Sherries are even more misunderstood than John McEnroe. And for the simple, logical reason that hardly anyone understands them, nobody drinks them anymore. And because hardly anyone seems to want them, they’re disappearing fast. This puts them directly in line with whales, seals, Tasmanian forests and – heaven forbid – Australia’s cricketing talent. On the road to extinction. It’s no laughing matter. Back in ’86 Seppelts ended their run of gold-label sherries – finished for all money. The tears I cried as I consoled myself over a still-endangered bottle of their DP 117 Fino were genuine indeed. The fascination of sherry is a direct spin-off from its unique means of production, which itself relies on two unique aspects – the growth of a yeast `scum’ on the wine within the casks in the cellars ( or `bodegas’ ) and the solera, an intricate and mathematically astounding fractional-blending system. There are many wines sold as `sherries’ in Australia today that aren’t fit to polish a Spanish dining-table, let alone be served at it. This is because the essence of sherries ( especially the drier styles ) is their distinct bready-nuttiness, only acquired by the presence of a floating film of the `flor’ yeast. Cheaper Austraslian `sherries’ are frequently made without flor yeast growth, and in my mind can only be likened to light, grapey ( and frequently excessively sweet ) fortifed wines. It will surprise many people that the best Austraslian sherries are amongst the best of the style made anywhere – and at their low prices represent the most extraordinary value for money, selling at a fraction of their true worth as a `world’ commodity. Fine examples are regularly made by Seppelts ( alas, we are only left with their still excellent DP range ), Lindemans, Mildara ( the HRH range in their new and very nautical clear decanter-bottles ) and Leo Buring ( especially the rare and reasonable S114 Fino ) and still blended to exacting standards by the Talavera Wine Company in Melbourne ( watch for the Jack’s Blend line ). Let’s now look more closely at how sherries are made, concentrating firstly where it all began, in Spain. It is important to realize that all sherry, no matter whether labelled as Fino, Amnontillado or Oloroso is made initially as a bone-dry wine – any embellishments follow later. It is made with free access to air, and the spontaneous growth of the flor yeast over the wine’s surface within the barrel protects it from rapid and excessive oxidation. Immediately after the fermentation the neutral dry wine is fortified with a neutral spirit ( distilled to 95% alc/vol ) to around 15% alcohol by volume. Then, after clarification, it is decanted to old wooden casks. Oak maturation with sherries is totally unlike that used for dry white table wines, where the extraction of oak flavours and characters are keenly sought. Sherries are aged in old wood that has lost its `oakiness’ but retains its ability to allow minute and controlled volumes of air to seep through into the wine, helping it to age and develop complexity and quality. The bung used for the barrel is loose-fitting and allows movement of air in either direction. The young sherry is watched closely as it matures in the barrel, and special attention is paid to the growth rate of the flor yeast, for different barrels of the same wine will produce different thicknesses of flor growth quite by chance. All the differnt types of sherry begin life as one of two basic types, either a Fino or an Oloroso. Light and delicate wines with a heavy growth of flor yeast, and a stronger nutty `sherry’ character, are destined to be made to Fino styles. Those slightly heavier, but still with good flor growth may become Amontillado sherries, which are also made by leaving Fino sherries for longer periods in casks as they gain in body and develop in volume of flavour and bouquet. Other young sherries which show little or no disposition towards the flor tend to be darker, fuller and slightly coarser wines that lack the subtle delicacy of the Fino styles. There are earmarked to become Olorosos, and are fully fortifed earlier than Finos to protect them against oxidation and allow them to mature in the cool cellars for long periods. Soleros impart the almost magical qualities which enable sherry to be absolutely consistent every year, so that no matter how good or poor the last vintage, the wine drawn off at the end of the blending system will be imperceptibly different to that taken last year. The cellars, or bodegas where the blending and maturation takes place, are huge cavernous halls, filled with tall, lengthy, but ordered piles of barrels. The top layer of the solera is called the `criadera’, or nursery , into which the new and youngest wine is poured, to fill about 80% of the barrel. But to achieve this, some wine must be removed from these casks, and transferred to those in the layer below, which themselves have been partially emptied to receive the younger wine. Like a falling line of dominos, this effect is continued down through all the layers of the solera, leaving the oldest wine to be drawn from the barrels in the bottom layer and out from the solera. The wine from each layer is `bulked’ to ensure consistency before being distributed to the older layer below. This is considerably less laborious than the old and rarely-used practice of manually adding a little of each barrel to every one of the many ( often hundreds ) in the layer below. After removal from the casks the sherries are fortified to their final alcoholic level, and some sweeteening may occur before bottling. This is achieved with `vino de color’, which also darkens the sherry. It is made by concentrating unfermented must by simmering it over a slow fire, giving it the colour of treacle. After mixing one part of this with two parts of more unfermented must a rather violent fermentation occurs, which when follwed by a secondary fermentation produces the vino de color. It is around 12 o Baume and 9% alcohol by volume and ideal for turning rich, pale sherries into luscious and ancient-looking dark ones. Little wonder that sherries don’t display vintage years – they’re so intensely blended to many older wines that this would be inconceiveable. When released for sale the Fino sherry is the lightest, driest and most delicate wine of all. It is best drunk while it still retains its youthful freshness and zing. Unfortunately it is at its best just 3-4 days after bottling, but don’t be too upset if you only get your hands on a bottle after a few months. But don’t be fooled into cellaring Finos – for like the old bride in `Great Expectations’, they look better from a distance. Chill and serve Finos as aperitifs and accompaniments to salads and prawns at any time. Amontillado sherries are evolutions from the fino style. They are deeper and more amber in colour and slightly less nutty in character. Amontillado sherries are sometimes sweetened, but all sherries are dry in their natural state. Older Amontillados are fine alternatives to spirits after a meal, and younger, more vibrant wines are more suited to matching with food. Oloroso is Spanish for `fragrant’. The wines are very intense and concentrated, fuller-bodied than Amontillados and extremely vinous and `fat’. Their great richness can be easily mistaken for sweetness. The most alcoholic of the sherries, they can reach over 23% alcohol by volume with age. Although some try matching their strong flavour with food, I think they are best suited to uncorking after the meal. In Australia we follow a similar direction in the making of our sherries. Instead of using natural wild yeasts we inoculate with pure selected strains, and we don’t use the solera system as extensively, although we try to achieve the same results. Australian sherry-producers often separate the processes of ageing in small barrels with the pick-up of flor character, which occur concurrently in Spain, and we have even developed systems using a submerged yeast culture to rapidly achieve this. There’s one last thing you need to remember before racing out to buy your first mixed dozen. In Australia Finos are predicably as dry as dust. Amontillados are usually medium-dry and dry Olorosos are rare enough to be museum pieces, for they are most commonly quite sweet. Do your bit for an endangered species without having to be/ arrested for snoozing in front of a bulldozer.
