SUB-ZERO WINE BLOG

Sherry is a complex topic. George Sandeman, whose family has been making some of the world’s best Sherries since the late eighteenth century, once assured me he could fully explain Sherry to anyone. “But,” he added, “it will be as complicated as explaining the game of cricket.” That’s enough to scare most people off.

But the basics are easy enough. Sherry comes from Jerez de la Frontera, in Southern Spain’s Andalucia region. Wine has been produced here since the time of the Phoenicians, but trade in Sherry really got started when the English began shipping Sherry in the sixteeenth century. The Elizabethans knew Sherry as “sack” (a favorite tipple of Shakespeare’s Falstaff) and England has been an important market ever since.

There are two main types of Sherry. The type called fino is covered by a film of yeast, called the flor (“flower”) during aging, keeping it free from the influence of oxygen. Fino is typically light, dry and crisp and, served chilled, it is the classic accompaniment to tapas. Oloroso doesn’t age under a covering of flor and is left exposed to air, becoming darker, richer and more concentrated than fino due to oxidization. Other types of Sherry include amontillado (a fino which has taken on the characteristics of an oloroso) and Pedro Ximenez (an intensely sweet, raisiny Sherry made from the grape variety of this name).

Check out the Sandeman Sherries for a great intro to this fascinating topic.