Sherry
Vintage image sourced on Pinterest
Sherry, Sherry baby! If you haven’t heard the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song before, you’ve been warned that it will be on repeat in your mind for at least the time it takes to read through (or skim) this tasting guide.
I have to be honest; my first tastes of sherry were baffling. I couldn’t decide what to think about the strange, strong flavors that were sometimes reminiscent of a yeasty beer, sometimes coffee, sometimes briny seawater. I’d never tasted wines like sherry before, and I couldn’t entirely wrap my head around how they were even considered wine, much less how the extremely different styles were all considered sherry.
If you’re British or read as much as I do, you might think of sherry as the stuff grannies keep in their cupboards, that sweetened stuff drunk out of a teeny little glass at the end of a long day, or to prevent the so-called swoons I find it hard to believe anyone ever actually had. Or, you might only know sherry in the context of cooking, often showing up in recipes with chicken, mushrooms or gravy, Thanksgiving-style.
If, on the other hand, you’ve never given sherry much of a thought, and haven’t yet developed your own opinions about the various styles, I hope you’ll take this tasting as your chance. If nothing else, this theme is the perfect opportunity to go all-in on tapas, the OG girl dinner.
Stuff to know
Sherry comes from Andalusia, a region in southwestern Spain that I’m dying to visit. It’s that sunny, coastal swath where style reigns supreme, from flamenco to tapas to cathedral-like airy sherry bodegas and the Moorish architecture exemplified in the Alhambra in Granada and royal Alcázar in Seville.
There’s so much history in Andalusia and with sherry itself that it would be unwieldy to try to cover it all here. I will, however, give the Moors a nod, the Muslim Arabs from North Africa who ruled Andalusia for 500 years before Christianity gained the upper hand, since their influence didn’t just leave its mark on the region’s architecture. The Moors were religious teetotalers, as many practicing Muslims are today, but they supported the grape growing and winemaking that had long been part of the region’s history, stretching back to Phoenician and Roman times. Grapes are food, after all, and wine was still allowed to be sold to Christians and Jews living in Andalusia. In some ways, we have the Moors to thank for modern sherry, since the style wouldn’t exist without a fortifying spirit, and the Moors introduced the alembic pot stills used to distill wine.
The word sherry itself isn’t actually Spanish. Instead, we have the British to thank, since sherry is easier for English speakers to say than Jerez (”hair-eth”), or Jerez de la Frontera, a city in the heart of sherry country, one of the three that comprise the points around a production area known as the sherry triangle, which exists between Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. Sherry, even beyond the name, wouldn’t exist as it does today without England, so it’s not surprising that the UK is still the wine’s top export market. We have England to thank for Port, Bordeaux and Champagne, too, since the UK’s thirsty wine market has driven the development of some of the wine world’s most important regions.
Sherry’s popularity has had its ups and downs, thanks to real wars, trade wars, internal rivalries, quality control issues involving less-than-honest merchants, copycats from other wine regions, that vine-killing pest phylloxera, and worst of all, sherry producers’ own hubris, exemplified most strongly in the 1970s, when a few producers swamped the market with cheap, poorly made sherries in efforts to meet increasing demand. Whew. Suffice it to say that sherry has been shipped abroad for more than 700 years, but not all of them have been good years.
Sherry today is tightly controlled quality-wise by their own governing body, the Consejo Regulador, though at the same time, restrictions have been lightened, allowing for the development of new categories like unfortified sherry.
This tasting, though, is focused on the styles considered the most classic, and to introduce them properly, there’s a bit of “how to” explaining involved, since these wines are fortified, much like these Fortified Reds, and made using a solera system, which works much like the process used to make non-vintage Champagne, ensuring consistent “house” styles of wine, year after year.
