Sherry Location
- Southern Spain
- Andalusia
- About 7000 hectares
- ‘Zona de Produccion’
- Split in 2 parts
- Jerez Superior
- Jerez Zona
grapes Law an rules
- Zona de produccion or marco de Jerez
- DO Jerez-Xeres-Sherry or DO Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barramada
This is the two areas grapes need to come from
The only exception to this rule is PX come from around Montilla in the mountains above Malaga
But matured in the Zona
Sherry Climate
- Hot Mediterranean climate
- hot and dry summers and mild
- Relatively rainy winters
- Vineyard located 0-90 metres above sea level with influences from the Atlantic Ocean
1-Climate ‘Poniente’
2-Climate ‘Levante’
1-The cool and damp winds coming from the Atlantic Ocean
1-Provides a cooling, humid influence in the summer
2-The hot and drying winds coming from the south east, originally from north Africa
2-Provides more arid, cause grapes to transpire more quickly, concentrating the sugar
- high number of cloud-free days therefore sunlight hours in the growing season are high, give fully ripe grapes
- without sufficient shading, grapes can easily become sunburnt
Soil
-90% of the of the better vineyards sites planted in Jerez Superior all located in
ALBARIZA SOIL is a mixture of limestone, silica and Clay.
-BARROS SOIL has a greater clay
arenas(sandy)
ALBARIZA SOIL effect
- retain and release gradually water
Vital in the region that is very dry during the growing season
- forms a crust when dry which help in reducing evaporation from the soil surface
- reflects light back into the vine canopy helping with ripening
Grapes
- Palomino
99% production by volume
+Mid to late ripe
+Well-suited to dry sunny weather
+Capable of producing large yields
+neutral variety don’t add much of its own primary
-loses acidity quickly when it nears maturity
- Moscatel (Muscat of Alexandria)
or
-Moscatel de Chipiona (named by the coastal town of Chipiona mainly grown on sandy soils)
Less 1% production by volume
+late ripening
+well adapted to heat and drought
+very aromatic grape
- Pedro Ximenez (PX)
Less 1% production by volume
+small, thin-skinned
+can accumulate high levels of sugar
+neutral variety
- dry in the sun further concentrate that sugar
- main flavours come from the drying and maturing processes
Vineyard management
Vineyard are in process of transformation to accommodate mechanisation of all the annual tasks pruning, harvesting and soil management
PAGOS smaller delimited area
- old training system vara y pulgar
- new training system cordon trained (single or double) or spur pruned
- VSP trellising ensures canopy remains open
- yields max 80hL/ha usually 60-70hL/ha
- high yields is possible as the grapes do not need to have the same concentration of flavours grapes
- vines planted on gentle 10-15cm slopes mainly in ALBARIZA soil
- after harvest in each row of vines gullies are created to catch the winter rain (termed aserpia)
-rootstocks used 333EM/41-B/13-5EVEX all hybrids of V.Vinifera and V.Berlandieri
-13-5EVEX local developed is the most successful
Tolerant of limestone soil/prevent suffering from chlorosis/drought/produce good yields
-dry growing season little problem with disease
Mildew and european grapevine moth
-frost is not issue because hot climate and moderating influence from the Atlantic
Harvest
- First week august more in land vineyard
- finish by the second week September on cooler coastal plots
- PX & Moscatel tend to be harvested slightly later
- tends to be as early as possible to avoid the risk of autumn rain
- rot is undesirable be the biologically aged
- too much sugar can be a negative because it may become difficult to ferment the wine to dryness is particularly problematic for the development or of flor yeast
- 12% potential alcohol
- 5g/L acidity some times lower in palomino
- 3.3-3.5 PH
PX & Moscatel
- higher level of sugar in the grapes when harvested makes the drying process follows easy and quicker
-60% grapes volume is machine harvested at night or in early hours of the morning when the temperature are low, reduced chance of oxidation and microbial spoilage
Winemaking
- skin contact is not desirable
(phenolic compounds can restrict the growth or flor yeast)
-PRIMERA YEMA free run juice and lightest pressings makes 60-70% of the juice yield
-Oloroso wines are made from later press fractions that extracted using greater pressure
(higher levels of phenolics in this pressings mean the flor struggle to develop)
- the final press fraction is used for other products such as seasoning barrels
- max juice yield 70 L/100kg of grapes
-must is clarified before fermentation because the ALBARIZA soil is dusty
(cold setting/centrifugation/flotation)
-the must from different vineyard sites is fermented separately
-create many different base wine
(wines before fortification and maturation)
-most producers use cultured yeast
-fermented at around 22-25*C
(the last two points are beneficial for the reliable fermentation to dryness)
- generally fermentation take place in stainless steel vessels
- small number of producers use old barrels for the fermentation for some of the wines to give a fuller body
- the first fade of the fermentation is quick and vigorous and the majority of the sugars is fermented in the first 7 days, the last sugar fermentation is a slow phase and usually take a couple of weeks
-MLF is prevented as the acidity is typically already low and buttery flavours are not wanted
(usually avoided by chilling the must)
Using SO2 will have a negative impact on the development of the flor yeast
- after fermentation each batch of base wine will be tasted and analyse and the classification take place
- first classification biologically aged wines (lighter-bodied, less intensely flavoured wines)
- biological ageing is fortified to 15-15.5%abv
- second classification oxidative aged wines (fuller-bodied, more intense wines)
- oxidative ageing is fortified 17%abv
- 95%abv grape spirit is used to fortified don’t add aromas or flavours to the wine
- SOBRETABLAS is the stage after fermentation where the wine is store before join the SOLERO SYSTEM the wines can remain in thanks or transfer to wood barrels
