Wines At Top Information

To know what Sherry wine is you have to understand what a fortified wine is. To transform a regular wine into a fortified wine grape spirits or Brandy is added to the fermenting juice to stop sugars at a certain point from converting to alcohol. Sherry is one of those wines where grape spirits is added to stop this process. After the Sherry achieves its proper alcohol levels it is tested for quality and separated into two types of Sherry: Fino and Oloroso. Each of these types of Sherry have further classifications.

Three grapes provide the background for all types of Sherry wine: Palomino grapes, Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel. The Palomino grape is the backbone for every Sherry. It provides the overall quality of the Sherry. Pedro Ximenez is a sweet grape variety used as a sweetening agent. And Moscatel, or Muscat d’Alexandria provides the light amber colors of Sherry. Once the grapes have fermented to the right levels the juice is tasted and separated according to its quality into two groups. The best of the wine is made into Fino Sherry. Everything else is made into Oloroso Sherry.

Fino Sherry being the best of the Sherry wines is made entirely from the Palomino grape. Yeasts in the fermentation process give the wine its flavors and aromas. It is allowed a supervised exposure to oxygen to encourage aging and as it is a long process Fino Sherry is the smoothest and least acidic Sherry available. Its taste reminds you of roasted almonds.

An almost subcategory of Fino Sherry is Manzanilla Sherry. The S. Beticus yeast, native to the Sanlcar de Barrameda region, imparts a salty nuttiness due to its proximity to the ocean air. Manzanillas are given open exposure to the air in order to achieve proper maturation. This exposure ranges from short periods to moderate time in the sun and imparts a light to medium gold color.

Amontillado is the last category of Fino Sherry. It moves even further away from being a Fino as it reaches maturity. It’s full open air exposure darkens it to an almost dark brown and because of its exposure to the sun it develops a rich maderized flavor of roasted hazelnut. Amontillados are sweetened with the juice of sundried Palomino grapes called vino dulce or by adding pure sugar called dolce de albimar.

Oloroso Sherries are types of Sherry made from juice deemed of lesser quality than those made into Fino Sherry. There is nothing wrong with the juice that goes into making Oloroso, it is typically made from pressed juice, whereas Fino Sherry is more free-run juice.

The direct exposure to the open air and sun speeds the process of maturing in Oloroso Sherries. As a result of this exposed aging the Oloroso tends to be a little more abrasive than its smooth Fino cousin. Darker colors, deeper aromas and a fuller body are what characteristics define a good Oloroso. The flavors are intense toasted pecan.

A rare style of Sherry is the Palo-Cortado. It has all the aromas of an Amontillado but doesn’t go through the same process of yeast contact. On the other hand its colors and flavors are similar to Oloroso Sherry. It can be categorized in the middle of Fino and Oloroso but because of its unstable nature it eventually falls into the Oloroso style.

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When it comes to tasting wine, there are three aspects: smell, taste, and finish. We’ll look at each of those individually.

Swirling your wine in your glass is the first step to smelling it; this process exposes the most amount of the wine to air, which helps release its aromas. To swirl effectively, don’t fill the glass too full – in fact less than half full is recommended. Put the wine glass up to your nose as you’re swirling and think about the aromas that are being released.

While swirling, put your glass up to your nose and inhale, thinking about what kinds of aromas you’re experiencing. Young wines will have primary aromas, relating to the grape variety (such smells are often fruit related). As wines age more secondary aromas develop, which may be more earthy or animalistic. Remember that a wines aromas can take on many different forms, and very rarely will it simply smell of grapes.

When you taste wine, it’s important to realize that little of the flavor that can be sensed actually involves the tongue. In fact, its your nose that does the tasting, even when wine is in your mouth; this is because the aromas of the wine seep into your nasal passages from your mouth.

Therefore, you should breathe steadily through your nose whilst the wine is in your mouth, thinking about how the wine changes as you inhale and exhale. There are different segments to the taste of wine as it remains in your mouth: the fore-palate refers to your first impression, the mid-palate to your taste after a few seconds, and the end-palate to the wines final flavor. Each of these will be different, so look out for the changes in taste.

The finish describes the sensations derived from swallowing the wine. It will often be different to how the wine came across on the palate. You might notice the wines flavors remaining on your palate after you swallow, and this feeling is called length. The more length a wine has, the more time you have to enjoy it, and it’s probably true to say that such wines are generally of better quality.

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