Barros
Greater clay content, dark red color - lower quality
Arenas
Sandy soil near the coast - lower quality
Palomino (Listan)
Mid to late ripening, well suited to climate, large yields; loses acid quickly when nearing maturity; netural flavors; 90% of plantings
Moscatel (Muscat of Alexandria)
“Moscatel de Chipona” where it’s grown, Less than 1% of plantings; used for sweet fortified wines called Moscatel
Pedro Ximenez (PX)
Makes sweet fortified or used as a sweeteneing agent in cream sherries; small, thin skinned grape that accumulates high levels of sugar and is then dried in the sun for further concentration; neutral flavors; can be grown in Montilla
Vineyards
”- Moving to mechanization so now cordon trained, spur pruned, VSP trellised with additional shading to prevent sunburn
- Gentle slopes on albariza which is worked into aserpia, troughs mechanically dug down each row of vines to catch rain “
Harvest
Palomino harvested mechanically (60%) in the first week of August (avoid Autumn rain, all rot - even noble - is bad), picked with 12% potential alc, total acidity around 5 g/L, pH of 3.3 - 3.5 (PX, Moscatel harvested later as higher sugar concentration makes drying process quicker)
Winemaking
”- Pressed upon arrival (skin contact = bad; phenolic compounds restrict flor growth in bio)
- Bio made with free run juice/lightest pressings (called primera yema)
- Oloroso made with later press fractions (and some primera yema since it’s about 70% of total juice yield)
- Must is clarified before ferm via cold settling, centrifugation, or flotation to remove dusty albariza particles”
Fermentation
”- Cultured yeasts
- 72 - 79 degrees F
- Stainless (small number use old barrels for fuller body)
- Decisions made for a reliable fermentation to dryness
- 1st Phase Fermentation is fast: most suagr is fermented in first seven days
- 2nd Phase Fermentation is slow: last of the sugar takes a couple weeks”
MLF
- Blocked by chilling the must (acidity is already low, buttery flavors undesirable, SO2 bad for flor dev)
First Classification
After fermentation, each batch is tasted and sent for analysis to decide whether the batch will be used for biological ageing (lighter body, less intensely flavored) or oxidative ageing (fuller body, more intense)
Fortification
”- Those destined for bio = 15 - 15.5% fortification (supports flor)
- Those destined for oxy = 17% fortification (kills flor)
- *fortified with neutral spirit with 95% abv = doesn’t add aroma or flavor”
Sobretablas
After fortification, wines are stored in this stage - either in tanks or barrels - before joining the solera system.
Second Classification
”- Wines that have a full layer of flor and have remained fresh will be classified as potential Fino or Manzanilla
- Wines that are less delicate may be marked for Amontillado
- Wines that are even more full-bodied and intensely flavored may be marked for Palo Cortado
- *once classified, wines enter their respective Solera systems”
Maturation Location
DO Jerez-Xeres-Sherry maturation takes place within the Zona de Crianza; DO Manzanilla - Sanlucar de Barrameda must take place in that principality; Moscatel can age in Chipiona and Chiclana de Frontera
Zona de Crianza
Three places (roughly a triangle): Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria, or Sanlucar de Barrameda where wines are aged
Maturation Vessel
Old wooden vessels (usually 600L butts) made of American Oak; old and don’t contribute flavor
The Solera System
Method of fractional blending that is used to maintain consistency and quality year after year
Criadera
”- Groupings of barrels (filled with wines of the same age) that make up the solera system
- Solera is the oldest -> 1st Criadera second oldest -> 2nd Criadera third oldest -> etc.”
Solera Rules
”- No more than 40% of the wine from one Solera can be removed for blending and bottle each calendar year
- Any wine that’s released and bottled for sale must be a minimum of two years old”
Solera Process
“1. A proportion of wine (up to 40%) is taken from each barrel in the solera (oldest group of barrels) for bottling
- The same proportion of wine is taken from the 1st Criadera (all barrels blended in a tank to ensure consistency) and then used to top up the barrels in the solera
- The same proportion is taken from the 2nd Criadera, blended, and used to top up the 1st criadera
- This process is repeated for each criadera, and the barrels in the youngest criadera are topped up with wines from the new sobretablas”
Biological Aging
Practice of maturing wine under a layer of flor
Flor
”- Comprised of four strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (present on the grapes and in the bodegas)
- What it needs: oxygen (from headspace: butts are only 85% full, bungs loosely inserted), storage temps (61 - 68 F), humidity (above 65%)
- What it can’t have: SO2, alc above 15.5%”
What does flor contribute to sherry?
