The Beginners Guide to Sherry Wine (JEREZ)

Hi everybody, this is Agnes from No Sediment and today we're going to talk about jerez or sherry. I'm sure the word sherry creates different associations for each of us. For some, it might mean rich and luscious, deeply colored sweet wine. Others might think of fresh, slightly salty, very dry white wine, perfect for different Spanish tapas. And finally, for others, it might create association of semi-sweet, easy-drinking wines that you enjoy in a small copita glass at the end of the meal. So, what really is sherry? It is everything I mentioned and more. In this video, I will shortly talk about most popular sherry wine styles. However, we must understand that each of these styles can have a video on its own. Essentially, jerez or sherry is a fortified wine from Andalusia in Spain and it is made from predominantly two grape varieties, Palomino Fino and Pedro Ximénez. And rarely do we get to find and taste sherry from Moscatel. Sherry is quite complex wine style and it can be grouped and differently depending on what you're focusing on. You can focus on the dry or the sweet styles of jerez. You can also group sherry wines by their aging process. Then, discussion usually starts whether or not wine has been aged under the floor, which is biological aging process, or simply in the oak barrels, which is oxidative aging process. Or we can divide jerez wines by their grape varieties or alcohol levels. Let's start with dry sherry wines. All dry jerez wines will be made from Palomino Fino grape variety. The styles include Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso and Palo Cortado. These wines are mostly dry because the fortification has been done after the fermentation has fully finished. Fino and Manzanilla wines go through very unique aging process, which is called biological aging. Biological aging means that wine is kept under the veil of yeasts, which is called floor. This yeasty surface occurs naturally on dry wines that are not higher in alcohol than 16 percent. Under the floor, wine is protected from oxygen and stays very, very fresh no matter how long it has been aged. The floor will also consume glycerol and sugar. Therefore, the wine will taste very fresh and light in body, even though the alcohol level of these wines usually tend to be around 15 or 16 percent. Fino and Manzanilla are the purest form of wine aged under the floor, and usually these wines will show notes of dried herbs, salted almonds, seaweed and even iodine on the nose. If, however, wine is fortified to 17 or 18 degrees of alcohol, the floor will not develop, and that means the wine will be aged in old oak barrels oxidatively. This is how Oloroso is made. These wines will show notes of toasted nuts, sweet spices, leather and tobacco leaf. Wine style in between of these two categories is called Amontillado. It starts its life under the floor, but floor after a while disappears, and it usually is because the alcoholic strength of the wine has been increased. Therefore, it finishes its aging process oxidatively. Because of that, Amontillado will show flavors of both of these processes. I also mentioned Palo Cortado, which is still a mystery to me. To this day, I have not clearly understood how it is truly made. Some say the aging process is closer that of Oloroso, while others claim that it is actually closer to that of Amontillado. Nevertheless, Palo Cortado is a separate wine category of Jerez, and because during its aging process and development it has shown specific characteristics and flavors, it is going to be bottled separately and labeled as Palo Cortado. The rich, lusciously sweet, decadent wines of Jerez will be mostly made from Pedro Ximénez grape variety. After harvesting, these grapes will usually be left outside to dry, therefore concentrating the sugars even more, and because of this process wine will also gain notes of dried fruit, such as figs and dates, and notes of molasses. Some of the greatest wines I have tasted literally smell of Christmas pudding. Sweet wines made of Muscatel are rare and quite hard to find. Similarly as with Pedro Ximénez, they sometimes are also dried prior fermentation, however it is not a rule. These wines tend to be fresher and somewhat lighter than those of Pedro Ximénez and show notes of dried oranges, white blossom, and yellow raisins. Lastly, come wines that are made by blending the categories I described before. These are pale cream, medium, and cream. These are sherry wines that have been sweetened by addition of Pedro Ximénez or Muscatel. Another unique thing about aging Jerez is that it is usually done in a solera system. Solera system means that wines at different development periods will be constantly blended together, meaning younger wines will be added to the older barrels in order to create a consistent style year after year, no matter what is the quality of the vintage. As you can see, it can be quite confusing and difficult to categorize and understand the different sherry wine styles, but I hope I did give you some basic insight on this beautiful wine. And if you want to know more about the fortified wines, make sure to watch this video.