MY SHERRY AMORE I was always a little wary of drinking sherry in the past. Perhaps it’s because it conjured up images of blue-rinse grannies on package tours to sewing-machine museums, or the sickly-sweet liquid that you glug down when first experimenting with booze. In fact, I have to admit that before writing this article I wasn’t much of a sherry drinker. But I had to do some ‘market research’ for you and took one for the team. I’ve got to say, I’m a convert! There’s much more to this fortified wine than I thought. Though it’s traditionally known as a pre or after-dinner drink, it can be used in cooking, enjoyed on its own as a chilled summer refresher or at room temperature as a fireside warmer, or, as has recently been the case, in trendy bars as the main ingredient in some super-cool cocktails (see box opposite).
Sherry originally comes from Spain, but because we have a similar climate and terrain (terroir) in South Africa – especially in Paarl with its wet, frost-free winters and sweltering, dry summers – we produce some delightful local versions on our very own doorstep, though we can’t market them
as sherries. Only the ones made in Spain’s Cádiz Province’s ‘sherry triangle’, between Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María, may officially use the name. One of Paarl’s oldest ‘sherry-style wine’ producers is Monis, who have been
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fortifying the delicious stuff since 1906, when they were headed by the industrious Italian Roberto Monis, who did a lot to establish the reputation of fortified wines in South Africa. Other local producers of sherry-style wines include KWV in Paarl and Orange River Cellars in Upington.
HOW’S IT MADE? Sherry is made by fortifying, i.e. adding a distilled spirit to, a ‘neutral-flavoured’ white wine. Because Chenin Blanc is such a common grape variety in SA, it’s often used for our sherry-style wines, but so are Colombar, Sémillon and Palomino. The grapes are gently pressed once to extract the must (juice, skins, seeds, and stems), which is then used in the making of fino. This process is called primera yema. A second pressing is called segunda yema, and the must from this process is used for oloroso. The resulting must from each process is fermented in stainless-
steel tanks. The wine from the fermented must is then fortified by adding distilled wine. This wine is stored in oak casks, which are filled up to five-sixths of their capacity. The remaining space is left for the flor yeast, which gives the sherry much of its flavour, to naturally grow above the wine (it needs the oxygen to grow). Next follows a rather complicated process called solera, which basically results in wines of different vintages being blended together to give a uniform taste and quality. Finally the sherry can be sweetened (in which case it’s called ‘cream’)
ILLUSTRATION: FRAN LABUSCHAGNE PHOTOS: SILO PRICES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF GOING TO PRINT AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. THIS ARTICLE WAS REPURPOSED FROM FRESH LIVING MAGAZINE
Sherry has made a big comeback, shedding its old tannie image in favour of something far trendier. Jim Hislop sipped his way through his fair share of the fortified tipple and is happy to report that he, too, is now a convert.
pnp.co.za
2019/06/21 16:01
