A Message from ukwineclub
| Ian is now out of hospital and recovering slowly and will be out of action for a week or two. John support@ukwineclub.org.uk Wed 6th Dec |
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Sherry, the unfairly forgotten wine? |
Apart from a few special bottlings, from blenders such as Equipo Navazos, the best Sherries still fetch modest prices for their quality. Many are under £20 (usually for a 50cl bottle).
To my taste, the wines in the Spanish style – that is dry wine from Palomino Fino grapes only, with aged Pedro Ximenez (PX) being used or added to make dessert versions. Sherries made to the English taste are usually sweetened, often with grape must. They are normally also blended, with some mature wine being added to larger quantities of young wine. These styles are commercial in quality, but cost much the same as better, artisanal ones.
My favourite makers are Gonzales Byass and Lustau, both of whom make a full range of styles. The driest is Manzanilla, made in Sanlucar de Barrameda: the mature version is called Manzanilla Pasada. In Jerez, the young wine is Fino, which when matured for about five years is sold as Amontillado. All of these styles are aged in barrels, in which the wine is covered by a thick layer of yeast, called Flor, which retards oxidation. Barrels in which the flor dies early turn into Oloroso, still dry but stronger in flavour and darker in colour. Amontillado and Oloroso wines are aged in soleras, in which the older wine is blended with new vintages, sometimes for more than 25 years. Pedro Ximenez and Muscat are used to make sweet Sherries, the former is sometimes aged in solera.
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