Sherry - Spanish Sunshine in a Bottle! (part 1 - Introduction & Regions)

-- End Ad Box --->without a welcoming decanter of Sherry upon the
Sherry is a fortified wine, made in Spain frommahogany, awaiting the pleasure of your
three types of grapes: Palomino, Pedrocompany. Today, in spite of the notorious
Ximénez, and Muscat (Moscatel). Sherry-stylefickleness of fashion; in spite of high taxes and of
wines made in other countries often use otherbureaucratic controls, Sherry, the wine made
grape varieties.from the white grapes of the Jerez vineyards, still
Sherry differs from other wines because of howis still first favorite among all the wines imported
it is treated after fermentation. It is first fortifiedinto Great Britain.
with brandy and then if destined to be fino style aANDALUCIA
yeast called flor is allowed to grow on top.Andalucia no longer comprises three kingdoms as
Oloroso style is fortified to a strength where theit once did, nor is it any longer the great Moorish
flor cannot grow. (In contrast, port wine isProvince that it was once, but still is the richest
fortified to a higher percentage of alcohol thanand sunniest part of Spain, stretching from Castile,
sherry, effectively preventing the growth of anyin the North, to the Straits, in the South; and
yeast.)from the Mediterranean, in the East, to Portugal
REGIONSand the Atlantic in the West.
JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA or JEREZ for short, theSEVILLE the capital of Andalucia, is one of the
Scheris of the Moors, one of their fortresses infairest cities in the world, but sea-going ships have
Spain, was long a walled city of great strategiclong ceased to come up the Guadalquivir to its
importance. Today it is a busy town, and the hubonce busy quays with the gold and goods of the
of the Sherry Trade. It stands upon the mainIndies. The inexhaustible wealth of Andalucia is in
road from Seville to Cadiz, some 9 miles north ofits fertile soil and genial climate, its wheat, oil and
Port St. Mary at the top corner of the Bay ofwine; its oranges, figs and other fruits; its
Cadiz and at the mouth of the Guadalete; and 12light-hearted, hard-working people.
miles east of Sanlucar, upon the left bank of theVines flourish and wine is made in many parts of
Guadalquivir, immediately before it flows into theAndalucia, but the vineyards which produce the
Atlantic.finest and most distinctive white Spanish wine,
JEREZ has given its name to Sherry, the wine ofSherry, that which brings solace and joy to all
Jerez (both names Jerez and Sherry beingmen and women of taste and discerning thirst,
corruptions of the old .Moorish name of the town,are the vineyards scattered twixt Guadalquivir
Scheris), which Shakespeare and all Elizabethansand Guadalete, during the last lap of their
loved and praised above all others. To theseawards run, the first reaching the Atlantic at
Victorians, Sherry and hospitality wereSanlucar de Barrameda, and the other the Bay of
synonymous: few, indeed, were then the homesCadiz, at Port St. Mary.