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Friday, 19 May 2006 |
Jerez wines are among the finest in the world, where they are shipped chiefly from the port of Porto Sherry in the Anduslian province of Cadiz and whence they derive their English name, sherry. There are four somewhat differeing families. The term crianza, which you may have noticed on many wine labels, refers to the "nurturing" of the wine.
 The "First and Second Families" - produced by the crianza biológica method - are probably the purest of all. These are the finos and manzanillas of Sanlúcar de Barameda on the eastern shore of the River Quadalquivir in the Andalusian province of Seville. This wine is produced from palomino or palomino fino grapes. This is a plump white grape with fine green/yellow skin. It is quite productive and usually reaches maturity with 12 -13º of potential alcohol content. Before fermentation, the grape juice is light and not very fruity, its degree of lightness depending upon the type of land where the vine is cultivated. Once fermented, the wine is then fortified to 15.5º and left to mature in barrels that are stored in the coolest part of wine cellars. Maturing is a slow process, but gradually the wine changes flavour. Some of these wines taste slightly woody, others a little salty, there are types that have an olive flavour and others still that are similar in taste to toasted almonds.
At the beginning of the process there is almost no aroma, but over time this becomes stronger as the smell of yeast, wood, sea salt and dried fruit emerges. The wine starts life a yellow/green colour and its aspect changes from year to year from pale gold to becoming almost transparent with glints of yellow. The strength of this type of dry wine makes it an ideal aperitif and should be served chilled.
The "Third Family" - crianza oxidativa wines - come under the generic term of olorosos. These wines are also produced from the palomino grape. However, whereas the wines mentioned above are light and fine, the olorosos are heavier and have a stronger flavour. After fermentation the wine is fortified up to approximately 20º and left to mature. Unlike the crianza biológica wines, this wine is not stored in the coolest and most humid areas of the wine cellar ,but it is left to mature in the patios of the bodegas. You can view this process in the famous bodegas in the picturesque city of Jerez de la Frontera, in the province of Seville, which is also famous for its renowned Horse Fair Week. Little by little, the wine takes on a stronger colour and flavour and then it is put into barrels that already contain older wine and that is when its real ageing begins.
.gif) When wine is removed from one of these barrels the next wine in vintage is then added to that barrel. For example, an Oloroso 1916 blend is the result of wine from 1916 with some from 1917, 18, 19… In some cases, a sweet wine is added to the final product to remove the dryness and acid taste of the pure oloroso and that is when the medium, medium-dry, medium-sweet and cream sherries come into being. Because of the high alcohol content of Oloroso, the sweeter varieties are normally consumed with dessert whereas the drier varieties go well with cheese, ham and dried fruits. Due to their potency, these wines should be cosumed with a measure of caution!
The "Fourth Family" - the crianza mixta sherry, which is a combination of the two above-mentioned ageing processes. The wine is fortified to approximately 15º and is then left to mature in the same manner as the crianza biológica variety.
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