Sherry Types Flashcards
PX Sherry style and process
Deep brown, luscious sweetness, aromas of dried fruit, coffee, and licorice. Made from Pedro Ximenez (PX) grapes.
Destemmed, crushed, partial ferment, then fortified up to 17% alcohol and oxidative aging in solera system
Cream Sherry style and process
Diverse style including inexpensive and super premium. Shows purely oxidative characteristics. Sweetened with PX wine. Aromas of toffee, leather, and walnut.
Similar style to Medium Sherry, but higher in sweetness.
Crush, press, ferment to dry white wine of Palomino. Fortify up to 17% to stop flor. Oxidative aging in solera, add PX for sweetness.
Similar to Oloroso which lacks the PX addition for sweetness.
Oloroso Sherry style and process
Dry. Brown in color, full bodied, aromas from oxidative process including toffee, leather, spice, and walnut.
Crush, press, ferment to dry white wine of Palomino. Fortify up to 17% to stop flor. Oxidative aging in solera.
Similar to Cream Sherry, but without the PX addition.
Medium Sherry style and process
Diverse style including inexpensive and super premium. Shows mix of oxidative and biological aging characteristics. Sweetened with PX wine. Aromas of toffee, leather, and walnut.
Similar style to Medium Sherry, but higher in sweetness.
Crush, press, ferment to dry white wine of Palomino. Fortify up to 15% flor. Biological aging in solera, re-fortify to 17% to stop flor, further oxidative aging in solera, add PX for sweetness.
Similar to Amontillodo which lacks the PX addition for sweetness.
Amontillodo Sherry style and process
Dry. Amber or brown, less full-bodied than Olorosos. Mix of yeast derived aromas with oxidative aromas.
Crush, press, ferment to dry white wine of Palomino. Fortify up to 15% flor. Biological aging in solera, re-fortify to 17% to stop flor, further oxidative aging in solera.
Similar to Medium but without the PX addition for sweetness.
Fino Sherry style and process
Dry. Pale lemon. Aromas of citrus fruit, almonds, and herbs along with bready notes from the flor. Consume when fresh.
Crush, press, ferment to dry white wine of Palomino. Fortify up to 15% flor. Biological aging in solera.
Similar to Pale Cream but without the RCGM addition for sweetness.
Manzanilla Sherry style and process
Same as Fino, but with more intense tangy aromas from the thicker year-round Flor layer.
Wines MUST be aged in a solera system in Sanlucar de Barrameda.
Pale Cream Sherry style and process
Dry. Pale lemon. Aromas of citrus fruit, almonds, and herbs along with mild bready notes from the flor. Biological aging is usually short.
Crush, press, ferment to dry white wine of Palomino. Fortify up to 15% flor. Biological aging in solera, add RCGM for sweetness.
Similar to Fino but with the RCGM addition for sweetness.
Solara system key steps?
Post fermentation the wines go through a selection process for either biological (fino) or oxidative (oloroso) aging. Newly made and fortified wines goes into a Sobretabla for an initial rest of a few months.
From there it goes into a set of tiered criadera barrels. For each tier it stays there for a year. When the bottom criadera (called the solera) has Sherry drawn for final bottling an equal amount of sherry is drawn from the criadera tier above it and sent to a blending tank, then added to the now reduced volume criadera. The process moves up until it’s at the top tier. Then new wine from the Sobretabla is added to the top tier.
Why is Sanlucar de Barrameda important?
It’s the only town where Manzanilla Sherry can be aged. It’s a Fino style Sherry. The weather there helps keep the Flor thick and oxygen exposure at a minimum.
What are VORS and VOS Sherries? What other similar indicators are there?
These are indications of age of the Sherry and solera system used to make it.
VORS = 30 year average age, Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum, or Very Old Rare Sherry
VOR = 20 year average age, Vinum Optimum Signatum, or Very Old Sherry
There are also 15 and 12 year “lesser” categories without as many restrictions as VORS and VOR
