UKBG Thames Valley and South West Area
Sherry Masterclass (Thanks to Harveys)
First we have the history lesson to fully understand its historical background.
Sherry, Spain's most famous wine, is produced in the delimited area of Jerez, in the province of Cadiz, South- west Andalusia. Wine has been produced in the Jerez area for around 3,000 years after the Phoenicians or the Greeks introduced the vine to the area.
The Phoenicians called the town where Jerez now stands Xera. Later in 133 B.C. the Romans colonised Spain and remained until A.D. 409. They renamed the town Ceret. The Visigoths followed, naming it Seret. In A.D. 711 the Moors invaded from North Africa, conquered the area, renamed the town Seris (pronounced Sheris), and stayed until A.D.1264 when they were finally driven out by Alfonso X (The Sage).
Shakespearean England called the wine “Sheris Sack”, which eventually became sherry. During the same period the Spanish had referred to the town as Xeres, and then Jerez. In this period Jerez was given the surname de la Frontera, as a title given by the Spanish King because it was at the frontier between the Christian and Moslem Kingdoms.
Sherry became well known in England, as the port of Cadiz was conveniently situated for passing merchant ships to stop over and load various barrels of our wine. This, together with the unique quality and characteristics of the wine ensured that its popularity increased.
The main factors that make Sherry a unique wine are:
- Climatic conditions
- Geological conditions
- Methods of viticulture
- Methods of vinification
- Traditional method of ageing through the solera
The three white grape varieties grown in the area of Jerez are: Palomino, Pedro Ximenez (PX) and Muscatel. A year in the life of sherry goes like this:
September
The Vintage starts during the first week and lasts for 20 days. PX grapes are the first to be picked and have to be left in the sun for approximately15 days. The vines situated higher and facing South are the first to ripen (old vines ripen earlier than young ones).
The average yield of a vine is around 3,5 kilos of grapes per annum. The Regulating Council allows maximum qualified production of 80 Hl/Ha, equivalent to around 11,000 kilos of grapes.
October/November
Leaves fall from the vines at the end of October. The vineyards are fertilised if necessary.
Another operation carried out during this period is known as "La Serpia". This is the ploughing of long wedge-shaped furrows between the rows of vines in order to collect the rainfall and prevent erosion. This modern method replaces the old task of digging a trough around each vine. After the rain, the earth is flattened again by another tractor. Autumn grass now starts to grow and weeding begins and carries on throughout the year. At the end of November the sap has stopped on the vines.
December/January
These months are devoted to pruning and planting; with ancillary tasks of weeding and
removing the fibrous growth around the main stem to discourage insects from nesting there, as well as avoiding less water getting to the plant.
Pruning (side sub heading)
The method of pruning in Jerez is to leave one long branch with buds to bear the crop of the year and a short stub which in the following year will grow and bear the crop. When a vine is in its last year of life as many buds as possible are left on the plant to yield maximum final production and exhaust the vine. This is known as pruning "a Moflete".
Planting (side sub heading)
A hole is drilled approximately 1 metre deep and fertiliser added. The American root stock is then planted with its roots 30-45cm deep, projecting approximately 12cm above the ground. Grafting will take place the following year, if sufficiently developed. Although recently the majority of vines are planted already grafted in the laboratory, which gives a higher percentage of success. Vines used to be planted in squares 1.5
metres apart, known as "marco real", but now they are planted 1 metre apart with 2.25 metres between rows, thus retaining the same number of vines but enabling the
tractors to gain access between rows.
February
Grafting takes place in new vineyards and weeding continues. The grafting is effected by cutting the root stock above the first bud in a V-shape and inserting a slip that has a bud, or scion, of the palomino or P.X. variety and wrapped with raffia. If the graft
has not taken by June, then a green shoot can be grafted onto the root stock.
In a good year 80% success is achieved. By the third year 100% will be grafted. If the
graft takes immediately, only one branch of grapes will be produced and these are not
usually picked. The vine will be in full production 5 to 6 years after planting (3 years
after grafting).
March
Buds start to grow in the middle of the month. Spraying against mildew now
occurs after each rainfall from the time that the buds are showing 5-10cm. until mid-
July. Copper sulphate solution is the main spray.
April
Orientation of the vines is carried out. The old method was to tie the vine to a stick, but this is now done by training the vines to grow along wires. Usually there are three wires supported by a wooden post. Small new buds are removed by hand in order to prevent unnecessary growth.
May
The vine flowers for 3 to 4 days at the end of May. Weeding and spraying continues. Toward the end of May the rains end and the earth becomes crusty and hard.
June
To avoid the earth cracking, it is ploughed and rolled flat. Weeding around the vines is now carried out by a special machine that cuts around the plant without harming it.
