Generality
The sherry is a fortified wine obtained by fermentation of white grapes.
Typical of the city of Jerez de la Frontera (Andalusia - Spain), sherry is produced in two main varieties:
- "dry", like the Manzanilla and the Until, made mainly from grapes Palomino (similar to light white table wines);
- "aged" (in cask), like the "Amontillado And l "Oloroso (darker, alcoholic and with soft scents).
Consumption methods
Young and dry sherry does not lend itself to bottle aging, as it fears light, heat and oxidation. It must therefore be stored in a cool and dark place, in an upright position, so as not to expose the wine to the surface of the cork.
Some aged sherries, such as Manzanilla Pasada, they can enjoy a partial maturation in the bottle. On the contrary, the Until and the Manzanilla YOUNG PEOPLE deteriorate very quickly; for this reason, young sherries are often sold in small bottles and, in case of leftovers, discarded at the end of the day. The aged sherries like Amontillado And Olorosos instead they last longer and some sweet versions last even several weeks.
Sherry should be drunk by a "copita", a glass in the shape of a tulip. Typical is the service of sherry taken from the barrel by means of the"venencia", a narrow silver cup fixed to a whalebone handle which is quickly plunged into the hole in the cork and poured into the copita.
Nutritional Characteristics
Sherry is a fortified wine, with an alcohol content that, in more structured products, can reach 20% Vol. It is therefore necessary to adapt the relative portion of consumption, decreasing it compared to traditional wine: in principle, even in subjects healthy and uncompromising, sherry consumption should be kept within 125ml / day.
Being a white (although sometimes heavily browned by oxidation), sherry does not contain significant doses of antioxidants (resveratrol), which are instead well present in any red wine. This means that the presence of sherry in the diet does not confer any kind of nutritional advantage. .
The consumption of this wine (but also of other spirits) is completely discouraged: in healthy subjects in the growth phase, in pregnant women and in nurses. Moreover, alcohol also plays a negative role in the treatment of certain metabolic diseases such as : hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia and overt metabolic syndrome.
As an alcoholic drink, sherry is to be abolished in case of suffering of organs such as: kidneys (renal failure), pancreas (pancreatitis) and liver (steatosis, hepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, tumor, liver failure, etc.).
We remind you that ethyl alcohol is toxic to all tissues and is highly irritating especially to the mucous membranes of the digestive tract. In the stomach, it causes hyperacidity and favors the onset of gastro esophageal reflux, gastritis and ulcer (both gastric and duodenal); a neglected gastroesophageal reflux, especially if associated with massive alcoholic intake, can favor the mutation of the physiological epithelium of the esophagus predisposing to the well-known "Barrett's esophagus" (in turn responsible for the "increased risk of cancer). we forget that ethyl alcohol is also harmful to the intestine and that sherry must be absolutely avoided in case of Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Rectal colitis; in healthy subjects, intestinal hypersensitivity is frequent which, with the generous consumption of alcohol, result in the manifestation of irritable colon.
For athletes, sherry must be consumed respecting the recommended portions; ethyl alcohol is responsible for an increase in renal filtration, therefore the tendency to dehydration (emphasized by motor activity). Furthermore, albeit with significant differences related to subjectivity , remember that alcoholic beverages are responsible for the negative disturbance of sleep.
We conclude by specifying that sherry alcohol can interfere with the absorption and metabolism of drugs and that, if subjected to abuse, it predisposes the subject to the risk of nutritional malabsorption. It is also well known that it is a molecule involved in toxic addictive conditions.
Etymology and Designation of Origin
The term "sherry" is an "anglication" of Xeres (Jerez). In the past, sherry was known as "sack", from "saca"in Spanish, a term that indicates the particular method of vinification by means of alcoholic fortification (addition of distillates) associated with the rotation of the barrels during aging (solera).
In Europe, sherry has obtained the designation of origin (DO); therefore, according to Spanish law, all wine labeled as such must come from the so-called "Sherry Triangle" (an "area of the province of Cadiz between: Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María). The denomination of Jerez (DO Jerez-Xeres-Sherry) was the first Spanish Designation of Origin to be officially recognized in 1933, sharing the same Governing Council as the "DO Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda'.
Notes on Production
Sherry is obtained in a different way than a traditional wine.
First of all, the grapes for the must must be low in water. Once they were picked up and left to dry in the sun on mats; today, however, they tend to be harvested later than ripening.
After complete fermentation of the must (alcoholic and malic), the base wines for sherry are enriched with wine brandy; this intervention aims to increase the final alcohol content by blocking the fermentation processes (some differences can be highlighted in the production cycle of sweet sherries). It is important to underline that all sherries are NOT processed the same way Until and the Manzanilla, intended for a fermentation characterized by the presence of flor, are added until they reach a total alcohol content of 15.5% vol. (the flor it is a layer of yeasts, formed during the malolactic fermentation, which protects the wine from oxidation).Oloroso they are "mutized" to reach gradations up to 17% vol .; this feature significantly reduces the flor and allows the oxygenation / oxidation of the sherry during the aging in cask.
Being fortified only after alcoholic-malic fermentation, sherries tend to be of the "dry" type (since, if applied after fermentation, mutation does not interfere with the microbiological activity of the yeasts). This distinguishes it from port wine which, on the contrary, it is fortified in the middle of the fermentation cycle so that part of the sugar remains unscathed.
The "bottling of the sherry takes place with the aforementioned method"solera"; in this way, the vintage is never fully defined and each bottle contains a part of aged wine.
Types of Sherry
The main types of sherry are:
- Until: clear, dry and aged in barrels with flor
- Manzanilla: variety of Fino particularly clear
- Manzanilla Pasada: manzanilla with prolonged and partially oxidized aging
- Amontillado: aged with flor which is broken to obtain a "partial oxidation. It" is dry but some are sweetened to obtain a sweet wine (which on the other hand cannot be called Amontillado)
- Oloroso: aged and oxidized for a long time; it is darker, more aromatic and alcoholic than the previous ones. It too can be sweetened but loses its specific denomination
- Paolo Cortado: initially aged as an Amontillado which later, by elimination of the flor, matures similarly to an Oloroso
- Jerez Dulce: dry fermentation of Perdro Ximenez or Moscato grapes
- Cream: sweet sherry, obtained by blending different sherries
The classification of sherries by alcohol and sugar content is summarized in the table below:
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