Sherry Flashcards
Regions for Sherry maturation
Jerez is the centre of the industry
- Sanlucar de Barrameda
- El Puerto de Santa Maria
Climate of Jerez
Hot, sunny Mediterranean climate
Annual rainfall is high (limited in growing season)
Benefits from prevailing cool humid westerly wind called Poniente nearer to coast
Hot dry heat Levante from east can stress the vine and damage grapes
Soil in Jerez
Albariza soil ensures vine can cope since its high chalk content (good drainage and excellent water holding capacity during hot dry summer)
Rectangular pits are dug between rows of vine to trap water and reduce run-off
Grape varieties permitted in Jerez
- Palomino
- wine in low acidity, lack obvious varietal aroma (ideal for Sherry production) - Pedro Ximenez (PX)
- little varietal flavour
- thin skin ideal suit to being sun dried
- use for sweet Sherry
- Montilla-Moriles - Muscat of Alexandria
- very small amount
- for sweet wine
Grape handling and fermentation (Dry style)
- Grape must reach the press ASAP to avoid oxidation
- Fermented in large stainless steel tanks (20-25C)
- Base wine is dry (11-12% abv)
First classification
Biological ageing:
- lighter paler wines with more ‘finesse’
- grown in cooler coastal vineyard
- fermented at lower temperature
Oxidative ageing:
- darker, richer ‘heavier’ wines
- grown in warmer inland vineyard
- fermented at higher temperature
Sobretabla
The stage wines are fortified using 96% abv neutral spirit and set aside for few months before incorporated into solera system
Biological ageing
- Wines fortified to 15-15.5% abv (ideal strength for flor development)
- If flor not developed correctly to suit in solera system, then refortified / send for oxidative / reject altogether
Oxidative ageing
- Wines are fortified to 17% abv (flor died)
- no need to wait and see the development of flor
- Oloroso, PX, some Muscat (no flor)
Grape handling (Naturally sweet style)
- Picked naturally sweet wine are sun-dried to concentrate sugar level
- process developed flavour of raisin
Butts
- 600-litre oak barrels used to mature unfortified wines before use to mature Sherry (oak flavour is eliminated)
- five-sixths full since needed to allow oxygen to reach the wine
Challenge in Jerez to maturation in solera system
- Hard to keep mature environment cool
- Traditional bodegas have thick whitewashed walls, high ceilings and window point towards the cooling Poniente winds (aid maintain cool environment)
- earth floor of building kept damp (maintain humidity) some air conditioned now
Solera System
- Famous very versatile maturation system that can be sustain biological and oxidative ageing
- made up of numbers of groups of butts that hold wines of different average ages (level called Criaderas)
- moving wine between over time to achieve a blend of younger and older wines
- able to sustain a permanent culture of flor in every butts, produces wine of consistent style and quality
- best: blended of several solera system
Solera
Final level in solera system that hold the oldest average age of wine
Flor
- Biological ageing require
- made up of numbers of yeast strains
- feed off the alcohol and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and acetaldhyde (give unique flavour)
- cannot thrive above 15.5 abv
- favours cool to moderate temperature, high humidity
- protect wine from oxidation