July
Crops are harvested from rested land. At this time of year weeding usually finishes. The vines are now only sprayed lightly if there is any rain. Equipment is prepared for the Vintage.
August
Jobs at the vineyard cease. The maturity of the grapes is observed and last minute preparation for the Vintage begins.
The life of a vineyard is 35 to 40 years and the annual yield should be at least 5 1/2 butts per acre to be profitable and should average 7 butts. Vines to be removed are uprooted after the vintage and the land is ploughed to a depth of 1.25 metres to remove vine roots and bring up the lower earth to the surface.
The process of deep ploughing is then repeated the August before planting in January. When old vines are removed the ground is rested for 5 years during which sugar beet or cereals are grown.
VINIFICATION
Palomino grapes are pressed immediately after picking. Laboratory techniques indicate the exact moment that the grapes are ready for harvesting. Harveys harvests around 8,000 tons of grapes every year.
The grapes are transported from the vineyard to the pressing plant in lorries. They should arrive in perfect condition.
PRESSING OF THE GRAPE
The pressing takes place in modern horizontal presses with excellent capacity. They now press 900 tons a day, which produces 700.000 litres of must in Harveys’ installations of 8 presses.
The first operation is to crush the grapes slightly between rollers. The objective is to make the first and most important press easier. It is carried out at a maximum pressure of 1 kg/cm2. In this way Harveys obtain 70% of maximum quality. The second pressing with a pressure of up to 4 Kg./cm2 provides 20% of the must, which is generally used to produce wine with more body.
The last 10% of the juice is extracted with very potent continuous presses and is used for distilling.
The grape juice is then placed in stainless steel tanks for approximately 24 hours.
FERMENTATION
After a period of decantation of 24 hours, fermentation is started with selected yeast and control of the fermentation temperature. It is tremendously violent in the first phase that lasts for 3-4 days during which 90% of the sugar is converted into alcohol.
After this, fermentation continues slowly for days and the remaining sugar is converted into alcohol.
FORTIFICATION
It is traditional in Jerez to call the wine must until it is racked off the lees and fortified. The wines are fortified with wine spirit to increase the strength of the previously classified wines, up to the figures detailed in the following section.
CLASSIFICATION & RACKING-OFF THE LEES
The first classification takes place between December and January after the wine has fallen clean, and is still on the lees.
There are various methods of classifying, but the main objective at this stage is to separate the wines that should grow flor, sometimes known as Palmas, from the more coarse wines called olorosos.
A simple way of indicating the results of the first classification is done by marking the head of the butt with chalk, as follows:
/ = one stroke - fino
// = two strokes - oloroso
The process of racking-off the lees follows the classification, whereby the clean must is separated from the sediments at the bottom of the tank which are the solid sub products of the fermentation. Fortification after
classification is to the following strengths:
/ fino - 15% vol.
// oloroso - 17% vol.
The oloroso types are taken up to 17% vol. in order to kill off or prevent the formation of the "flor. The wine is now put into casks and called "sobretabla" (15%) meaning fortified on wood or "añada" (17%) meaning vintage wine. The finos will be filled with a 10% vacuum so that there is the space for the formation of the flor film on the surface, are left in the bodega until their second classification from 8 to 16 months later, which is when the final selection is made of those that have maintained the characteristics they were firstly classified for. They will later go to the fino soleras, separating those that will have additional fortification up to 17% and these will go to the oloroso soleras.
Olorosos need no further classification. The wines at this stage are Añadas, i.e. vintage wines, and are separated into lots by the vintage year and their vineyard. They are given this name one year after fortification and retain the title añada until they enter a criadera.
THE FLOR. BIOLOGICAL AGEING
The Flor is a film-forming yeast, Saccharomyces Ellipsoideus, which develops after the fermentation and forms a yellow-white film on the surface of the wine.
Flor feeds on air, glycerol, alcohol, etc., it prefers an alcohol content of 15% to 15.5% vol. and a temperature of 70o to 80o F. (18 to 22oC) i.e. Spring and Autumn temperatures.
Finos
The yellow-white flor is compact and firm, covering the surface of the wine until the final fortification of the blend. It is precisely the flor that provides Finos with taste and character.
Amontillados
A greyish-white flor film develops which is thinner than that on Finos. The film lives for the first years then dies and falls to the bottom of the cask.
Olorosos
Olorosos are fortified to 17% vol. and thus do not develop flor. From this point the young wines are kept as Añadas until the suitable time to be put into the Criaderas of the Solera system.
THE SOLERA SYSTEM
This is a method used in the production of sherry to ensure a consistency in quality and ageing. It is based on the fact that old wine is refreshed by the introduction of younger wine, the younger wine acquiring the characteristic of the old wine. A particular brand of sherry may be a blend of wines from four or more Soleras, each of which is supported by a series of Criaderas (Nurseries) and wines from Añadas (Vintages).
