SHERRY - NOT JUST FOR YOUR GRAN!

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Having spent hours this month pouring over books about sherry, I though it fitting to write a short piece about the merits of this wonderful wine. I know it has a granny image but we've been flying the sherry flag for quite some time now and it appears that although the UK market as a whole is declining this decline is actually showing signs of slowing up. Hurrah!

The UK is the biggest market for sherry in the world and yes, I admit that traditionally this has been heavily focused on the commercial cream styles but the world of sherry has so much more to offer - from bone dry styles through to luscious dessert styles that will knock your socks off. So here's my basic guide to sherry.

How it's made?

Sherry is made in and around Jerez in Southern Spain. As you can imagine it's rather hot and the sun shines around 300 days a year, (how lovely!!). The albariza soils here are absolutely key - chalky white they provide excellent drainage while allowing good retention of moisture despite the baking sun.

The main grape variety is Palomino which loves both the soils and the sub tropical conditions here. Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel are also grown and used for either sweetening purposes or wines in their own right.

The grapes are picked, pressed and fermented, and at the end of this process a natural yeast, known as flor, will appear on the surface of the wine. The existence of this yeast has an important effect on the wine, changing its end style and preventing the wine from oxidation.

The winemaker will then decide on the future of the wine…i.e. its end style. There are 2 basic styles of sherry: Fino and Oloroso (more of that later…). The lighter, more delicate wines will become Finos while the richer heavier wines Olorosos. The final style also determines the level of fortification, Fino is normally fortified to 15.5% abv enabling the flor to continue living whereas the Oloroso is fortified to 17.5% abv thus preventing the existence of flor and allowing the oxidation process to start.

The wines are then stored in cask before entering the solera sytem (fractional blending in which old wine is constantly refreshed with younger wine). This process may take anything from 3 years up to 25 for the finest wines.

Then you bottle it, drink it and enjoy it!

Key styles:

Fino: Dry, light and elegant palate with a tangy freshness

Manzanilla: This is a fino style that has been aged in the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barrameda giving it a bit more of a delicate, salty edge

Amontillado: An aged Fino, slightly higher alcohol, dry and nutty ….you will also see 'commercial' Amontillados, a blend of younger Amontillado & Fino that is sweetened to give a medium/medium dry style of sherry.

Palo Cortado: like an Amontillado, aged under flor then oxidatively, it's fuller bodied than an Amontillado but different to an Oloroso because of the influence of flor.

Oloroso: Full bodied, dry sherry with a beautiful deep orange colour (from the deliberate oxidation). Rich and intense with a distinct nuttiness and dried fruit characters.

Pedro Ximenez: a luscious dessert wine made from sun dried grapes. Concentrated with fig, dried fruit (funnily enough!) and raisin flavours.

Sherry and food combos:

Fino: Shellfish, as an aperitif or with tapas type of food. I also read somewhere that Fino with Fish and Chips is good but I can't speak from personal experience - I guess fried fish is a staple dish in Spain so maybe worth a punt.

Manzanilla: A platter of cheese and hams

Amontillado: Roasted nuts

Oloroso: Mature hard cheese

Pedro Ximenez: A generous pouring over good quality vanilla ice cream…class.

If any of these have tickled your tastebuds then check out our sherry section at www.reservewines.co.uk/acatalog/Sherry.html