Page 427 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

INTRODUCING SOUTHERN SP AIN  425

How Sherry is Made
Sherry is mixed from two principal
grape varieties: Palomino, which makes
a drier, more delicate sherry; and Pedro
Ximénez, which is made into a
fuller, sweeter type of sherry.
Grape-drying is only
required for Pedro
Ximénez grapes. They
are laid on esparto mats
to shrivel in the sun,
concentrating the sugar.

Crusher and
de-stemmer
Grape-pressing and
de stalking, in cylindrical
stainless-steel vats, is usually
Grape-picking takes place done at night to avoid the
during the first three weeks in searing Andalucían heat.
September. Palomino grapes
Espiel
Linares are taken to the presses
quickly to ensure freshness.
A45
Córdoba A4 A44 Úbeda
Guadalquivir Montilla Jaén
Bollullos par Sevilla A4
del Condado Moriles ANDALUCÍA
A49 Lucena
Huelva A92 Genil
Estepa Granada A92
AP4 A92
Sanlúcar de
Barrameda A45 Vélez Málaga A7 Fermentation
Jerez de la Frontera Málaga Motril Almería vat in steel
Cádiz A7 Flor, a yeast, may form on the
Marbella exposed surface of young wine
A381
A7 in the fermentation vat,
A48
Algeciras
preventing oxidization and
adding a delicate taste. If flor
Fortification is the addition develops, the wine is a fino.
of pure grape spirit, raising
the level of alcohol from
around 11 per cent by
volume to around 18 per
cent for olorosos, and
15.5 per cent for finos.
The solera system
The youngest
solera contains
new wine.
The solera system assures
that the qualities of a sherry
remain constant. The wine
from the youngest solera is
Sherry for bottling is mixed with the older in the
taken from the oldest barrels below and as a result
The finished product solera on the bottom row. takes on its character.

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