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.
Traditionally, Port was made by “foot treaders,” people that gently stomped on the grapes to quickly release the juice and dark color needed for Port. Some premium producers still use this method today, although the costs of employing the treaders increases the price of the wine.
Most commonly, wine-makers use machines to automate the pressing phase and mimic the delicate pressing of human feet. Some Ports are aged in the winery and then bottled for immediate consumption. Others, like Vintage Ports, are made with the highest quality grapes and can age in the bottle for decades! As Ports age, the flavors change from fresh fruits to dried fruits, and the wine develops into a highly concentrated expression of Port wine.
Madeira is a heated, fortified wine that has flavors of cooked and stewed fruit.
Inexpensive Madeiras are often made through the Estufagem tank method, where the wine is placed in a vat and cooked at high temperatures for several months. Higher quality Madeiras are heated naturally in the sun, or hot warehouses, where the sun heats the wine for months and causes it to slowly cook. In both cases, air is allowed to interact with the wine, adding flavors of dried fruit and sweet spices.
