b February 21, 2013
Discover... Sherry
S
herry is unique. It is magical and mysterious. The only true sherry in the world is produced in the triangle formed by the cities of Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María. This area, also known as the Jerez production region, is on the Atlantic Ocean flanked by the Guadalquivir and Guadalete rivers within a beautiful landscape of white rolling hills. In the next series of articles we will discover the unique characteristics of sherry wines, the amazingly long history of this wine-producing area, and the influence of its climate, soil, and types of grapes. We will also discover how the ”must” or juice of the grapes becomes a young wine and goes through the unique aging system of “Solera y Criaderas” where it is transformed into our wonderful sherry wines.
1. THE ORIGINS OF SHERRY Sherry wines are the result of the influence of many different cultures that have left their mark in southern Spain for over 3.000 years. That’s right, three thousand years! Around the year 1100 B.C., the Phoenicians, a nation of traders who originated from the western Mediterranean in what is known today as Lebanon, founded the city of Gadir, which we know today as Cádiz. Wine presses have been found in the archaeological sites of Phoenician origin in the Poblado de Doña Blanca which is nearby El Puerto. This confirms the fact that the Phoenicians brought with them the art of cultivating vines and making wine. They also founded a settlement which they called Xera and which is one of the first references to the city of Jerez. In the following centuries, the Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans led to further development of the wine industry in this area. The Romans called Jerez, Ceret. Its wine, Vinum Ceretensis, was exported and became very popular not only in Rome but throughout the whole Roman Empire. From the very beginning, sherry wines have been considered to be “traveling” wines. In the year 711 A.D., the Moorish occupation of Iberian peninsula began. It would last for over five centuries. Despite the cultural prohibition of the consumption of alcohol, the area of Sherish, which was the name given to Jerez by the Moors, continued to be a wine producing center. The rationale included the production of raisins, the distillation of alcohol used for ointments, perfumes, etc., and the use of wine for medicinal purposes. This last rationale is still a valid one today. Wine
in moderation, especially sherry wines, are considered by many to be part of a beneficial and healthful diet. In 1264, King Alfonso X of Castile recovered Jerez from the Moors. The city was renamed Xeres de la Frontera because it was on the border (frontera) between the Christian kingdom of Castile and the Moorish kingdom of Granada. From the beginning of this “reconquest” the Christian kingdom promoted and protected the local wine industry which kept expanding due in part to the proximity of important ports such as Seville, Cádiz and Sanlúcar. The d i s c o ve r y o f the Americas opened new m a r ke t s a n d business flourished. This was a period of great geographic discovery and epic voyages. Wine was essential as part of a ship’s supply since it was used as ballast. The casks were refilled with water when the wine was consumed. The wine was also used for medicinal purposes to prevent scurvy. Sherry wine was part of Columbus’ second voyage to America (which departed from El Puerto) and also part of Magellan´s voyage around the world (which departed from Sanlúcar). Sherry was also very popular in England partly due to the seizure of the Spanish fleet’s cargo by pirates, who then sold it in London. In 1587, Sir Francis Drake attacked Cádiz and “seized” more than 3,000 barrels of sherry which made this wine very fashionable especially in the English Court. Shakespeare also liked sherry and used to meet with his friend Ben Johnson at the Bear Head Tavern to drink a few bottles per day…that’s correct, “per day.” He mentions sherry in many of his works. Due to the greater demand for sherry
during the 17th and 18th Centuries, man wine merchants from England, Scotlan Ireland (as well as Spaniards returnin from the colonies), began to arrive in th area. Surnames such as Fitzgerald, Ga vey, Gordon, O´Neale, Williams, Hum bert, Sandeman, González, Misa, wer common. During that period, the wine that were exported were very differen from the sherries we drink today. The were usually young wines made from th harvest of that year. The regulations o the local Vintners´ Guild did not allow for the storage and aging of the wine since their primary interest was to se all of the wine from that harvest. A a result, the wines had to be fortifie that is, alcohol had to be added to them in order to preserve them during the long voyages. The abolition of the Vintners’ Guild i the 19th Century allowed for shapin the identity of sherry wines as we know them today. The possibility of storin wines from different harvests, and th need to produce consistent quality wine for the market, led to one of the mos unique characteristics of sherry produc tion: the aging method of Criaderas an Solera (which will be explained in future article). As the wines were kep for longer periods of time in the cask the concept of fortifying the sherr which had previously been used main for stabilizing the wine, became a com mon oenological practice. The additio of alcohol in different proportions gav rise to the great variety of sherry wine available today. In my opinion, the main points to remem ber from this brief history are as follow a) Sherry wine´s identity has bee shaped by our local history. Throughou the past 3,000 years different civilization have each made their contribution to uniquely cultural product. b) The production of wine in th region is an ancient industry that ha never been interrupted and has alway produced “traveling” wines. c) Xera = Ceret = Sherish = Xe rez de la Frontera = Sherrish = Xerez Sherry = Jerez are all different names fo the same city. Look for the next article by Discove ……..Sherry where we will explore th topic of VITICULTURE