Celebrate Sherry Month: Discover the Rich Flavours of Spain 🇪🇸🍷

All about Sherry: It’s not just for Christmas

For generations, sherry has been at the heart of important occasions. It’s usually what your grandmother would drink at family get togethers, and would be the base of a Christmas trifle, and other festive treats. But did you know there is so much more to this fortified wine, with so much history, a variety of styles, and fantastic food pairing qualities on offer?

There are so many different styles of sherry, all affected by the way it is made. Styles range from very dry to very sweet, some with vanilla and caramel notes, to those with dried fruit and nuts.

This October at the Wine Shop, we are going to be celebrating the wonderful world of sherry, tasting a different style each week on our Saturday tasting bench and sharing some interesting facts about sherry, it’s history, and how it is made.

So do pop in for a taste, follow our newsletter, or visit our blog on our new website to find out more.

The History of Sherry:

No one knows exactly when sherry was created, but we do know it has a long history dating back to the rule of the Phoenicians around 1000BC. It’s named after its hometown, Jerez in Andalucia, Southern Spain (‘Sherry’ is an anglicised version of ‘Jerez’). It was widely traded around 700AD where consumption in Spain was prohibited under Moorish rule. Production however continued, and it wasn’t until 500 years later when consumption was permitted again and export of sherry grew rapidly. It was then transported across the world!

Sherry’s popularity continued to grow throughout the centuries and was hugely popular in the 20th century, peaking in the 1970s. Today it is still regarded as a staple of the fortified world, and no special occasion would be complete without it.

Where does Sherry come from?

Sherry originates from the city of Jerez in southern Spain. The climate is hot and dry and the land can be arid in the driest of summers. You might think this would make grape growing tricky, but this is where Jerez’s superpower comes into play… its soil!

Known as albariza - this is a special soil which retains water from the winter rains and forms a hard white crust during hotter months. This helps the soil to stay cool and also stopes the water evaporating, so it can be available to the vines as required.

The predominant grape used in sherry production is Palomino. It’s a fairly neutral grape which means the flavours come more from the way the wine is made, rather than from the grapes themselves.

Other varieties used are Moscatel and Pedro Ximinez for specific styles of sweetened sherry which we’ll be tasting later this month.

How is Sherry made:

The production of sherry very much depends on the style being made. Some styles are aged ‘biologically’ where a film of yeast called flor coats the surface of the wine, giving it yeasty dough flavours, and acts as a protective layer to the wine from oxygen. Other sherries are aged ‘oxidatively’ and uses exposure to oxygen to enhance the flavours. These wines often have nutty and caramel notes from the reaction of the oxygen and alcohol.

In any case, all sherry is aged in a specific system called a solera.

Before entering the solera, the grapes are fermented and the wines are sampled to decide which style of sherry they will make. The wines are then fortified with grape spirit and are ready to be aged.

Sherry solera system:

A solera is a system of connected barrels that blends the wine whilst it is ageing. The barrels are stacked in layers called criaderas and the wine travels down through the system as it ages. When wine is removed from the bottom of the solera to be bottled, new wine is added to the top and begins to age. Only a small amount is removed at a time, so the new wine that is added blends with the wine that is already ageing. This means there is a constant continuation of new wine and aged wine are being blended for a consistent style.

As previously mentioned, the specific method for ageing depends on the style - which we will explore as we go through October.

So please do join us for an exciting journey into sherry this month!

Week One: Barbadillo Fino

The first wine we are going to discover in our sherry month is the Barbadillo Fino Sherry. This is from an award winning family bodega in Sanlucar de Barrimeda. It has a dry, crisp note with flavours of almond.

Fino sherries are dry and aged fully with the biological method. The fortified wine is added to the solera system and a thick layer of yeast known as flor develops on the surface of the wine. It is important that the wine is less than 15.5%abv as the flor can’t develop with alcohol above this level. For this reason, fino sherries have a lower alcohol than other styles of sherry that are aged with oxygen. The flor consume some of the alcohol in the wine and this process releases apple skin flavours which is a key characteristic of biologically aged sherries.

The Barbadillo bodega was established in 1821 by Benigno Barbadillo who had recently moved to Spain from Mexico. Benigno’s sherries were a success and exported to the UK and America. The bodega has remained in the Barbadillo family for over two centuries, passed down from generation to generation.

This is a really delightful pale fino sherry, straw coloured and with those classic flavours of apple skin and almond. This sherry would pair beautifully with Spanish tapas, Serrano ham, manchego and seafood.

Week Two: Mira la Mar Amontillado

This week we continue our venture through the world of sherry and explore a delightful Amontillado from co-operative producer Mira La Mar from Jerez.

Amontillado sherries are unique as they have characteristics from both biological ageing and oxidative ageing. The sherries are initially produced in the same way as a fino sherry, being fortified to around 15%abv and allowing flor to develop on the surface of the wine. However, once the wine has obtained the required yeasty characteristics from the flor, it is then fortified further to over 17%abv which stops the flor from developing further. The flor is then filtered out and the wine continues to age with oxygen. Amontillados are therefore usually complex, with toasty notes and apple skin from the flor ageing, and then the flavours from oxygen ageing such as caramel, dried fruit and nuts. The oxygen ageing also develops the colour from pale lemon to golden brown, so Amontillado sherries are usually slightly darker than Finos.

The Mira La Mar Amontillado is produced by a co-operative of growers in the Jerez region. It spends a minimum of eight years ageing in the solera system, a combination of both biological and oxidative ageing. It is dry, amber in colour, and has pronounced notes of almonds, hazelnuts and sea salt.

‘Mira La Mar’ translates to ‘Look at the ocean’ which is exactly what the wine is intended for, enjoying in a sunny climate with white meat, fish and Spanish tapas.

Week Three: Romerito Palo Cortado

This week our journey takes us to Palo Cortado, a style similar to Amontillado, but with much more oxidative qualities, a fuller body, deeper colour and greater complexity. The wines are aged in a Fino solera initially and aged biologically, and then transferred to a Palo Cortado solera where they are extensively aged under oxygen.

The Romerito Palo Cortado Sherry is produced by CoviJerez, a sherry cooperative in Jerez. The wine is aged for 18 years in the solera system and as a result is a rich mahogany colour and very complex. On the palate we have notes of walnuts, orange zest and dried fruits.

This sherry would pair fantastically with mature cheeses and nuts, or with rich flavoured cured meats. Best served at room temperature to bring out the oxidative flavours, it is also delicious on its own as an aperitif.

Still to come, week four: Stay tuned next week to find out what's on the testing bench!