This is NOT your Meemaw's drink! This does not come from any country other than Spain. This is not the sickly sweet drink of legend and lore. It most certainly is not an "unmanly" drink (just ask the men of Jerez, Spain who drink it every single day!).
So, what is Sherry? It is a fortified wine. Let's call it Spain's answer to Portugal's Port and France's Champagne. It is every bit as complex and labor intensive to make. Like Champagne and Port, real Sherry can only come from one place in the world. For Sherry, that place is Jerez, Spain.
Sherry comes in seven styles which fall under 2 broad classifications. A Sherry is either a "fino" type which is light and dry and crisp (yes, D-R-Y) or an "oloroso" type which is fuller bodied, darker, nutty and SOMETIMES sweet.
FINO TYPE
Manzanilla
Fino
Amontillado
Palo Cortado
OLOROSA TYPE
Oloroso
Cream
Pedro Ximemez
Sherry is made from white grapes, exclusively. 95% of all Sherry is made from Palomino grapes. These are bland grapes and easily take on the characteristics of the soil and the talents of the wine maker. The other 2 grapes, Moscatel & Pedro Ximenez are grown in very small amounts and are used to make sweet wine for blending or for a small batch of spectacular dessert wine. The Pedro Ximenez is very prone to disease and becoming more and more rare each passing year. It is said to be absolutely incredible over vanilla ice cream (that's how sweet it is!)
So, how is it made? Well, that is not an easy question to answer as the type of Sherry will determine the process by which it is made. Because of this, each has a different shelf life as well. As you go down the list above, the wines keep longer, especially after opening. As with all wines, the process begins with crushing the grapes and fermenting the juice. Only stainless steel or cement tanks are used at this point. Grape spirits are added to the fermenting juice to fortify it. This fortified wine is then poured into barrels and set aside for at least a year to allow it to begin to develop some depth and complexity. From here, the wine goes to the "solera" where is it progressive blended and aged until the final Sherry emerges.
A solera is quite the feat! Start with multiple rows of 600 liter old American Oak barrels (which are called butts). These rows are often stacked on on top of another, building up 4 or 5 rows high. The barrels on the bottom row contain the oldest Sherry; from these barrels small amounts will be drawn off and bottles as ordered. This bottom row is the "solera row." Every time Sherry is drawn off from this row, the barrel is replenished with an equal quantity of wine from a barrel in the row above it. This row is called "criadera #1" or "first nursery." This is the second oldest wine in storage. When wine is drawn from here to move to the bottom row, the barrels are replenished from the row above which is "criadera #2." This process continues up the rows with the top row being replenished annually by the añada (the name for the wine put into the barrels initially). Because of this unique process, no Sherry has a true year but is a blend of many years of aging. It cannot ever bear a vintage date. The date on most bottles is the year the solera was created. No more than 30% of a solera can be drawn off each year, as per Spanish law.
Believe it or not, this is just the tip of the iceberg for creating Sherry. To make the different styles, different processes of crushing, pressing, fermenting, etc. We will go more into the specifics the next time we taste Sherry.
We would be remiss to leave the topic of Sherry with discussing the unique food group that comes from the same region and seems designed to specifically complement Sherry. I am referring to Tapas! The mere word can cause confusion in the States. What, on earth, are Tapas? Quite simply, they are spanish appetizers. This is bar food served to be eaten standing up with a glass of wine. Much like all the fried fare that our country has created to compliment beer. Tapas can be comprised of just about anything from seafood to sausage to cheese and even soup. The key is that they are able to be eaten without utensils.
On with the tasting (in order of dryness)!
Lustau "Papirusa" Light Manzanilla Sherry - $14.95 from Sherry-Lehmann in NY
Dry Sack Fino Sherry - $16.99 at Wegmans
Lustau "Escuadrilla" Rare Amontillado Sherry - $26.95 from Sherry-Lehmann in NY
Gonzalez Byass "Apostoles" Palo Cortado Sherry - $43.95 from Sherry-Lehmann in NY
I will add pictures and update after the tasting!
Cheers,
Kitti
