The vineyards around Jerez de la Frontera grow in albariza, a chalky white soil so reflective it looks like snow between the rows, and so absorbent it holds the winter's rain through Andalusia's baking summers. Nearly all of it is planted to a single grape, Palomino Fino, which makes a thin, neutral base wine that would be forgettable almost anywhere else. Here it becomes sherry, the most versatile of the world's fortified wines.
Two ways of ageing, one grape
What separates one style of sherry from another is not the grape but what happens to it in the barrel. Fino and Manzanilla age under flor, a blanket of yeast that protects the wine from oxygen and gives it a dry, saline tang; Manzanilla, made only in the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, is the sharper, more marine version. Oloroso loses or never grows flor and ages oxidatively instead, turning deep amber, nutty, and intense. Amontillado sits between the two: biological ageing first, then oxidative once the flor dies away. Sweet Pedro Ximénez, made from sun-dried grapes rather than fresh Palomino, gives a dark, raisined style closer to a dessert wine than anything else here.
The solera system
Sherry is aged and blended through a solera: rows of barrels stacked in tiers, with wine drawn from the oldest row for bottling and topped up from the row behind it, and so on back to the youngest. No sherry, however young it tastes, is a single vintage; it is a living blend, some of them decades deep, refreshed a little at a time. Houses such as González Byass, Lustau, and Hidalgo, among the oldest wine businesses in Spain, built their reputations on soleras like these.
FAQ
Is sherry the same as port?
No. Both are fortified, but Port is fortified partway through fermentation to leave sugar behind, while dry sherry ferments fully before fortification. Their grapes and styles are entirely different, though both reward the same curiosity.
How should Fino and Manzanilla be served?
Cold, in a decent-sized glass, and soon after opening. Both lose their freshness within a few days once the bottle is open, unlike Oloroso or Pedro Ximénez, which keep for weeks.
Why is Jerez in Spain but the wine called Sherry?
Sherry is the English adaptation of Jerez via its old Moorish name, Xérès. All three names, Jerez, Xérès, and Sherry, appear in the region's official designation.