Sherry

This is another fortified wine. It will range from light and bone-dry to thick, sweet, and creamy. It can be served chilled or sipped at room temperature. Their flavors range from dry to sweet and almost ultra-sweet.


Introduction

The Sherry wine is one of the most ancient wines still grown by man. It was grown from the times of Christopher Columbus to Shakespeare and still is one of the top-notch wines in today’s world. It is still under the spotlight due to its food-friendly qualities and its stellar value. The grape was first grown in Spain and has a lot of importance in the country. It is also grown in South Africa, France, Australia and Germany.

History

The wine was first grown in Spain in the 1000 BC. The wine production suffered a little under the roman rule but continued even under the Arab rule. Some of the basic things about the sherry wine were known long- long ago. For the sherry to remain fresh in taste and stabilized it was mixed with brandy because of this it is known as alcohol mixed wine. Christopher coloumbus also spread the Sherry to different parts of the world. He used to bring the wine along in his voyages. The wine then spread to the UK as King Francis captured the western coast of Spain and thus some of the Sherry production was lost to the Britishers. The wine was such a treasure for Spain that in the 1990s the EU rules that Sherrys could be produced only in Spain.

Viticulture

Sherry grapes grow in mostly those regions which are sunny and have rainfall for about 2-3 months. Clayey Soil is the best soil for growing Sherry grapes as the soil can absorb moisture coming from the sea sore. This nourishes the grape for a long time. The grapes are round and get swollen due to the high moisture content. Thus after being picked up he grapes are dried in the sun for 2 days so that their sugar content increases. These dried grapes are used to produce sweet wines. The grapes are harvested in the month of September. After the harvesting the must from the grapes are removed and it is this must from which wine is produced. The must is fermented in steel cases by the month of November thereby providing white wine with 11-12% of alcohol.

Characteristics

Most of the sherry wines are made in oxidative styles. These wines age for extended periods in the presence of oxygen. The oxygen reduces the alcohol content but also provides the wine with flavour and aroma which is quite different from other wines.

Sherry are produced in various styles. The wines which are produced by the action of yeast have a great aroma and are fermented for a long time. These older wines are mixed with the younger wines and are marketed all around the world.

Food Pairing
People tend to drink Sherry in small glasses due to its overpowering aroma. Sherry is a food wine capable of complementing any type of food from salty to spicy. A dish of nuts or olives is generally consumed with the drink. A plate of beef smothered in a sauce will taste brilliant when consumed with Sherry. The wine also goes along well with cheeses specially the blue cheese. Grilled meat and chicken also taste well with the wine.

Regions

The grapes are cultivated mostly in Spain as it has the climate sitable foe grape cultivation. Jerez in Spain is the region famous worldwide for growing this wine variety. Britain is te second largest producer of Sherry in the world. However its production is nowhere close to Spain. Serry is also grown in countries like Australia, South Africa and Germany. However the wine is not grown in the United States as the climate there is a big dampener.