What I Didn't Know About Sherry (Part 2)

Last week I wrote the first part about the developments in the wonderful world of sherry. You can read that here Read back. Today I'll continue with developments in marketing.

What can you do if sales are disappointing? Lowering the price is possible, but they've done that too often in Jerez. Things need to change. The product's value needs to increase. How? Easy enough. Just check with your neighbors, since this trick is used throughout the wine world. Think of Champagne from a single vintage, or a wine from a specific vineyard, or special "forgotten" grape varieties. Sherry can do the same.

Single vineyards sherries

While terroir is the magic word in the wine world, it's often overlooked in the land of sherry. Sherry is a blended wine made in the cellar. Here, vineyards and vintages are blended with the aim of bringing a consistent style to the market—year after year. Yet, in many wine courses, you'll learn that there's a significant difference between sherry from Jerez and sherry from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, which It all has to do with the terroir . Sanlúcar is slightly cooler than Jerez, wetter, and has less pure albariza (white chalky soil). It's also closer to the sea, which gives Manzanilla its characteristic salty flavor – unique to Sanlúcar sherries.

But it can be more detailed. And we do that with Pagos . A pago is often translated as vineyard, but that's too simplistic. It's actually a cluster of vineyards. A pago can contain multiple vineyards (with multiple owners). One of the most famous pagos for sherry is the Macharnudo In Jerez. Grapes were already planted here 3,000 years ago. It's situated slightly higher than the rest of the region and has pure Albariza soil. The Clos de Vougeot of sherry. Valdespino always made, and still does, a fino from Macharnudo. That name was once even printed on the label: Valdespino Macharnudo Innocenta . For a long time, the sherry was known as Valdespino Innocente Fino without any mention of its origin. The importance of pagos—and thus the terroir—has been forgotten over the years.

Unfortified sherry

Unfortified sherry shouldn't actually be called sherry. According to the rules, sherry must always be fortified with a neutral grape distillate. This is remarkable, because in the past, unfortified wine was widely produced here. They were pasta wines and were intended for the domestic market, as the low alcohol content meant the wine couldn't withstand long journeys. These wines had long disappeared from the scene, but are now making a comeback.

A few years ago, Equipo Navazos, led by Jesús Barquín, shook up the sherry world – or rather the entire wine world. He launched La Bota de Florpower , a sherry-based wine with an alcohol content of 12-13%

Another example of an unfortified sherry from Sanlúcar de Barrameda is the UBE series, made by Bodegas Cota 45 (owned by Ramiro Ibáñez). Unfortified and under 15% alcohol, but with (a little) floral notes. Great wines.

Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Perez (son of Luis Pérez) followed this development and came up with Encrucijado and Barajuela , unfortified but with 15% alcohol.

La Barajuela: single vineyard El Corregidor
La Barajuela is a different story. It's unfortified again, but still has an alcohol content of 15%. Tell me more. Willy Perez, winemaker, decided to harvest the grapes later. He then let them dry in the sun for another 24 to 36 days ( asoleo method ). The grapes come from El Corregidor, a vineyard within the Carrascal Pago. Carrascal is the furthest from the sea, so it benefits least from the cool wind. This makes the pago ideal for olorosso.

Luis Perez's wines (made by his son, Willy Perez) truly bring everything together. La Barajuela is indeed unfortified, made from grapes from a single vintage and a specific vineyard. La Barajuela refers to a variety of Albariza soil. I stumbled upon the bodega at Prowein and had the opportunity to taste the wines. Yesss!!

I'd read so much about sherry and Perez over the past few weeks that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet them at Prowein. It's such a stark difference from the first sherry I tasted – ten years ago. This one is refined, elegant, and has a real length. Unfortunately, production is limited, and Luis Perez is already practically sold out. I did get his ticket for the next series. With a bit of luck, I can pick it up in person in Jerez.

