Sherry is one of the two spectacular fortified wines produced in the Iberian Peninsula, in the wine-growing maritime region of Jerez, mostly from white grapes. The other is Port, produced in Portugal at the country’s northwestern Atlantic seaboard, mostly from red grapes grown in vineyards along the Douro River.
The Jerez winemaking tradition goes back over 3,000 years. The region’s unique climatic conditions are ideal for cultivating the grape varieties used in creating sherry: Palomino, which is used to produce the drier types of sherry and Pedro Ximénez and Muscatel, which are used for the sweeter varieties.
There are three styles of Sherry wines: the dry sherry wine (Vino Generoso), the naturally sweet wine (vino Dulce Naturale), and the sweet sherry wine (vino Generoso de licor). They are all made in the Solera style of winemaking, where casks (called butts) are stacked one row on top of another row on top of a third row and even possibly a fourth.
Young wine is then poured into the butts of the top row, and the aged wine is drawn from the butts of the bottom row. The wine is transferred from top to bottom as it ages, and the liquid in the lowest butts is drawn for bottling.
Dry sherry wines are created when there is complete fermentation of the must (the freshly pressed grape juice that still contains the grape skins and stems), which creates minimal residual sugar from the grape juice. There are five styles of dry sherry: Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso, and Palo Cortado.
Fino is a dry sherry that is aged entirely in the interior of American oak butts (casks or barrels), always protected by a film of yeast called the “veil of flor,” which prevents the wine from oxidizing. It is very pale straw yellow-colored, and its aromas and flavors are due mostly to these yeasts that constantly interact with the wine.
The Fino wines are fresh and crisp on the nose with almond notes that are very characteristic of the yeast. They have a very dry flavor and low acidity. Their alcohol content is usually low, about 15%.
Amontillado is a wine that initially follows the same production process as Fino, but continues to age without the veil of flor and is, therefore, exposed to oxidation. This gives it its nose and taste characteristics. Golden to mahogany in color and gentle on the nose with notes of hazelnut, it’s more structured than a Fino. It’s dry on the palate with notes of spice and wood and with great persistence. Its alcohol content is usually between 17% and 20%.
Manzanilla is a distinctive form of Fino – an exclusively specific DOC sherry “Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda.” It’s a dry white sherry made from palomino grapes and is also aged under the layer of flor. Usually, a level of oxidation is allowed for the Manzanilla that produces greater complexity in the wine.
It’s very bright but pale straw-colored with a sharp, lightly briny, delicate bouquet and predominantly floral aromas of chamomile, almonds, and dough. Dry and fresh on the palate, it’s smooth in spite of the dry finish. The light acidity produces a pleasant sensation of freshness but a slightly astringent and saline aftertaste. Its coastal origin gives it distinctive qualities that differentiate it from other Finos.
Oloroso is an opulent, oxidized wine made in Andalucia. It has nutty and caramelized characteristics on the nose and palate. It’s fermented to approximately 11% alcohol and is then fortified with a mix of grape spirit and old wine. Grapes for Oloroso tend to occupy the less-premium soils, as there is less need for finesse in the base wine.
Oloroso has around 17% to 20% alcohol, which is too high to encourage the growth of flor, the yeast that is essential to the production of other kinds of sherry. The Oloroso has a dried fruit and wood character. Although the wine has been made for hundreds of years, it’s currently enjoying a boom in popularity.
Lustau’s East India Solera is a dark mahogany-colored sherry, which is a blend of 80% Oloroso and 20% Pedro Ximénez butts that have been aged separately for about 12 years. The name refers to the East India Company, a trading company that transported silk, spices, tea, decorated porcelains, and other “luxury” commodities from the East Indies and Cathay to England. (The featured photo above is of Lustau’s Bodegas Soleras, courtesy of Lustau’s.)
As a fortified wine (which lasts very long), sherry was taken along to serve the ship’s crew on its transatlantic and transpacific journeys.
Lustau is one of the few bodegas honoring the East India Company with its Solera, one of the better known sherry products. This producer has a long history since 1896 when José Ruiz-Berdejo started cultivating the vines of the family’s estate.
His daughter, María Ruiz-Berdejo Alberti, acquired a small winery closer to the center of Jerez de la Frontera in 1931 and moved all the preexisting soleras there. In the 1940s, Maria’s husband, Emilio Lustau Ortega, moved the winery to the old Santiago district.
In buildings that were part of the historic Moorish walls of the city, he slowly began to expand the business. In 1990, Lustau’s merged with Luis Caballero, a Spanish-owned company prominent within the wine and spirits business. This meant important financial support and the possibility of further expansion.
The East India Solera is available in the U.S. in the better wine stores and is one of my favorite sipping sherries.
Tapas are the fare associated with the dry sherries, which are an exceptional aperitif accompanying small but delicious finger foods – even small cooked dishes like Albondigas (small meatballs in sauce) or Pulpo a la Gallega or Tortilla Española and much much more.
If you are in Spain, you go “tapear,” that is walk from taska to taska, tasting the best tapas they offer, washed down with a Fino or an Amontillado, and you can have a great meal for relatively little money. Actually, the Sherry Producers Association awards plaques of distinction to the taskas that offer the best tapas.
In addition to the dry sherries, there are also exceptional sweet sherries based on the Pedro Ximénez and Moscato or Muscatel grapes. PX as the Pedro Ximénez sherries are called, is usually a luscious after-dinner sip or to accompany acidic fruits and deserts. We’ll talk about the sweet Sherries in a future article.
Manos Angelakis
Manos Angelakis is one of the founders, the former Managing Editor for 25 years, the current Managing Editor Emeritus, and Senior Food & Wine Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. He is an accomplished travel writer, photographer, and food and wine critic based in Hackensack, New Jersey. As a travel writer, he has written extensively about numerous cities and countries. Manos has also been certified as a Tuscan Wine Master and has traveled to wine-producing areas in order to evaluate firsthand the product of top-rated vineyards. In the past year, he has visited and written multiple articles about Morocco, Turkey, Quebec City, Switzerland, Antarctica, and most recently the South of France. Articles in other publications include Vision Times and Epoch Times.
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