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THE MIXICOLOGIST.
port wines ofSouthern California grown from the same
varieties of grapes as are native to the Alto Douro dis
trict.
The word"sherry"is a corruption ofJerez(or Xer
xes)—Jerez de la Frontera, situated in the midst of
vineyards covering a tract of country twelve and one
half miles long by ten miles broad, in Andalusia, the
proper home of this wine. The term "bodega" orig
inates here. It means a lofty, capacious storehouse,
a substitute for a cellar, divided into from three to six
aisles by rows of pillars, well lighted and ventilated; the
rays ofthe fierce southern sun being carefully excluded
by shutters or blinds ofesparto. Manyof these bodegas
are so long that 100 butts of wine lie side by side in the
row, and as these rows are composed of tiers three and
four butts high, some idea may be formed of the num
ber of butts housed beneath a single roof. Sherries are
remarkable in that the better grades develop with age
a great variety of flavors; indeed, it has been asserted
that no two butts of wine from the same vineyard or
vintage will be alike, each one possessing diflTerent
characteristics, although pressed from the same grape.
From ten to twenty percent of the vintage will become
irremediably bad. Ofthe rest some wines remain Vinos
fines, pale, dry, soft, delicate and fresh tasting; others
passing through the finos stage -attain the dignity of
Amontillados, stouter, dryer, more pungent and possess
ing a marked etherous flavor. Others develop into
Oloroso, the classic wine of Jerez, darker, fuller, richer
and mellower, with a nutty flavor and an exquisite
bouquet. When they are four years old they are ad
mitted to the dignity offorming a part ofthe''Solera."