The Fino de Barajeuela (right bottle) was beautifully refined, a good balance between the nutty aroma and apple notes (green and yellow). We also got to taste the PX . I've only ever tasted it as syrupy and dark brown. Not with Luis Perez. The sherry has a golden yellow color and an incredibly beautiful balance of sugars and acids. Instead of the usual 450 grams of sugar per liter, this PX has only 100 grams. What a wine! Yes, I'm convinced: sherry deserves a podium spot.

Newsflash : The Consejo Regulador, the sherry committee, has requested an amendment to allow unfortified sherry to also be accepted within the DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry. The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture has the proposal Accepted. Now the European Commission.

Forgotten grape varieties are making a comeback

In the previous paragraph I mentioned Encrucijado From Ramiro Ibañez, another example of an unfortified "sherry." Although that's not the only trend winemaker Ibañez is capitalizing on. The wine is also (partly) made from forgotten grape varieties.

Palomino Fino, of course, still plays the leading role, accounting for 50% of the blend. Five other grape varieties are also used, each accounting for 10%: Beba, Mantúo Pilas, Perruno, Cañocazo, and Mantúo Castellano. All sourced from Albariza soils. The wine was aged for 20 months, half of which under flor. 685 bottles (one barrel) were made from the first harvest. Talk about an increase in value...

And Rama Sherry

This has been around for a while, but I must admit I missed the memo. Barbadillo launched a manzanilla and rama in 1999, and Gonzalez Byass followed in 2010 with the first fino and rama. And rama sherry is a "fresh sherry"—a sherry straight from the cask with minimal filtering. And the latter, that's what it's all about .

In biologically aged sherries, fino, and manzanilla, the magical flor layer develops, which has a tremendous impact on the flavor. It consumes sugars, alcohol, and other components of the wine, adding nutty, salty, and yeasty aromas. All well and good, but that flor layer had to be completely removed before the wine was released. Consumers don't want impurities. This led to heavy filtration. While this resulted in a pure sherry, the winemakers also removed body, flavor, and color in the process.

Sherry blogger Ruben calls it "the industrial mindset of consistency ." Beautiful. With magic words like authenticity, uniqueness, and individuality, it's time for a change. Minimal filtering, maximum flavor.

Bodega Lustau produces annually three kinds of And Rama on the market. The sherries are matured in one of the three towns of the Sherry Triangle (Jerez, Sanlúcar, and El Puerto). Beautiful, isn't it?

From 'nobody gets it' to 'the best gastronomic wine'

In a nutshell: nobody understands sherry. What is sherry anyway? Is it wine? Is it sweet or bone-dry? Anything goes, but how do you know? All you know is that your aunt drank it! I can just picture my friends' faces when I tell them we're going to drink sherry. It's not a big deal here, especially not for this demographic. In short, something needs to be done about communication.

I think they're on a roll with the new styles. They're bound to appeal to wine fans with this, but now they just need to reach them. I had no idea, but (fortunately) I had to delve into it for my education. I'm happy to pass on that knowledge, because the key to sherry is education. You're already seeing a bit of that happening in gastronomy. Sherry is a fantastic food wine. Perfect with tapas, but also at home in Michelin-starred cuisine. It's no wonder El Bulli—once the best restaurant in the world—was sixty sherries be on the map.

I'd love to contribute! In fact, I'm sold. Give me one of those new sherries. Sounds delicious. A manzanilla and rama. Preferably with a plate of oysters. Gracias!

Tips from a sherry blogger Ruben from SherryNotes:
I personally wouldn't recommend starting with a Fino or Manzanilla, especially if you just buy them at the supermarket. The strong aroma of yeast and overripe fruit can be a pleasant surprise (especially with food), but many people struggle with it initially. Try a (dry) Amontillado or Oloroso first, as they're a bit rounder.

Lustau Los Arcos and Lustau Escuadrilla are two high-quality Amontillados that are readily available (they also have several in the Almacenista range). If you prefer a light sweetness, Matusalem VORS and especially Apostoles VORS (Gonzalez Byass) are two excellent aged sherries with a lovely balance between dry and sweet components.