Sherry Flashcards
Learn why Sherry tastes the way it does by examining the growing environment, soils, climate, grape varieties, production, and maturation. Key styles of Sherry are covered in this deck.
Regulations for Sherry were set in what year and by what body?
- 1933
- Consejo Regulador
What is significant about Sherry’s Consejo Regulador?
It was Spain’s first wine-related Regulatory Council.
Run through a quick popularity timeline of Sherry starting from the late 19th / early 20th centuries up through the 1980s.
- Late 1800s - early 1900s: Popular
Consejo Regulador established 1933
- World War II (~1939 - 1945): Unpopular
- 1950s - 1970s: Popular (peak popularity)
- 1980s: Unpopular
What role did Rumasa have in regard to the production and decline of Sherry?
- Started as an almacenista;
- Became a conglomerate, owning several sherry houses, hotels and banks;
- Their consolidation drove down prices that were difficult to compete with;
- In 1983 Spanish government seized and split up Rumasa’s holdings due to alleged unpaid taxes;
- Ownership landscape of former Rumasa bodegas was turbulent through the 1990s, especially because they had large stock of low-quality wines in a market that was based on inexpensive brands.
What does the Sherry Consejo Regulador continue to do after the era of Rumasa?
Today the Consejo Regulador continues to rebalance vineyard plantings, stock, and quality to increase profile and perception of Sherry.
Jerez is at a low latitude and low altitude.
Q: What is its latitude and its altitude?
Latitude: 36º
Altitude: 0-90 meters above sea level (has gentle slopes)
What are the two winds that affect Jerez the most?
- Poniente
- Levante
Describe the Poniente – is it beneficial or a hazard?
Beneficial.
A cool, damp wind that blows off the Atlantic Ocean that provides a cooling, humid influence during the summer in Jerez.
Describe the Levante – is it beneficial or a hazard?
What is an effect the Levante can have on the grapes?
A hot, drying southeasterly wind from north Africa, which makes the climate more arid.
Hazard – can be damaging.
This wind can cause grapes to transpire more quickly, concentrating the sugars – and too much sugar in the grapes can make it difficult to ferment the wine to dryness, which is particularly problematic for the development of flor.
What is the climate of Jerez and what factors influence the climate here?
Hot Mediterranean
Influences:
- Atlantic Ocean;
- Its mostly flat land;
- The Levante wind;
- The Poniente wind.
What is the Zona de Producción or Marco de Jerez?
A delimited area of around 7,000 hectares where Sherry grapes must be grown in order to be called Sherry.
Grapes grown in the Zona de Producción or Marco de Jerez can carry what two DOs?
- DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry
- DO Manzanilla - Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Even though Pedro Ximénez (PX) grapes can be grown outside the Zona de Producción in ___ ___, it can still be labeled DO ___ ___ ____.
Why?
- Montilla-Moriles;
- DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry;
- It is matured in the Zona de Crianza.
In Jerez, what are pagos?
Smaller delimited areas believed to produce wines with distinct characteristics due to their aspect, location and small variations in the soil.
As of 2021, the Jerez Consejo Regulador allows the naming of a pago on the wine label.
What is the most important soil type in Jerez and what is it a mixture of?
Albariza, made up of limestone, silica and clay
What role does albariza soil play in grape growing in Jerez? (name four factors)
Albariza is porous, so water penetrates deep into the soil from the winter rains.
It effectively retains that rainwater by developing a crust which reduces evaporation from the soil surface (the clay component helps do this). The stored water is steadily released during the growing season.
Albariza is reflective, so it reflects sunlight back up to the grapes, helping the grapes to ripen.
Albariza is also pretty malleable, and the aserpias dug after each harvest help catch and collect winter rains.
Why does Jerez see such high density planting and high yields?
High density planting is abundant because of albariza’s ability to retain water;
High yields are possible because Sherry grapes themselves do not need to have flavor concentration – the majority of flavor of Sherry comes from the maturation process.
What are the two other soil types in Jerez?
- Barros
- Arenas
Barros soil has a higher content of ____ than albariza soil.
Clay
What soil type is arenas?
Sandy
What are the three predominant grape varieties of Jerez?
- Palomino
- Moscatel (Muscat of Alexandria)
- Pedro Ximenez
What two other names does Palomino go by in Jerez?
- Palomino Fino;
- Listán.
Which grape is used for all dry and sweetened styles of Sherry?
Palomino
Palomino accounts for ___% of Sherry’s vineyard area.
97%
Select the correct answer:
Palomino is:
- Early ripening
- Mid to late ripening
- Late ripening
Mid to late ripening
It’s suited for sunny, dry weather.
Select the correct answer:
In the final stages of ripening right before maturity, Palomino’s acidity:
- Drops quickly
- Stays the same
- Increases quickly
Drops quickly
Palomino is a neutral grape variety known for producing what size crop yields – small, medium, or large?
Large yields
The Moscatel grape variety in Jerez is also known as:
Muscat of Alexandria
It is also called Moscatel de Chipiona since a lot of it is grown near and around the coastal town of Chipiona.
Select the correct answer:
Moscatel is:
- A neutral grape variety
- An aromatic grape variety
An aromatic grape variety
Moscatel is an early, mid or late ripener?
Late ripener
Moscatel is predominantly grown on which soil?
What style of wine is Moscatel mostly made into – dry or sweet?
Arenas (sandy) and Sweet
Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez each account for less than __% of Sherry production by volume.
Less than 1%
Select the correct answer:
Pedro Ximénez is:
- A neutral grape variety
- An aromatic grape variety
Neutral grape variety
If Pedro Ximénez is a neutral grape variety, where does the wine get its aromatics and character from?
The drying and maturation processes
In what format are Pedro Ximénez grapes shipped from the Montilla district to the Zona de Producción?
As fresh or raisined grapes, or more likely as young wine, which is then matured in the Zona de Crianza.
Not only are PX and Moscatel made into Sherries on their own, they can also be used as a ______, as seen in Cream Sherry.
Sweetening agent
Jerez is transforming how its vines are trained.
The old Sherry training system was ____, also known as ____.
The new training system increasingly being used in Sherry is ____.
Old training system: replacement cane pruning, also known as ‘vara y pulgar’;
New training system: cordon trained (single or double) and spur pruned (VSP trellising), which is more suitable for mechanization.
Select the correct answer:
VSP trellising is easier for which kind of harvesting?
- Manual
- Mechanized
Mechanized harvesting
VSP allows the canopy to remain open and well-organized, making it easier to machine harvest.
Maximum yields in Sherry are ___hL/ha, but achieving that is rare.
In most years the yields are closer to ____hL/ha.
- Maximum yields: 80 hL/ha;
- Most years yields are 60-70 hL/ha.
What is the aserpia system in Jerez and why is it important?
After each harvest, troughs are dug down each row of vines to catch the winter rains, allowing the water to permeate the soil.
Without catching the water it would just flow downhill or pool in a disorganized way instead of deeply saturating the soil.
What are the three most widely used rootstocks in Jerez?
- 333EM
- 41-B
- 13-5 EVEX
- this one is the most successful: tolerant to drought and high levels of limestone, high yielding.
All are hybrids of V. vinifera and V. berlandieri