Sherry

This fantastic wine comes from Jerez de la Frontera, a region in southern Spain that gets lots of sunshine. Sherry is an old favorite that’s often overlooked in favor of more well-known wines. But it’s time to put sherry in the spotlight and learn what makes it so special.

Sherry: A Wine With Stories to Tell

Sherry is a unique wine that’s been around for centuries. It’s got a whole host of flavors to tickle your taste buds and a story that’s woven into the fabric of many different cultures.

You might have seen sherry pop up in books or on TV. Famous writers like William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe have mentioned it in their works. And on the small screen, characters from shows like Frasier and Monty Python’s Flying Circus are often seen sipping sherry. It’s a wine with a starring role in pop culture!

Sherry also played a big part in international trade. The wine became a hit in Great Britain after Francis Drake brought back barrels of it from Cadiz in 1587. This sparked a trend of English companies making and selling sherry, and it’s been a popular export to the UK ever since.

Sherry: One Wine, Many Flavors

Sherry isn’t just one type of wine. It comes in several varieties, each with its own unique taste and way of being made.

Amontillado is a darker sherry that gets its color from aging under flor, which is a layer of yeast that keeps the wine from oxidizing.

Fino is the lightest and driest type of sherry. Like Amontillado, it’s aged under a layer of flor yeast to keep it from getting too much air.

Oloroso is a stronger, darker sherry that’s aged for a long time, which gives it a higher alcohol content.

Sherry is mainly made from three types of white grapes: Moscatel, Palomino, and Pedro Ximénez. Dry sherries mostly use Palomino grapes, while sweet wines use Pedro Ximénez grapes.

Making Sherry: A Process of Perfection

Making sherry is a careful process that guarantees the best product. The grapes used for sherry come from near Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Once the base wines are made, they’re fortified with grape spirit to raise the alcohol content. Finer sherries like fino and manzanilla have 15.5% alcohol, while stronger sherries like oloroso have at least 17%.

Sherries are aged and blended using a special process where the wine is moved from barrel to barrel. This mixes wines from different years, adding depth and complexity to the flavor.

The Regulatory Council of Sherry Wines oversees all this to make sure that every bottle of sherry meets the highest standards. So when you take a sip of sherry, you know you’re getting a quality wine that’s been crafted with care.