Sherry region? what town? geography? history?
sherry
- Jerez
- lies in South of Spain, across from morocco
- trading with Britain
how is sherry made?
- sherry cask with flor, bacterial coding adds colour, oxidize and flavour
what are the 3 growing regions in Sherry and what are they determined by?
- determined by soils
- Albariza: chalky, well drained, limestone soil, 60% production and best wines
- Arena, sand with iron oxide
- Barro- fertile soil highest yield, less quality
Grape varietals in Sherry
- 90% Palamino- onl;y grown or sherry style wines
- thin skin- prone to breaking
- fortification tax
- Pedro Ximenex secondary grape, Moscatel
what are the styles and characteristics of sherry?
- Fino & Manzanilla:
- Cream sherries:
- Almontillado:
- Oloroso sherries
- Pedro Ximenez
Fino & Manzanilla
pale, dry, med bodied
-citrus notes with almond and yeast flavours, 14-15% alcohol
Cream sherries
young fino’s sweetened with concentrated grape juice
Almontillado sherries
no or manzanilla with alcohol added
-deep amber colour and nutty flavour, citrus and yeast
Oloroso sherries
fortified after fermentation, deep brown in colour, coffee and nut flavours
Pedro Ximenez sherries
-dried fruit make a dark sherry, dried fruit
vintages of sherries?
NO- utilize blending system known as Solera System- dif levels of blending
Spanish wine laws
- follow EU
1. Table Wines
-VT (vino de la Tierra)
-IGP (protected geo indication)
2. QWPSR
-DO: grape brix and bottles at certain time
DOQ: consistent track record for quality
what are DOC 2 regions
Rioja and Priorat
what are main red varietals
tempranillo: early ripening, blackberry and plum, premium, chalky soils, low in acid
Garnacha: same grape as grenache in France (Rhone and Midi) or Aus , low acid, high sugar, thin skin and large berry, most widely planted
what varietals were transplanted from France to new world?
-cab sav, burgundy, pinot noir, chard, cab franc, syrah
what varietal from France was not transplanted to New world?
- sangiovese
what white grape varietals ?
- Verdejo: produces elegant wines with nutty and early flavours and good acidity- finest
- Alvarinho: white grape of Rias Baixas, more alcohol and fruit comparable wines to neighbour Portugal
describe Aging classification
Vino Joven: “young wine”
Crianza: red wines, min 2 years old, aged in oak min 6 mo
Reserva: wines produced from better regions only, aged min 3 years before release min 12 mo in oak
Gran Reserva: only produced excpetional years, aged 5 years min, min 2 yrs oak, 3 in bottle
Ribera del Duero
- high quality wines from Tempranillo with some blendign cab sav and merlot
- lots of oak
- Crianza to Gran Reserva (DO)
Rioja
- most imp region for reds
-mod climate, more northern
-tempranillo is king
(DOCa)
where is Santiago Caltavara Bodegas Ysios
Alavesa, Rioja
La Mancha
- dessert, big production of lower quality wines
- trained as bushes to protect grape from sun
- Airen grape, unique to Spain
Priorat
- Grenache bases
up and comer
great value, benefit from coolness of Med Seas
Catalunya
- center of sparkling wine production- Cava (charmat)
- 2nd major producer of Traditional Method sparkling wine (proseco)
- traditional grape Xarel-la, Pardellada amd Macabeo, Chard