The Solera System
A solera system is essentially an aging system that uses fractional blending, so that the final wines are a blend of several ages, or vintages. If that’s hard to picture, imagine a triangular stack of barrels, which in sherry are called butts (yes, really). Let’s call the barrels (butts) on the bottom the solera, even though yes, I know, that’s also the name for the system itself. Those solera barrels (butts!) have the oldest wines hanging out in them, aging and becoming increasingly complex flavor-wise over time. These Solera butts hold the wines that will be bottled and sold.
The next row above the solera is the first criadera, whose butts holds younger wines that are used to refill the solera when their wine is drawn off to be bottled and sold. But then, to refill the first criadera, there’s another row of butts above with even younger wines called the second criadera. And finally, at the top of the triangle, there’s the fresh, new sobretabla wines that have only recently been vinified and fortified.
This 4-level solera system is by no means the only way to do things, but it’s common enough and works as a solid visual. I’ve visited other wine regions like Marsala and Champagne where solera systems are also frequently used, just not necessarily in stacked rows of barrels. The principle still applies though: each vintage’s wines are blended in small amounts, year after year, to create a complicated, decades-old perpetual reserve with carefully managed blends that are a signature of each winemaking “house,” or bodega.
Biological and Oxidative Aging
Sherries are all white wines, they just don’t always look like it. Their colors will tell you something about how they’re aged, though, since there are two primary methods: biological and oxidative aging.
Biological aging, in sherry’s case, has nothing to do with those dubious quizzes that tell you how old your body really is, based on how much abuse you’ve given it over the years. We’re all just doing our best over here, and in sherry, biological aging has nothing to do with human bodies and everything to do with flor. Flor is a lovely word for a kind of gross-looking phenomenon. For biologically-aged sherries, conditions are created to support the development of a layer of yeast on top of wine in a partially-filled butt. The foamy layer of yeast covers the wine, protecting it from oxygen, so that the wine inside the butt keeps its pale yellow-gold color, becomes utterly, completely dry, and gets some crazy flavors reminiscent of yeasty bread or beer, bruised apples, chamomile and saline. I like to think of flor like my sourdough starter, happily bubbling away given the right amount of love and attention, adding a signature funk of flavor.
Oxidative aging also has nothing to do here with antioxidants or wrinkles. With sherry, it just refers to wines that are exposed to oxygen inside the butts. These wines don’t have a layer of flor protecting them from O2 contact. Instead, they’re hanging out in butts that are intentionally left partly full, so that oxygen comes into contact with the wines, changing their color, flavors, intensity and even alcohol levels over time. These are the wines that were once gold, but show up looking amber or brown in your glass, like a cut apple having spent a few days on the kitchen counter. Flavors like toasted walnuts, coffee and dried fruits burst forth from these wines.
The best-known and most widely distributed sherry producers are part of large companies, like Gonzalez-Byass, Hidalgo, Lustau and Valdespino. Sherry production is not cheap, since long aging and lots of skilled labor is involved before there’s any potential profit to be made, so large companies are often better equipped to weather market volatility, but there are also more and more boutique bodegas, négociants and almacenistas, which are bodegas that focus only on the aging portion of the sherry-making process. Don’t be afraid to try a sherry from a lesser-known brand if a certain label catches your eye, especially as brands like Bodegas Yuste, Cayetano del Pino and the Port of Leith Distillery have fun with their own takes on traditional sherry labels.
What to look for in this tasting
Most sherries are made with a grape called Palomino Fino, though there are some made with Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez, usually sweet ones. The grape varieties, how and where they’re grown and how the wines are made are always, always big drivers of flavor in the resulting wines…but in sherry’s case, flavor is impacted even more strongly by how the wines are aged. Sherries that age part-time or full-time under a fluffy layer of yeast called flor, like Manzanilla, Fino and Amontillado sherries, tend to be lighter color-wise, and have flavors like yeasty bread or beer, bruised apple, chamomile and saline. Sherries that age part-time or full-time with direct exposure to oxygen are darker in color and have flavors like toasted nuts, coffee, cocoa and dried fruit. Sweet sherries, like Pedro Ximénez, or PX, are crazily intense, like a syrup-y liquid fruitcake or raisins on steroids, but with other flavors like hay, olive and coffee adding bonus levels of complexity. Give some attention to the finishes on these wines, which usually go on and on, a big part of why they’re just so fantastic with tapas, as the food and wine flavors blend and become more than the sum of their respective parts.
