Sherry is a fortified wine from the region of Jerez, Spain. It starts out as a regular white wine, and is then “fortified” with a 95% ABV grape spirit (liquor) to bring the total ABV up much higher than regular wines. Whereas the alcohol content for a still wine averages around 12.5% ABV, certain styles of Sherry can be as much as 22% ABV after the fortification and maturation process.

Sherry is made from 3 white grapes: Palomino, Pedro Ximénez (PX) and Moscatel. It comes in many different styles and colors! From dry to sweet, tangy to soft, and light yellow to almost black, the unique wine-making process of Sherry makes it a very versatile wine.

How is Sherry Made?

Sherry is made in a “Solera” System, which is a blending system that organizes the Sherry wine in aging vessels according to age. Theoretically, the younger vessels are stacked at the top and the older ones rest at the bottom. As Sherry is bottled from the oldest vessel at the bottom, that same amount of wine is replaced with a slightly younger blend from a vessel above. And that wine is replaced with younger wine from above. In essence, it’s a continuous blending process.

The winemaker has an array of vessels to blend to produce many different styles of Sherry. Due to the constant blending over the years, the oldest Sherry vessels can contain the remains of decades-old wine! The longer a Sherry sits in the Solera, the more the flavors change.

4 Major Categories of Sherry

Biological Sherries: This is a class of Sherry where Flor (a type of yeast) is allowed to form on top of the wine as it ages. The Flor develop a thick coat that protects the wine from oxygen, keeping it light and fresh. As a result, these wines are more lemon in color and taste a bit tangy from the flavors the yeast make. This process produces dry Finos, dry Manzanillas and sweet Pale Creams.

Oxidative Sherries: This is a class of Sherry where the fortified wine ages over time with controlled exposure to oxygen. As it ages, the air turns the wine brown and gives it dried fruit and nutty flavors. This process produces dry Olorosos and Sweet Creams.

Biological + Oxidative Sherries: This is a class of Sherry where the fortified wine is both aged biologically and oxidatively. As a result, it has both a tangy flavor from the yeast, and a dried fruit flavor from the oxygen. This process produces dry Palo Cortados, dry Amontillados, and sweet Medium Creams.

Naturally Sweet Sherries: This is a class of Sherry where white PX and Moscatel grapes are dried in the sun for several weeks after they are harvested. These shriveled and raisin-like grapes are so sweet that the wine remains sweet after it is fermented and fortified with the grape spirit. These wines can get very dark in color, making you forget they were made with white grapes!

Flavors & Body

Manzanilla: Dry, lemon color, light body, tangy, fresh fruit, bread, dough, almonds

Fino: Dry, lemon color, light body, very tangy, fresh fruit, bread, dough, almonds

Amontillado: Dry, amber-brown color, rounder body, caramel, nuts

Palo Cortado: Dry, amber color, rounder body, caramel, nuts

Oloroso: Dry, brown color, rounder body, dried fruit, raisin, prune, caramel, walnut

Pale Cream: Sweet, lemon color, lighter body, tangy, fresh fruit, bread, dough, almonds

Medium Cream: Sweet, amber-brown color, rounder body, caramel, nuts

Cream: Sweet, brown color, round body, dried fruit, raisin, prune, caramel

Moscatel: Very sweet, dark brown, very round body, raisins, molasses, licorice

Pedro Ximénez: Very sweet, very dark brown, very thick like syrup, raisins, molasses, licorice, cola

Cheers! Follow me for more wine education and tips!