The wine for bottling is withdrawn from the solera in quantities that are never superior to 1/3 of the total volume. Some special soleras are restricted to withdrawing only 1/5 of its total volume. The wine can be drawn off all at once or in smaller quantities at more frequent intervals, but the total volume withdrawn must not exceed the volume stipulated. Each Solera System has its specific regulation to comply with a) % of extraction b) periodicity and c) use similar vintages for the last criadera.
This method allows us to maintain consistency of quality with no specific characteristic of any certain wine predominating over those that were added to form part of the blend. As wine is taken out, the Solera is topped up with the 1st Criadera, and this one is topped up with the second Criadera and so on.
TYPES OF SHERRY
A broad division to classify sherry would be into Finos and Olorosos. All sherries are basically dry, sweetness is obtained after the blending process by the addition of sweet Sherries (Pedro Ximenez).
All Sherries are dry except for Pedro Ximenez and Muscatel.
The Fino Family
Finos
Finos are a pale straw colour, light and very dry, delicate and refreshing with a sharp aroma that recalls almonds. The characteristics of this wine are due to their biological ageing under "flor". These Sherries are ideal for accompanying all types of 'tapas', as well as soups, seafood, fish, ham and cheeses. It should be served well chilled.
Manzanilla
Manzanillas are finos from the town of Sanlucar de Barrameda. They can acquire characteristics of a fino if aged in Jerez, but the process is not reversible.
Amontillados
Amontillados are wines of the fino class that have acquired an amber colour with age and a dry nutty flavour. Finos can produce Amontillados by being left in the cask without adding new wine so that eventually the flor dies away, or by increasing the alcoholic strength to 16,5% which will reduce the flor and eventually kill it.
Amontillados are smooth and full to the palate, besides being an aperitif, it can also accompany white meat, fish, cured cheese and spicy food.
Pale Cream
Is a sweet sherry made from a blend of Finos with sweet sherries. They are straw colour, light and slightly sweet with a delicate and fresh aroma. Should be served well chilled and accompanied similarly to Fino
The Oloroso Family
Olorosos
The name infers a strong bouquet and the wine is a dark gold or amber colour. Soft and mellow with more body than Amontillados, the taste often recalls walnuts. Pure Olorosos are dry to the palate. These wines are suitable for drinking before a meal or accompanying red meat and game.
Palo Cortados
Palo Cortado is a rare type of oloroso and is somewhere in style between a normal oloroso and an amontillado. It recalls amontillado to the nose and has characteristics of oloroso to the mouth.
Cream
Cream is a sweet sherry obtained from olorosos, Pedro Ximenez is added to give a sweeter taste. The blend can be more complex and have other components like Finos and Amontillado. It has a pungent aroma and a lot of body. It is ideally accompanied by sweets and desserts.
Medium
Is a type of sherry that is obtained from Amontillado or Olorosos that have been sweetened with Pedro Ximenez to a lower level than creams (less than half) and there are named Medium Amontillados or Medium Olorosos.
Pedro Ximenez (P.X.)
After picking, the Pedro Ximenez grapes are placed out in the sun on esparto grass mats, covered with polythene sheets at night to prevent dew and rain from rotting the grapes.
The drying out process in the sun takes approximately 15 days during which the Beaumé increases from 13 to 26. This is produced by the evaporation of water, the heat of the sun and consequently there is a concentration of sugars.
The grapes are crushed in a grinder and pressed in a small strong horizontal press that extracts the juice. Wine spirit is added to the P.X. after fermentation has started to stop it which means that P.X. ferments only partially.
P.X. is aged as Añadas (Vintages) for several years, after which it passes through Criaderas and Soleras.
BLENDING
As mentioned previously a brand of sherry can be a mixture of several soleras. Correct quantities of each solera are blended in stainless steel vats. Samples are sent to the laboratory where the Baumé and alcohol content are checked. The wine is brought up to the desired strength and colour as necessary.
FINING
After blending the wine is clarified with Bentonite, which causes the objects in suspension to sink. Total fining time is 30 to 40 days after which the wine is racked and taken to the cooling plant.
REFRIGERATION
The wine is refrigerated in large tanks at -7C degrees (19F degrees) for eight days to precipitate excess tartrates. It is then racked off into tanks and is filtered, and the residual “Cream of Tartar” is sold as a by-product
BOTTLING
Sherry is put into bottles in specific conditions that can insure maximum stability i.e. absolute hygiene, sterile filtration and filling, free of oxidation possibilities.
Harveys has a modern bottling plant with three bottling lines for sherry, the capacity being 35,000 bottles/hour.