Keep in mind that sherries are fortified wines, so their alcoholic strength will range from 14.5-22% abv, higher than most big, bold red wines, even when the wines themselves might come across as delicate on the palate. Tasting pours, less than half the amount of a regular glass of wine, are always a good idea, but especially when the wines pack an extra punch alcohol-wise. Some of these wines will also be sold in half-size bottles, which is still plenty of wine for six to taste together.
If you’re a whisky fan, you’ve probably already tasted some of sherry’s flavors, even without knowing it. Sherry casks (AKA butts) have been used for whisky maturation for centuries. At one time, full sherry butts were shipped over to England, where merchants emptied them and bottled the wines, selling the empty butts on to Scottish whisky producers to add some zhuzh to their wares. Things have changed today, since sherry is typically sold straight from the bodegas in bottles, but used sherry butts retain their value, and a whole secondary industry still exists, along with long-term partnerships like the one between The Dalmore and Gonzalez Byass.
The wines
#1: Manzanilla Sherry
The so-called sherry triangle is comprised of 3 cities that serve as points around the production area where the wines are made: Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the coast, has its own style of sherry that can only be produced in its environs: Manzanilla.
Manzanilla (“man-tha-nee-yah”) is a biologically aged style of sherry, so the young wine made from Palomino Fino grapes is fortified to a level between 14.5-15.5% abv, just enough to fortify, but not too much for the yeasty layer of flor to properly develop and protect the wine in butts from coming into contact with oxygen.
Bodegas in Sanlúcar de Barrameda are designed with high windows strategically placed to encourage sea breezes to waft their humid air inside year-round, encouraging a thick layer of flor to develop and thoroughly protect the wines, allowing them to retain their youthful freshness even after years of aging. Soleras in Sanlúcar can have as many as 14 criaderas, or levels of wine aging in butts, since the wines inside need to be carefully managed as they quickly mature, ensuring the thick flor has enough nutrition to stay alive, rather like regularly feeding a sourdough starter to keep it going. Manzanillas are known for a signature salty, saline-like aroma and flavor that I’ve sometimes tasted in Fino sherries, but is almost always stronger in Manzanillas, aged by the sea. Look out for flavors of bruised apple, chamomile and blanched almonds, too.
These wines are often sold in 375mL, or half-size bottles, a wise consideration, since these wines aged under a layer of flor oxidize rapidly once exposed to the air, losing their freshness and beginning to taste rather flat.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Stick with a Manzanilla sherry from any producer, or try a Manzanilla en rama, a style bottled without any clarification, fining, or stabilization, so that the wine can have some cloudiness, but will taste more intense and complex, like it was drawn straight out of the sherry butt.
#2: Fino Sherry
Fino (”fee-noh”) sherries are considered by most to be the signature Sherry. These are the wines that dominate in tapas bars, especially with big brands like Tío Pepe with its highly recognizable image of a bottle topped with a wide-brimmed hat, Andalusian cropped jacket and guitar, one of Spain’s most iconic logos, right up there with the Osborne bull.
Finos, like Manzanillas, are fortified to 14.4-15.5% abv and made using the biological aging method, aging under a layer of yeast-packed flor that protects them from being exposed to oxygen, leaving the dry-as-a-bone wines with a pale yellow color and flavors of fresh bread, bruised apples, chamomile and raw almonds. The layer of flor that covers Finos is usually thinner than what can be seen in Sanlúcar’s Manzanillas, but the flavors are no less intense.
