Wine Rack Store Blog

I have been told that sherry wines are growing in popularity among wine drinkers so it seemed pertinent to do a little research. I want to add a bottle to the wine rack but need the basics to get started. Here’s the skinny on sherry.

Sherry is a fortified grape based wine traditional produced in Spain’s southwest growing region. The soil of the sherry growing region is very limestone dense and provides the distinct flavor of the sherry. Sherry has been grown in the region for over three thousand years so couldn’t be considered a passing fad. The three main growing areas (Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda) produce approximately 20 millions gallons of fortified wine annually.

When they say sherry is fortified, that means they add alcohol to make it more potent. Compared to regular wines, sherry can have a base alcohol content of 15 to 18 percent. Sherry is aged rather like whiskey in wooden casks in a solera system. Meaning, the new wine is put into aged casks to embody a very distinct flavor. Each vineyard and growing region has its own distinct flavor and casks.

The sherry is aged for five years using the cask system during which time older wines are blended with newer wines to give the growers a wine unique yet uniform in taste. The bottle label usually has the original date of casking rather than the date of bottling.

Sherry comes in two main varieties: sweet and dry. Sweet sherries are perfect for dessert pairings. Dry sherries are sipped before or after a meal and are served chilled. Sweet sherry is served at room temperature. Working well with cheese, nuts or other “nibbles,” sherry is usually served in small sherry glasses rather than traditional wine glasses.

The break down on sherry varieties is: Fino, Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez. The Fino sherry is light brown and has a nutty scent, perfect for roast chicken or roast turkey. Oloroso is also brown in appearance but has a caramel aroma and comes in dry, sweet and cream. Finally, the Pedro Ximenez is a very sweet sherry which some compare to a prune juice. Also dark brown in appearance, Pedro Ximenez works well with game and poultry.

Have at least one bottle of sweet sherry on your wine rack this holiday season for a conversation starter and after dinner sweet treat. It would also make a great gift for any friend’s wine rack.