What is sherry?
Learn more about the history, vineyards, grape varieties and production methods of one of the world’s great wines.
Sherry is a (usually) fortified wine from Andalusia in the south of Spain. It’s made from grapes grown in the so-called sherry triangle between the towns of Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Puerto de Santa Maria. The word ‘sherry’ comes from attempts by English speakers to say ‘Jerez’.
This part of Spain has been shipping wine northwards for a long time. The British have been drinking sherry since at least the 15th century and possibly earlier. Sack, a wine mentioned more than any other in Shakespeare, usually refers to sherry. This would probably have been an unfortified sweet wine that was drunk soon after vintage - very different to how sherry is these days.
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Master of Malt features editor and award-winning drinks author
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How is sherry made?
Sherry is made largely from one grape, palomino fino, though as from 2022, various other grapes are allowed such as mantúo castellano, mantúo de pilas, vejeriego, perruno, cañocazo and beba. This is a return to how things were before the phylloxera louse destroyed Spanish vineyards at the end of the 19th century and they were largely replanted with palomino because it was easy to grow. There are also two grapes used to make sweet wine moscatel and Pedro Ximénez which we will look at shortly. Whatever grape is used, sherry is always a white wine though in the past reds were made in the region.
The best vineyards in the sherry region tend to have chalky soil known as albariza but there are also clay and sand-heavy soils. Though most sherry is a blend of vineyards, you do sometimes see single vineyard bottling which are worth seeking out. Following harvest, the grapes are pressed. The first gentle pressing is used for finos and amontillados while olorosos are usually made from second pressings of the grapes. The juice is fermented in stainless steel or in traditional oak barrels. Once the wine has finished fermenting to dryness and had time to settle, it will be fortified by adding grape brandy usually to 15% or 18% ABV depending on the type of sherry.
The chalky albariza soil of the sherry region (photo courtesy of Gonzalez Byass)
What is a solera?
Most sherry is aged in a solera. This is a system of barrels containing different ages of wine. Every six months or so, a portion of wine is taken out of the oldest barrels for bottling or blending, these are then topped up with wine from the next oldest and so on until the youngest barrels are topped up with wine from the last vintage. This ensures consistency and means that the wine contains quantities of very old wine which means great complexity of flavour. Sherry age statements, like 10 or 15 years, are therefore averages. Occasionally some exceptional barrels are kept separate and bottled as vintage releases.
More sherry guides
Sherry, the great Spanish fortified wine, runs the gamut from crisp, dry wines to drink with seafood, to rich, decadently sweet sippers.