These wines are often sold in 375mL, or half-size bottles, a wise consideration, since these wines aged under a layer of flor oxidize rapidly once exposed to the air, losing their freshness and beginning to taste rather flat.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Stick with a Fino sherry from any producer, or try a Fino en rama, a style bottled without any clarification, fining, or stabilization, so that the wine can have some cloudiness, but will taste more intense and complex, like it was drawn straight out of the sherry butt.
#3: Amontillado Sherry
Amontillado (”ah-mon-tee-yah-doh”) sherry, in theory, starts its life as a Fino and progresses to Amontillado status when the flor naturally dies, making these wines the half-and-half of the Sherry world, aged both biologically and oxidatively.
In reality, most winemakers don’t wait for chance, intentionally creating the conditions for Amontillados to happen by either leaving Fino wines to age without replenishment through a solera system, so that the flor yeasts die in an absence of fresh nutrients, or manually re-fortifying the wines to increase the abv to 17%, a level too high for flor yeasts to survive. However it happens, naturally or controlled, Amontillados straddle the sherry style lines and gather all the flavors along the way, from yeasty bread, raw almonds and bruised apples to toasted nuts, dried tobacco, coffee and cocoa.
As with all Sherries, there are varying quality levels, with some Amontillados made from young Finos aged for only brief periods of time with and without flor, to more expensive Amontillados made from older, more complex Finos that subsequently age for longer periods in an Amontillado solera system.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Stick with an Amontillado sherry from any producer, or try a Fino Viejo or Manzanilla Pasada
#4: Palo Cortado Sherry
Palo Cortado (”pah-loh cor-tah-doh”) sherries, like Amontillados, start life as Finos and progress from biological to oxidative aging. The difference between Amontillados and Palo Cortados is subtle, though important. While Amontillados are usually intentionally created, Palo Cortados are usually created by happenstance, when a single butt of Fino sherry loses its veil of flor and gets booted from the Fino solera system, heading to a Palo Cortado one instead. Because this step happens earlier in the Fino aging process, Palo Cortados have fewer aromas and flavors from biological aging than Amontillados, and stylistically are closer to Olorosos, with darker, richer flavors and fuller bodies. This means that flavors of rising bread, bruised apples, chamomile and raw almonds are subtler in these wines, while flavors of toasted walnuts, coffee, cocoa, caramel, dried tobacco leaves and other spices tend to take center stage.
Sometimes, these wines are re-fortified upon entry into the Palo Cortado solera system, though not necessarily. As they age and evaporation does its thing, alcohol levels adjust, leaving the wines with abv levels between 17-22%. Palo Cortados are a rare style of dry sherry and are generally very high quality wines with crazy flavor complexity.
What to ask for: Ask by style name
Alternative(s): Stick with a Palo Cortado sherry
#5: Oloroso Sherry
Oloroso (”oh-loh-roh-soh”) sherries are the biggest, baddest sherries on offer. These sherries skip biological aging and are fortified right off the bat to 17% abv, allowing them to go straight to oxidative aging, without any flor between the wine and the air inside the sherry butts. Olorosos are deep brown, having oxidized like a cut-open apple, and have rich flavors of dried fruits like figs, raisins and dates, caramel, toasted walnuts, dried tobacco leaves, coffee and baking spices. The final wines usually have abv levels between 18-22%, since evaporation over time does its thing to these long-aging wines.
Speaking of long aging, there are Olorosos on offer that spend just the requisite amount of time in their solera systems, but there are also some that are aged for 12 years, 15 years or even for decades. VOS (Vinum Optimum Signatum, or Very Old Sherry) wines age for 20 years or more, and VORS (Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum, or Very Old Rare Sherry) wines age for 30 years or more. Keep an eye out wines with an age indicated on the bottle if you can find them, since they are some of the most intensely complex Olorosos you’ll ever taste.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Stick with a dry Oloroso Sherry from any producer
#6: Pedro Ximénez Sherry
Pedro Ximénez (”pay-droh hee-men-eth”), or as they’re more commonly known, PX, are naturally sweet sherries. I’m using the word “naturally” intentionally, since there are sweetened sherry styles, the cream sherries, that I haven’t included in this tasting. PX sherries, instead of being sweetened, are made from grapes that have raisinated in the sun.
