SOLERA SYSTEM

Sherry wine is well-known around the world for many different reasons. Its characteristic ageing system is one of the most important of them.

In the last 50 years, ageing in wineries have not changed so far. The traditional, genuine system used for ageing sherry wines is known as the Criaderas and Solera System. This is a dynamic system by which wines from different stages of the ageing process are blended together in order to perpetuate specific characteristics in the wine. Periodically, a specific proportion of the wine in each of the butts (botas) making up the solera system is extracted, leaving them partially empty. The space thus created in the solera (floor-level) casks is topped up with wine taken from the next oldest scale, 1^st criadera. The space thus created in the 1st criadera is then in turn topped up with wine similarly removed from the 2nd criadera, and so on up to the youngest scale. This is a result of combining all the different vintages.

Traditionally, “trasegadores” execute this process manually, with two different tools: a canoe and a “rociador”. They are used to pour the wine slowly and carefully inside the bodega butt without disturbing the film of “flor” covering the surface of the biologically ageing wine.

As a result, a wide range of different wines are obtained to enjoy an enjoyable moment.

By Esperanza del Rocío Moreno Racero      5º B