Sherry is a fortified wine hailing from southern Spain, produced in a region known as Jerez. Among the general population, it tends to have a bad reputation.
It's a type of drink associated with something your Grandma might consume - Harvey's Bristol's Cream is likely a bottle you've seen in your family's liquor cabinet that's probably been there too long.
It's hard to say how this reputation has come about, and it's disappointing such a diverse wine is associated with such negativity. Sherry, as a style, is vast and varied.
What most don't realize is that sherry can be dry, savoury and light bodied, but also viscous, sweet and syrupy - or anything in between. Within the category alone, there exist at least eight incarnations. Different grape varieties are used and treated to unique production methods that result in different styles.
Sherry has made a style of winemaking called fractional blending famous - produced in a system known as a solera. These soleras house stacks of oak barrels, resembling pyramids.
Fractional blending refers to new wine blended with old - with every extraction for bottling, the solera is then replenished with new juice.
This is what makes sherry production so unique - depending on the length of aging, some sherries can have wine upwards of 100 years old captured in bottle.
One style, known as Fino sherry, is made from the Palomino grape, fermented as a dry white wine, then fortified with grape spirit. Fino is incredibly light, and can taste reminiscent of the sea, for a few different reasons.
Proximity to the ocean, along with a unique type of aging in oak barrels, impart this salinity. Fino is purposely aged under a cap of yeast, known as "flor."
This layer of "flor," prohibits the juice from oxidizing, preventing any development of toasty aromas. For this reason, fino is a phenomenal food pairing with anything particularly salty like olives, anchovies or potato chips.
Oloroso style sherries are also made from the Palomino grape, fortified with grape spirit, and aged in oak barrels. The difference, however, is oxidation is encouraged as opposed to prevented. Without the presence of "flor," the juice is exposed to oxygen, creating caramel, oaky and nutty flavours. Wild game or aged cheeses pair well with oloroso.
Pedro Ximenez is a different grape variety that is used for producing dessert style sherry. It is picked very ripe and only partially fermented, with as much as 200 grams of sugar per litre remaining.
As such, it is a thick, incredibly sweet style, with flavours of candied figs, dates, chocolate, coffee and spices. PX is wonderful enjoyed on its own after a rich meal, or particularly decadent drizzled over vanilla ice cream.
The next time you're at the liquor store, consider giving sherry a try. You might be pleasantly surprised with what you encounter!
Laura Milnes is a Kelowna native and local wine professional, operating her own wine and hospitality consulting company. Laura is WSET certified, and continually expands her wine knowledge through education, research and travel. You can find Laura hosting wine related pop up events and consulting with wineries throughout the Okanagan with a focus on wine education and training. The rare time Laura is not reading about, or tasting wine, you can find her travelling with her partner, cooking or doing DIY projects for her home. To learn more about wine check out her Instagram page @silkandcoupe.