”- Pale Lemon Color (flor prevents oxidation)
- Acetaldehyde aromas - apple skin or bruised apples, hay, chamomile, slight bitterness (flor consumes alcohol and produces the acetaldehyde)
- Ligher body and very dry nature (flor consumes glycerol = weight, slight sweetness)
- Low acidity (flor reduces levels of acetic acid)
- Autolytic Flavors & Texture - savoury, nutty (flor yeast reproduces and dies, falls to the bottom of the barrel, and their decomposition is known as autolysis which creates aromas + adds texture)”
Feeding Flor
The young wines from the sobretablas is righ in nutrients for the flor (alc, glycerol, acetic acid). As wines mature under flor, these compounds are consumed. The blending of the younger wines into the older wines helps refresh the nutrient levels in older wines, keeping a thick layer of flor alive, which continues to protect the wine from oxidation.
Oxidative Aging
Practice of maturing wine in contact with oxygen
What does oxidative aging contribute to sherry?
”- Amber or brown color
- Alcohol increases slightly with aging (water is lost from barrel faster than ethanol thus concentrating alcohol)
- Fuller, rounder body (as Glycerol levels rise due to concentration from water evaporation)
- Pronounced aromas
- Evolved aromas of tertiary, oxidative character - caramel & nuts
- Acetaldehyde decreases slightly
- Acetic acid & ethyl acetate (VA) increase slightly”
En Rama
Wines that have been finished and packaged in a way to be the best representation of wine wine straight from the barrel (i.e. no or low fining or filtration) which can add complexity and intensity
Naturally Sweet Sherry Process
Once harvested, grapes are dried in the sun for 2 - 3 weeks (water evaporates from grapes concentrating the sugars); fermentation stops naturally at 4 - 6% abv; wines are fortifiedto 15 - 16% abv; matured oxidatively in their own solera where evaporation conventrates them even further
Naturally Sweet Sherry Grapes
Moscatel (Muscat de Alexandria) and PX
Sweetened Sherries
”- Made from Palomino that has been fermented dry, fortified, aged, adn then sweetened using a sweetening component
- Inexpensive made from young wines that are sweetened just prior to bottling
- Expensive may be further aged in its own solera”
VOS/VORS
“VOS = 20; VORS = 30
- Every batch sent for testing (carbon 14) to confirm age
- Oftern astringent so sweetened with PX
- Only Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso, and PX are eligible”
12 and 15 year old sherries
Similar to above but yearly test is done versus each batch
Bodegas de la Zona Produccion (Production Bodegas)
Large co-ops that press grapes and ferment the must into base wine; Must be located in Sherry production zone but doesn’t have to be Zona de Crianza; Can be either DO; Sell to either of the ageing bodegas
Bodegas de Crianza y Almacenado (Ageing and Storage Bodegas)
Also called almacenistas; mature the wine; must be located in Zona de Crianza; must sell to Bodegas de Crianza y Expedicion (many have gone out of business with the decline in sherry sales)
Bodegas de Crianza y Expedicion (Ageing and Shipping Bodegas)
Also called “shippers”; only bodega that can export or sell the two DO’s to the market; must be in Zona de Crianza; can age and export
History
”- Dates back to Phoenician rule followed by Moorish Rule in 8th - 13th centuries where drinking was prohibited (although production continued)
- 13th Century: Jerez comes under Christian rule so both domesic and exports grew rapidly as Eng, Irish, Flemish traders begin to ship (helped by free trade agreements w/ France + discovery of America as another place to export)
- 14th - 18th Centuries: Good times (successful shipping businesses established) and bad times (Peninsular Wars, phylloxera, world wars)
- 19th - 20th Centuries: Sherry is v popular and other countried produce own low quality knock-offs
- 1933: Spain’s first wine regulator in 1933 (Consejo Regulador) was formed to control production and trading
- 1950s: Rumasa (Ruiz Mateos SA), almacenista turned shipper that became a major supplier but starts to acquire so many businesses that it becomes an empire that consolidates production and ultimately drives down prices for Sherry which would later hurt the industry
- 1970s: Sherry reaches it’s peak popularity (1.5 million hL in 1979)
- 1986: Gov’t nationalises Rumasa, sherry bodegas were sold, unemployment rises, mergers of bodegas happen, ownership changes hands
- Since 1986: Consejo Regulador has been working had to bring vineyard plantings, stock levels, and sales back into balance and to promote the quality of Sherry (PLUS engages in many forms of marketing which range from organization of events, international Sherry week, and educational courses for wine professionals all with the goal of promoting Sherry)”
Sherry Sales
”- Sales have been in decline for the last four decades (34M L in 2016 down from 56M L 10 yrs earlier -> peak was 150M L)
- Sweetened Sherries have declined dramatically
- Fino declined but Manzanilla stable (most consumed style domestically)
- Palo Cortado, PX, and age-indicated Sherries are small but now a profitable part of shipper’s portfolio
- Higher end may be growing due to hospitality sector and younger drinkers
- Some producers diversifying to make still wines (Palomino/PX) to capture new sales”
