Styles of Sherry

Question 1

What are the 5 styles of dry sherry?

Answer 1

Fino
Manzanilla
Oloroso
Amontillado
Palo Cortado

Question 2

What are the 2 naturally sweet sherries?

Answer 2

Pedro Ximanez (PX)
Muscat of Alexandria

Question 3

What are the 3 styles of sweetened sherries?

Answer 3

Pale cream
Medium
Cream

Question 4

What type of sherries have only undergone biological ageing and have not been sweetened? What are 4 common aromas in these wines? flavours are often identified as tangy or salty

Answer 4

Fino and Manzanilla

Citrus, almonds, herbs and bready notes

Question 5

How does Manzanilla compare to fino? What causes this?

Answer 5

Manzanilla tends to be more tangy and zingy due to the fact it is matured in the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barrameda where cooler, damper conditions result in a more substantial flor year round, imparting more acetaldehyde character

Question 6

What are the two coastal sherry producing towns outside Jerez?

Answer 6

Sanlucar de Barrameda

El Puerto de Santa Maria

Question 7

What is the distinctive flavour that is one of the flor’s bi-products?

Answer 7

Acetaldehyde

Question 8

What does the labelling term for Fino or Manzanilla ‘en rama’ mean?

Answer 8

minimal fining or filtration

Question 9

Sherry that is brown in colour and dominated by oxidative aromas such as toffee, leather, spice and walnut describes which style?

Answer 9

Oloroso

Question 10

What character of old oloroso sherry must be balanced out with younger wine?

Answer 10

Astringency

Question 11

Wines that have undrgone a period of biological ageing, followed by a period of oxidative ageing is known as what? What is done to the wine to cease the biological ageing to allow oxidative ageing to begin? When are they added to the solera system?

Answer 11

Amontillado
ABV is increased from 15-15.5% to 17% to kill the flor
After re-fortification

Question 12

What is fuller in body, Oloroso or Amontillado?

Can these both age well?

Answer 12

Oloroso

Yes (as well as each other)

Question 13

What flavours of Amontillado fade with age? Can the style still be distinguished as Amontillado with age?

Answer 13

Yeasty boys

Yes

Question 14

What is a rare style of sherry, made via various methods that exhibits aromas of Amontillado sherry but with the body of an Oloroso sherry? They are almost always high in quality

Answer 14

Palo Cortado

Question 15

What kind of ageing do naturally sweet sherries solely undertake?

Answer 15

Oxidative

Question 16

What are three pronounced aromas found in a typical PX sherry? What is the level of sweetness?

Answer 16

Dried fruit, coffee, liquorice

Luscious

Question 17

What flavour characteristic separates naturally sweet sherry made from Muscat from that made from PX?

Answer 17

Dried citrus peel

Question 18

Have Pale Cream sherries seen any biological ageing? What colour/colour intensity are they?

Answer 18

A small amount

Pale lemon

Question 19

Which sweetened style sherry has RCGM added to it?

Answer 19

Pale cream

Question 20

Which sherry, sweetened by PX wine when premium, must show characteristics of biological and oxidative ageing?

Answer 20

Medium

Question 21

What type of sherry, sweetened by PX wine when premium, will only show characteristics of oxidative ageing?

Answer 21

Cream

Question 22

Which four sherry styles can qualify for age indicated status?

Answer 22

Oloroso, Amontillado, Palo Cortado and PX

Question 23

What are the two lesser age categories?

What do their categories indicate the age of?

Answer 23

12 y.o 15 y.o

The solera system itself

Question 24

What are the two top categories for indicating sherry age?

Answer 24

VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry/Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum)

VOS (Very Old Sherry/Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum)

Question 25

How old must the average age of a Very Old Rare Sherry blend be?
How old must the average age of a Very Old Sherry blend be?

Answer 25

30 years

20 years