HOW HAS THE ELABORATION OF SHERRY WINE CHANGED?

In the late eighteenth century the Sherry wine was not made as it is known now. The Sherry wine which was exported was a wine of the year, fortified to preserve it in a good condition during the journeys.

This changed in the early nineteenth century to the system that is still being used. This system enabled the mixing of different harvests that led to a new way of aging known as soleras and criaderas.

Sherry is aged in the solera system where new wine is put into wine barrels at the beginning of a series of three, empty at the top to allow yeasts to develop on top of the wine, to nine barrels. Periodically, a portion of the wine in a barrel is moved into the next barrel down, using tools called the canoa (canoe) and rociador (sprinkler) to move the wine gently and avoid damaging the layer of the yeast in each barrel. At the end of the series only a portion of the final barrel is bottled and sold.

The way of producing Sherry wine has not changed in one century but there is something that changed in 1977 a new Regulation of Designation of Origin Jerez-Xérès-Sherry y Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda and its Regulatory Board was published. This is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin and assures quality to the product.

Beatriz Montaner Panach