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SHERRY
S H E R RY is a wine made from white grapes grown in the South
of Spain, in the Jerez district. It is usually fortified, but not neces
sarily so. It is allowed to ferment in its own way when the grapes
are gathered and pressed, and it is
fortified " by the addition
of Brandy at a much later stage of its existence.
A l l Sherries are by nature dry, but many of them are sweetened
before being shipped to England. The very dry, pale, somewhat
austere Sherry is the best for an appetizer, but after dinner, with
fruit or cake, a darker, sweeter, more comforting Sherry is best.
In the case of Sherry, vintage does not count for much, nor does
any individual vineyard. Sherry is a blend of wines similar in style
but made from grapes of different vineyards blended together and of
wines of different years also blended together, so as to maintain the
same standard associated with certain " Marks " or " Brands "
registered by the different Sherry shippers.
Some of the drier styles of Sherry are Manzanilla, always a
dry wine with a peculiar searching aroma, light in colour. V i n o de
Pasto, a fuller wine, usually a little darker; Amontillardo, a finer
wine, more distinctive, more refined and one that is capa"ble of
acquiring a beautiful bouquet if kept in bottle for any length of
time. Montilla is the prototype of Amontillardo but is rarely met
with in England, it is a dry wine with great breed and is never
cheap. Fino is a name covering a large range of wines somewhat
light in colour.
A l l Sherry shippers ship Finos, Amontillardos, Vinos de Pasto
and Manzanillas, but they also ship particularly dry Sherries under
names of their own, registered by them and only used by them.
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