Sherry from Jerez - Spanish Wine Region The following excerpt is taken from Oz Clarke's Encyclopedia of Wine and describes the Andalucía wine-producing region of south-western Spain, most famed for its production of sherry. The wine itself is named after the town of Jerez de la Frontera. The prominent grape variety here is the Palomino. Sherry Wine Andalucía, a vast spread of eight provinces stretching right across the sunbaked south of Spain, welcomes millions of tourists each year. But relatively few of them ever stray far from the Costa del Sol. Those who do discover a land quite different from the rest of the Iberian peninsula as this was the part of Spain longest occupied by the Moors-the words 'la Frontera' tacked onto many local place names, including that of Jerez, reflect how for a full hundred years these towns were on the frontier between Christian and Moorish Spain. Whitewashed walls, cool courtyards and roof terraces on the oldest houses testify to eight centuries of Arab dominion, as do the place names, local crafts and even the inevitable flamenco dancing. Solitary farmhouses are a feature of the countryside, set in the eastern provinces among landscapes of olive trees or cereals, irrigated fruit trees or early vegetables, and in the west among fields of sunflowers, cereals and vines. Andalucía overflows with vines, but there are far more in the west than the east. All four of Andalucía's DOs (Jerez y Manzanilla, Montilla-Moriles, Málaga and Condado de Huelva) lie to the west of Granada, and the DOs themselves account for over half Andalucía's vineyards5.jpg But it seems strange that the famous wines made in such a hot climate should all be fortified-until you taste the unfortified wines. It is hard to get excited by any of the bland, flavourless whites, and those are the good ones. The bad are horrific. Thank goodness the Andalucíans evolved a way to turn their basic table wines into nectar to accompany the incessant socializing and lengthy meals. For this is a part of Spain where lunch never starts before three in the afternoon, and you consider yourself lucky if you sit down to dinner by midnight, after delicious hours of tapas-copious nibbles of olives, anchovies, fried peppers, salted almonds, squid-and glass after glass of chilled fino. In Jerez the tulip-shaped copita glass would contain fino sherry, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, manzanilla, in inland Córdoba it might be Montilla, and in Málaga, down by the coast, a stiff tot of the 'mountain' wine so loved by the Victorians. Despite the relentless, glaring heat, the sherry region, in particular, is well suited to vines. The best soil-finely grained, dazzlingly white albariza which sweeps right across the central growing area-contains between 60 and 80 per cent chalk and acts as a sponge, soaking up and storing the ample winter rainfall until the vines crave it in the height of midsummer. Accordingly, yields are high, for the vineyards of Jerez, all trained on wires, are among the most modern in Spain, and the Palomino Fino-the main grape for sherry-is always a generous bearer. But the wine not turned into sherry often finds a buyer who will distil and age it to make the rich, dark brandies for which Andalucía is also famous. Jerez Centred around Cadiz, the wines of south west Spain have been flowing to the UK since the mid 16th century, when Sir Francis Drake brought them back after the sack of Cadiz. (For years after the wines were known as 'Sack'). The recent history has been one of decline, partly due to changing tastes and partly due to poor quality in the 1970s. There has been some revival in fortunes lately, as a new audience discovers this, one of the world's best value wines. Manzanilla and Fino have lead the revival, but there is connoisseur demand too for very old Oloroso and the other interesting stlyes. Vines Grapes are selected in the vineyard rigorously according to location. There is a 'Golden Triangle' of Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa Maria, and San Lucar de Barrameda, where soils known as arenas, barros and albariza, each suit some vines better than others. The main varieties are Palomino, Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez, the latter used for unctuous dessert wine or for blending to colour and sweeten other Sherries. Wines There are many sub categories, Sherries can basically be divided into three categories: Fino: Lightest, driest category. Subject to the yeast flor which intensifies the flavour and protects the wine. ("Pale Cream" is a sweetened basic Fino). Oloroso: Not subject to Flor but do go through soleras. These have a distinct nutty character. (They should be dry but are often sweetened up to make them more commercial and sold as "Cream"). Amontillado: Begins life as a Fino, but is aged for longer in the solera system and gives a wine of dark colour and intense aromas. Like Oloroso, this is sometimes sweetened before sale. - But do look out for these sub categories, such as "Palo Cortado" - a kind of mutant Amontillado; Manzanilla from Sanlucar, delicate and fino-like, supposedly with a salty tang; Manzanilla Pasada, a kind of mutant Manzanilla, going over to Amontillado style; and perhaps most interesting the ultra unctious "PX". Wine Making Production is amongst the most complex of any wine and is best explained when seen in situ, but here goes! Once the base wine has been made, it is fortified and stored in partially filled wooden butts where the natural flor is allowed to develop. The spring after harvest the wines, if destined for fino, are left to age further, or if destined for Oloroso, are refortified to just over 17&Mac251; (a level at which the Flor cannot form). All sherries are a blend using the solera system of ageing which work as follows: the barrels are stored in cool, high warehouses protected from heat and sunlight, known as 'cathedrals'. They are stacked up to seven high. The young wine is poured into the top layer known as the 'criadera' or nursery. Each year a third of the wine is removed from the end of the solera and the butts are filled up with younger Sherry from above. Although a simplified explanation, this is a superb system of blending the wines to maintain the house style and quality. Montilla - Moriles On our Andalucia tours, we usually visit the neighbouring region of Montilla - Moriles, where a similar style of wine is made. The wines here are stored in ceramic pots called Tinjas, which can stand 25 feet tall. Topics Wine notes

Jerez is locateded, in Andalucia, southwest Spain. Sherry, at the time a simple red wine, was started by the Phoenicians here around 1100 BC, and the practice was continued by the Romans. The Arabs invaded in 711, renaming the town here 'Sherish'. This became 'Jerez'. And so a tradition was born.

Even simple things about Sherry have been decided long ago. The capacity of the Sherry cask (butt) was set in the 1400s! To help Sherry stay stabilized during ocean voyages of these times, brandy was added to the wine. This is why Sherry is now a "fortified", or alcohol-added, wine.

In 1933 the Consejo Regulador was setup to protect Sherry's consistency. In the mid 1990s, the EU ruled that all EU nations must abide by the ruling that Sherry only comes from this region in Spain.

The three centers of Sherry in Spain are Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlucar de Barrameda, and Puerto de Santa Maria. Spain produces 19.8 million gallons of sherry a year. Other current producers of a "Sherry" are South Africa, Australia, France, and Germany.

There are dry sherries that can be served chilled, and sweet sherries for room temperature. Sherry can be created as a dessert wine or a cheese wine, or anything in between. The two main types of sherry are the pale, dry fino/manzanilla and the dark, full, dry oloroso sherry.

Andalucia holds sherry vineyards in areas where the ground has a lot of albariza soil - porous, white limestone/sand/clay/chalk. This sherry uses the palomino, pedro ximenez, and muscatel grapes. The grapes are harvested around September 8th. Sherry is unique in that it exposes the wine to air during aging - usually something that is prevented. A layer of "Flor", or yeast, forms on top of the liquid and holds back the air.

Sherry is aged for five years and is done with a solera method of blending. In this, the first sherry is "laid down" in a cask. The next year, a similar tasting sherry is put above it. Some sherry is taken from the bottom cask, and it is "replenished" with liquid from the cask over it, which is replenished from the cask over it, and so on. The "series" of casks is called a solera. Only 33% of the solera is removed per year. In this manner, the sherry maintains a consistant taste. Often Sherries are labelled with the date that the solera was first started - often quite a while ago!