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15 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Overview
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Trade is controlled by producers that have rights to sell Sherry.
Vast majority of growers and co-ops do not have rights to sell. Almacenistas have right to mature but not sell. |
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Climate |
Warm\hot Mediterranean 300 days of sunshine. Winds: Poniente - cool and humid. Levante - hot and drying Rain fall high compared to rest of Spain. Falls in winter, spring, autumn and harvest time |
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Viticulture |
Soil - Albariza, high chalk content, deep soils ensure good drainage and water retention. Soil also forms a crust that stops evaporation. Pits dug between vines to reduce run off and help trap water. Smoothed out during summer. |
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Grapes |
Palomino - 95% prod. Lo acidity. Thrives on Albariza soil. Lacks varietel character. Pedro Ximenez - grown in montilla-moriles Muscat of Alexandria - sweet wines |
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Vinification |
Grape pressing affects style.
Fermented at 20-25°C, produces neutral wine, 11-12% abv and very dry. Racked off the lees, and then flor gows. Flor feeds off alc and oxygen. It requires cool humid conditions. Sweet sherries struggle to ferment past a few % abv and are then fortified to 17% abv |
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1st Classification |
1st classification happens as flor starts to grow Fino - well developed flor, light body and colour. - Fortified to 15%. Flor will not exist above 15.5 abv Oloroso - no\little flor, fuller bodied. Heavier grape pressings fermented at higher temp tend to make olorosos. Fortified to 17% abv. Sobretabla - rested for a few months. |
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2nd Classification |
Fino - needs to have flor properly developed. Oloroso - Flor has failed. Fortified to 17% abv. Palo Cortado - can also be reclassified fino. |
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Maturation |
Aged in 600l oak butts. 5/6 full to allow oxidisation. Minimum 3 years. |
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Solera |
Levels - Criaderas Final level - Solera - wine always taken from here. 3 - 14 levels. |
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Biological ageing |
Flavour of finos comes from acetaldehyde. Young wine feeds nutrients and alc to flor when added ensuring Flor remains. 1/3 of wine taken out per year, creates regular feeding. Finos rarely older than 3-4 years as flor dies and creates oxiditive flavours. |
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Oxiditive Maturation |
Oloroso, Amontillado, PX.
Amontillado is full mature fino then fortified to17% and fed into a Amontillado solera. Can be aged for up to 30 years reaching 22% abv. |
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Palo Cortados |
Rare. Finese and flor of amontillao and weight of oloroso. |
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Blended |
Pale cream - Typically fino sweetened with concentrates grape must added. Medium - Amontillado sweetened with naturally sweet sherry. Many large volume sherries are lablled this. Cream sherry - Oloroso sweetend with naturally sweet sherries, but it is used a common labelling term. |
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Manzanilla |
Wine smatured in Sanlucar de Barremeda. Cooler and more humid creates a good flor. amontillado style called Manzanilla pasada. |
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Age Indication |
VORS - average blend age 30 years VOS - average blend age 20 years. 12-15 years on label applied to whole solera system. Vintage sherries\anada are not aged in a solera systems. |
