Fortified Wine: Sherry Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Fortified Wine: Sherry Deck (38)
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1
Q

Fortified wines have a:

  • lower alcohol content
  • higher alcohol content

than still table wines.

A

Higher alcohol content

2
Q

How do fortified wines get to have such high alcohol content?

A

High proof, neutral grape spirit / brandy is added to the base wine either before, during, or after fermentation

3
Q

What are the reasons to fortify a wine?

A
  1. Add body
  2. Increase the wine’s ageability
4
Q

What is the alcoholic range of fortified wines?

A

15% - 22% abv

5
Q

When is Sherry fortified?:

  • before fermentation
  • during fermentation
  • after fermentation
A

AFTER fermentation

6
Q

What is the typical result of fortifying a wine AFTER fermentation?

A

Dry wine that has higher levels of alcohol, anywhere from 15% - 18%.

7
Q

What are the other 2 names Sherry is known as?

A
  1. Jerez
  2. Xérès

Sometimes you’ll see it spelled with all three: Jerez -Xérès - Sherry

8
Q

Sherry comes from which country?

A

Spain

9
Q

Where in Spain is the Sherry region?

A

Spain’s most southern tip, in Andalusía, which is across the Strait of Gibraltar from North Africa.

10
Q

What are the 2 bodies of water cradling Sherry?

A
  • Atlantic Ocean on the west
  • Strait of Gibraltar to the south
11
Q

Sherry was one of the first recognized DOs in Spain in this year.

A

1933

12
Q

What is the climate of Sherry?

What influences the climate?

A
  • HOT, windy, can get humid
  • Atlantic Ocean influences climate by cooling down Sherry with breezes
13
Q

What are the 3 soils of Sherry?

A
  1. Albariza (most important!)
  2. Barros
  3. Arenas
14
Q

What kind of soil is Albariza?

A

A chalky clay, brilliantly white, that reflects the sun onto the vines.

It has excellent water retention which is important during the hot and dry summer months.

15
Q

What kind of soil is Barros?

A

Brown clay

  • not as important as Albariza
16
Q

What kind of soil is Arenas?

A

Sandy soils

  • not as important as Albariza
17
Q

What are the 3 grapes of Sherry?

A
  1. Palomino
  2. Pedro Ximénez (PX)
  3. Moscatel
18
Q

Which grape in Sherry is the most planted?

A

Palomino

  • it’s also the principal grape for all Sherry styles
19
Q

PX and Moscatel are grapes mostly used for what in Sherry?

But they can also be used for this.

A

Mostly used for blending, sweetening, and adding color to other Sherries.

Can be used as sweet wines themselves, bottled as single varietals. Only top producers - which is really just a handful - will bottle PX or Moscatel by itself.

20
Q

Most Sherry styles are made from which grape?

A

Palomino

21
Q

After the Palomino grape goes through primary fermentation, what is its flavor profile before it’s fortified?

A

Neutral, dry, still white wine (at this point it’s a base wine)

22
Q

For Sherry, how much the wine is fortified depends on what _____ is being made.

A

Style

23
Q

What are Sherries fortified with?

Why?

A

A mixture of neutral grape spirit + mature Sherry.

It’s fortified with this mixture and not straight spirit so the base wine isn’t shocked.

24
Q

What are the 2 ways to age, or develop, Sherry?

A
  1. Biological aging
  2. Oxidative aging
25
Q

What are the 4 styles of Sherry made with biological aging?

A
  1. Manzanilla
  2. Fino
  3. Amontillado
  4. Palo Cortado
26
Q

What are the 2 styles of Sherry made with oxidative aging?

A
  1. Oloroso
  2. Cream
27
Q

What is flor?

What does it do?

A

A thin layer of yeast, Saccharomyces, that develops on the surface of a maturing wine in barrel. It develops here because Sherry barrels aren’t filled up all the way, and that headspace allows for oxygen which in turn encourages the flor to form.

It protects the wine from heavy oxidation and spoilage.

28
Q

What is a solera system?

A

A fractional blending system which has levels, or ‘scales,’ that hold wines at varying stages of development (some of which are decades old).

The younger wines at the top of the solera are progressivley blended with the older, lower scales of the solera.

The bottom row of the solera system is called solera.

29
Q

When making Fino-style Sherries, it’s important to keep adding new wine to barrels so that the ____ remains intact.

A

Flor

The newly added wine has nutrients which the flor metabolizes and needs to stay alive.

30
Q

What is “running the scales”?

Describe the process.

A

‘Running the scales’ is the gradual yet consistent replenishment of wine from younger barrels within a solera.

When Sherry is removed for bottling from the solera (bottom) scale, the solera scale is refilled with an equal amount of wine that has been pulled from the 1st Criadera. To refill the 1st Criadera, another equal amount is removed from the 2nd Criadera to top up the barrels in the 1st Criadera, and so on until the youngest Criadera is topped up with wine from the añada.

The youngest wines provide nutrients for the flor to keep it alive and active.

Fractional blending is done both horizontally and vertically to maintain continuity.

31
Q

Why isn’t Sherry vintage dated?

A

Sherry is rarely vintaged dated because it is a fractional blending system.

However, many Sherries have their solera’s inception date printed on their labels.

32
Q

What is Manzanilla and how is it different from Fino?

A

Manzanilla IS a Fino sherry, but Manzanillas can only come from the seaside village of Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

Manzanillas are lighter, brighter, more saline, and more delicate than Finos due to the cooler climate of Sanlúcar.

So, all Manzanillas are Finos but not all Finos are Manzanillas.

33
Q

What’s the purpose of a solera?

A

A solera creates a unique, distinct flavor profile for wine, making Sherry – when you smell and taste it – unmistakable.

The solera allows the winemaker, or Sherry house, to produce a consistent style of wine.

34
Q

In a solera system, the barrels on the floor or closest to the floor are called _____.

A

Solera

35
Q

In a solera system, the barrels that have the youngest wines in them are called _____.

A

Añada

36
Q

In a solera system, the barrels between the Añada and Solera are called _____.

A

Criaderas

There are First Criaderas and Second Criaderas.

37
Q

What is the difference between the First Criadera and the Second Criadera?

A

First Criadera is the level of barrels that have wine in them that is next oldest to the solera.

Second Criadera is the level of barrels between the Añada and the First Criadera; older than the Añada but younger than the First Criadera.

38
Q

What is the maximum amount of Sherry that can be removed yearly from the bottom solera to be bottled?

A

No more than a third may be withdrawn 3x in one year.