Traditionally, Pedro Ximénez grapes are laid on straw mats outside to dry in the Andalusian sun for 2-3 weeks. As the grapes become raisins, their water levels drop and the sugar and acidity levels concentrate. When the juices from these dried grapes are fermented, the sugar levels are so high that the yeasts get overwhelmed and stop once the wines reach 4-6% abv, after which they’re fortified to 15-16%, then moved into their own solera systems, where they age oxidatively.
PX sherries, after their long periods of aging in butts, become dark, syrup-y wines that have intense flavors of raisins, dates, figs, molasses, licorice, caramel and cocoa. These are wines that are so sweet, they could even be used as an extra-extra-flavorful syrup for your waffles or on ice cream…yum.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Stick with a PX sherry from any producer, or try a Moscatel sherry
If, after this tasting, you still haven’t become a fan of Sherry’s strong flavors, try using your leftovers in a cocktail, something Americans have been doing since the Sherry Cobbler heydays in the 1820s.
Tasting tips
The eats
Spanish tapas! The best pairings for sherry wines are often the simplest, though tapas can be humble or full-on fancy, depending on your preferred level of hosting effort. Tapas are essentially small, shared plates, much like mezze in Mediterranean countries. These plates can be as simple as spreads of Jamón ibérico, Manchego cheese, nuts, olives, dry cured Chorizo, tinned fish, olives, preserved artichokes and some crunchy corn snacks. Or, you can level things up and make your own croquetas, patatas bravas, pan con tomate or any one of these recipes from Food & Wine or pretty much anything from José Andrés. Feel free to get your guests involved, too, since rolling croquetas isn’t difficult, but it goes much faster with extra pairs of hands, and freshly fried foods are the best fried foods anyway.
This tasting focuses primarily on the dry styles of sherry, but of course, Pedro Ximénez, usually abbreviated to just PX, is outrageously sweet. Serve this wine last, and go all-in on the sweet stuff and serve it with ice cream and chocolate, or flip the script and give it a salty contrast with crispy crackers with dried fruits and blue cheese.
The prep
If you’re not living in the UK, these wines will take a minute to find. When I studied Sherries for various wine exams, I was living in Dijon, France, then Austin, Texas, then Copenhagen, Denmark, none of which are big Sherry markets, so it always took time to source all the styles we needed to taste. On the other hand, when I headed to London for one of my exams, the very first supermarket I wandered into had a massive Sherry selection on offer, with everything I needed and then some. Consider where you live as you give your guests time to find their respective wines, ideally allotting at least 3 weeks before gathering.
Sherries, in general, aren’t all that popular these days, even in their best market, the UK. The upside to Sherry’s current lack of fashionability is that these wines tend to be outrageously affordable, especially when you consider that the the average quality Fino Sherry ages longer than an XO Cognac before being released for sale. That said, there are higher-priced options available, particularly amongst long-aged Palo Cortado, Oloroso and PX Sherries, so it’s up to you as a host to decide if you’d like to set a spending range, or if you’d prefer to let your guests determine what they’re comfortable spending on this tasting.
Skip the small glasses often associated with Sherry and use regular white or universal wine glasses, which offer a better tasting experience anyway, since they have more room at the top of each glass for the wine’s aromas to come through clearly.
A note on the tasting order: The wines are listed in the order of which should be included first, so that even if there are just 4 wines in the tasting, you’ve got a well-rounded experience ahead. However, I’d suggest switching up the order in which you taste the wines, regardless of how many wines make it in the final cut, as follows:
Manzanilla Sherry
Fino Sherry
Amontillado Sherry
Palo Cortado Sherry
Oloroso Sherry
Pedro Ximénez Sherry
