MADE IN SPAIN
Sherry may not hog the limelight, but its quality, versatility and sheer drinkability make this Spanish fortified wine worth a much closer look.
FOR SOME, sherry is a relic from a long-lost past, where pith-helmeted Englishmen sipped on it carefully before shooting the odd local. For others, it’s regarded as a wine for park benches or your great aunt’s medicine cabinet (I’ll confess my great aunt kept a bottle for emergencies, but I doubt she ever saw a park bench in her life). For those in the know, however, it’s a wonderful wine and surely the most versatile on the planet. Sherry offers everything from fresh, delicate and bone-dry styles to some of the most unbelievably complex examples, as well as the richest and sweetest wines imaginable. Even better, such versatility allows for it to match an extraordinary array of foods. Japanese cuisine is ideal and, of course, there is a sherry for any tapas dish you can conceive. Best of all, the fact the world has seemingly turned its back on this great wine means it represents some stunning value.
The home of sherry
These days, sherry must come from its designated region in southern Spain, known as the Sherry Triangle – an area that encompasses the three cities of Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa Maria. Jerez is the main city of the region, but anyone visiting should consider staying at Sanlucar – expect great tapas, waterfront restaurants and a slower pace. It’s also home to the slightly saltier version of fino, manzanilla. The region is a fabulous one to visit. Sherry is fortified, which helps to stabilise the wine and also improve its ability to be exported. Like Champagne, only three grapes are permitted – the dominant palomino, plus moscatel and pedro ximenez, or PX. Palomino is used for the dry versions, while the others are for sweeter styles such as the wonderfully decadent PX sherries. These styles aren’t too dissimilar to our own top Rutherglen muscats in terms of richness and sweetness.
About 98 per cent of plantings are palomino. In the mid-1800s, there were some 43 varieties in use, but as the winemakers came to better understand their soils, especially the albariza chalk and the wines they made, they whittled this number down. Phylloxera also reduced the varieties planted.
How it’s made
Bodegas often own vineyards, but many also buy in grapes, which are pressed immediately. Acidification then takes place because palomino is notoriously low in acid. The local heat – temperatures hit 47 degrees on my last visit, long after summer – ensures fermentation starts very quickly, usually with cultured yeasts. Aside from a few curiosities, fermentation today occurs in large, stainless steel, temperaturecontrolled tanks, usually 50,000 litres.
After fermentation, the flor develops – a veil of yeast on the surface of the wine. This is where things get really interesting. This layer of yeast protects the wine from contact with the atmosphere, encouraging biological maturation. It also consumes any remaining sugar and volatile acidity making these the driest of wines.
The winemaker will then assess and classify the wines: clean with finesse and delicacy; slightly less fine; coarse; and unsuitable (some can be dubbed ‘vinegar’). The finest are destined for fino, or if in the Sanlucar region, manzanilla. The richer, more robust become oloroso. This is a crucial process because it determines the level of fortification – around 15 degrees for fino, and 17 to 18 degress for oloroso. The level of fortification in the oloroso kills the flor, meaning that the ageing is then oxidative, but in the fino, it thrives and ‘defeats’ any undesirable bacteria or yeast strains. At this stage, the wines enter the solera system. Barrels – always old and usually American oak for their tight grain – vary in size, but the majority are around 600 litres, filled only to 500 litres to facilitate the growth of flor. Soleras can last for decades; some still remain in use that date back to the 1830s.
The wine will work its way through the solera. Usually around a third of each barrel is moved on to the next level, and that barrel is then filled with younger wine, replaced in turn by even younger wine. The finished wine is bottled when it reaches its optimum condition. Continually replenishing barrels provides nutrients for the flor – fino and manzanilla can be refreshed anywhere from four to nine times a year. Winemakers remark on how quickly the new wine adopts the characters of the older component.
Other styles
As well as fino and oloroso, there are the ‘middle’ styles of amontillado and palo cortado. Amontillado is basically a fino that goes off-track. It spends time under flor, which then dies or is killed, and the wine continues to age oxidatively. It can be created simply by stopping the refreshing of barrels, which cuts off the supply of nutrients to the flor, or by a little extra fortification.
Palo cortado is much rarer and more of a curiosity. It is sometimes defined as a combination of the delicate refinement of an amontillado with the structure of an oloroso. The traditional method of production was almost accidental. The wine would start as fino, but then deviate and head towards oloroso, but today’s winemaking in large stainless steel tanks has largely obliterated this. Winemakers must keep an eye out for a young wine that will head to that style. Finally, there are the intensely sweet styles such as the PX – the same grape makes dry wines in nearby Montilla-Moriles. A sweetened oloroso is often called a cream sherry.
Needless to say, it's not over. A new style has emerged – en rama. It is basically sherry taken from a fino or manzanilla cask, which goes through the barest of filtrations. It is effectively like sampling sherry from the cask, and can give you more richness and character, so different to the refined elegance usually seen with fino. Not better – different. Every now and again, you may find a vintage-dated bottle or one with the designations VOS (very old sherry) or VORS (very old rare sherry).