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house
the
juice
(Mosto)
is
pumped
into
large
casks,
which
are
carried
on
bullock
carts,
generally
at
night,
to
the
Bodegas
(large
stone
overground
cellars)
at
Jerez
de
la
Frontera,
Port
St.
Mary,
or
Sanlucar.
Here
the
Mosto
goes
through
the
pro-
cess
of
fermentation,
where
the
saccharine
matter
is
changed
to
alcohol
and
carbonic
acid
gas,
the
latter
going
free,
while
the
alcoholic
strength
increases
in
the
Mosto,
until
it
reaches
the
point
where
it
kills
further
fermentation,
leaving
some
sac-
charine
unfermented,
or
where
all
the
saccharine
has been
transformed.
The
wine
is
then
drawn
off,
and
is
aged
like
other
wines,
but,
unlike
other
wines,
which
are
kept
in
dark
under-
ground
cellars,
the
Spanish
Bodegas
are
large
stone
buildings,
with
many
windows
and
openings,
giving
plenty
of
light
anti
sun.shine
and
a
free
circulation
of
air.
Sherry
is
now
used
in
medicinal
compounds,
in
combina-
tion,
more
than
any
other
wine
;
but
why
lessen
its
strength-
giving
powers
by
combination?
The
fact
that
from
the
time
the
grapes
are
ripened
on
the
high
sunny
hills
until
the
wine
is
bottled,
Sherry
is
always surrounded
by
pure
air
and
sunshine,
should
be
considered
by
the
medical
iirofession,
and
the
strengthening
powers
of
old
Amontillado
should
be
more
widely
known
and
appreciated.
The
longevity
of the
inhabitants
of
Andalucia
is
well
known.
There
is
an
old
tale
of
an
Archbishop
of
Seville
who
lived
to
be
one
hundred
and
twenty-five
years
old,
and
always
drank
half
a
bottle
of
Amontillado
at
dinner;
but
on
the
days
he
was
not
feeling
just
I'ight,
he
braced
up
with
two
bottles.
There
are
a
number
of
varieties
of
white
grajies
used
in
making
Sherry,
and
con.sequently
a
number
of
ditt'erent
styles
of
Sherry
;
but
Sherry
is
classified
under
two
grand
divisions
Plnos
and
Jerezanos.
Finos
are
the
pale,
Jerezanos
the
darker
wines.
Finos
are
sub-divided
into
Vino
de
Pasto,
Palo
Cortado,
Palma
and
Anion
tillado.
Jerezanos
are
sub-divided
into
I.
Raya,
II.
Raya.
III.
Raya.
I.
Raya's
are
aged
and become
Oloroso
iir
Amoroso.
II.
Raya's
and
III.
Raya's
are
either
mixed
with
the
cheap
wines
of
the
plains
or
distilled.
This
classification
is
made
by
the
Almacenista
(the
mer-
chant
who
buys
from
the
grower
and
ages
Sherry,
keeping
the
vintages
separate
as
Anadas),
or
by
his
Cai)ataz
(head
cellar
man),
and
it
must
be
made
correctly,
or the
consequent
loss
may
be
enormous.
The
difficulty
can
be
somewhat
imagined
when
one
understands
that
two Bodega
Butts,
lying
side
be-
side,
containing
wines
from
the
same
vintage,
will
develop
dif-
ferently;
one
will
be
Fino,
the
other
Jerezano.
This
phenomenon
cannot
be
explained,
but
it
is
a
fact.