-after a number of months the wines from first classification will be tasted and analysed
(the wines with full layer of flor and remain fresh will be classified as potential FINO/MANZANILLA)
(less delicate will be classified AMONTILLADO)
(those that are even more full-bodied and intensely flavoured will be classified PALO CORTADO)
Maturation law and rules
-DO JEREZ-XERES-SHERRY maturation must take place
-ZONA DE CRANZA is the are of maturation and only have 3 municipalities
JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA
EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA
SANLÚCAR DE BARRAMEDA
-DO MANZANILLA
must take place in the municipality
SANLÚCAR DE BARRAMEDA
-one exception like the grapes the maturation can take place in the municipalities
CHIPIONA
CHICLANA DE FRONTERA
Maturation
- old wooden vessels may range sizes the must used 600L butt
- made from American oak (historical reasons and cheaper than French oak)
- the vessels are very old so are not used to contribute oak flavours
- BODEGAS is purposefully designed to maintain optimum conditions during maturation with out need modern air conditioning systems
- BODEGAS have thick walls helping to keep temperatures constant
- BODEGAS in general have high ceilings meaning that the warm air rises away from the row of butts
- BODEGAS windows are small and positioned high up near the roof and orientated to allow cool,damp south westerly winds from the Atlantic (help lower the temperature and raise the humidity)
- BODEGAS floors in general are made of earth this is wetted during the summer to lower the temperature and increase the humidity
- BODEGAS temperature and humidity is special important for growth and maintenance of flor
- most of the sherry is a non-vintage
- SOLERA SYSTEM or method of fractional blending is used to maintain consistency and quality year up on year
SOLERA SYSTEM
- the vessels are grouped in sections known as CRIADERAS
- CRIADERAS are named related to the age of the wine they contain
- SOLERA is the CRIADERA with the oldest wine
- 1st CRIADERA is the next oldest wine
- 2nd CRIADERA is the youngest wine
-CRIADERA’S butts will be stack together in three or four high
- key rule no more 40% wine from each butt in the SOLERA SYSTEM can be removed for blending and bottling each calendar year
- any wine that is released and bottled for sale must be a minimum of 2 years old
- SOLERA SYSTEM always keep most of is wine
- inexperience FINO may be made from relatively young wines from CRIADERA with young wines and add some wine from 1st CRIADERA to give some complexity
- mid-price or premium FINO with large part from the SOLERA and 1st CRIADERA for their complexity and some young wines from the young CRIADERA to give hint of freshness
- SOLERA SYSTEM can be fed into to different SOLERA SYSTEM for further maturation
- example 5years in FINO SOLERA SYSTEM and then 8 years in an AMONTILLADO SOLERA SYSTEM
Biological Ageing
- refers to the practice of maturing wine under a layer FLOR
- FLOR is comprised of 4 yeast strains of SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE
- these yeast is found on the skins of the grapes from the JEREZ region and also present on the BODEGAS where the SHERRY is matured
- on the correct condition layer of yeasts naturally forms on the surface of the young wine
- max alcohol 15.5%abv (flor consume alcohol but struggle to survive in alcohol conditions above 16%abv
- butts are only full 85-90% capacity because the flor needs plenty oxygen
- temperature of the BODEGA 16-20*C
- humidity above 65%
- the layer of flor protect the wine from oxidation
- the layer of flor keep the colour pale lemon
- flor consumes alcohol in the wine and releases ACETALDEHYDE (gives aromas of apple skin, bruised apple,hay,chamomile and some times slightly bitter taste)
- alcohol increase slightly with ageing (in the BODEGA environment water is lost from the butts at a quicker rate than the ethanol-estimated that 3-5% of the volume is lost every year but the consumption of alcohol by the flor is less significant
- flor consumes GLYCEROL in the wine (gives the matured wine a lighter body)
- GLYCEROL reduction contribute to the very dry natural of biologically aged SHERRY
- flor also reduce the levels of ACETIC ACID
- the nature of the floor changes around the different areas of the region, from BODEGA to BODEGA and even over the different stages of the SOLERA SYSTEM (this can influence the amount of alcohol consumed and the amount of ACETALDEHYDE produced
- over the time in barrel the flor reproduces and dies (dead yeast cells fall to the bottom of the butt and the AUTOLYSIS takes place, give the wine savoury, nutty flavours and enhances the texture of the wine)
- various other aromas compounds from during the biological ageing process due to the reactions between alcohol,acids and acetaldehyde
- the other function of the SOLERA SYSTEM is maintaining style and quality on Biological aged wines (adding young wines to keep the nutrients for the flor such as alcohol, glycerol and acetic acid)
- FINO and MANZANILLA SOLERA SYSTEM is smaller because the wine tend to be removed more frequently throughout the year (benefit of removing and bottling small volumes more frequently is the wines are fresher when it reaches the point of sale)
Oxidative ageing
- colour gradually changes from lemon gold, amber and brown
- alcohol increase slightly with ageing (in the BODEGA environment water is lost from the butts at a quicker rate than the ethanol-estimated that 3-5% of the volume is lost every year
- other components become more concentrated too
- glycerol levels rise and this gives oxidative age, fuller, rounder body
- aroma and flavour compounds increase in concentration and evolve from primary characteristics to tertiary (oxidative characteristic such as caramel, nut
-during oxidative ageing ACETALDEHYDE decreases slightly, but the levels of acetic acid and ethyl acetate increase slightly
Finish
- most are tartrate stabilised (most be contact process
- fined and filtered before bottling
Packaging
- packaging and sealed of all the sherry’s need to be done on the three towns
- closures can be cork, cork stopper or screw cap
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