1876 Facts About Sherry by Henry Vizetelly

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Facts about Sherry.

tole witli wine,in wMch condition they complete their seasoning. Adoubleline ofrails,whichformsajunction when passing beneath the monumental tower already alluded to,runs through and com municates with the adjacent main line of railway. Prom the summit of this tower a very complete view is obtained of the vineyards of the plain, while near its base is the engine-house which supphes the steam for seasoning the newly-made casks that are here steamed,watered,and wined bythe thousand. The constant clang of the cooper's hammer and the dull thud of his formidable adze apprise us that the extensive cooperage, which turns out 10,000 casks of all sizes yearly,is close at hand. The last department of this vast establishment which we visited wasthe Shipping Bodega,containing afew thousand butts of all the various descriptions of wine readyfor shipment. These wines undergo two separate finings,the latter one being of consi derable duration. Owing to hislarge stock Senor Misa is enabled to fine as many as 1,000 butts of any particular wine that is in demand at the same time. It is hisopinion that sherries which have been several months on finings acquire a softness and age which freshly-fined wines never possess. His arrangements in this respect admit of Senor Misa shipping at a moment s notice several hundred butts of wine in perfect condition, as was the case in 1873, when he shipped as many as 1,400 butts during the month of October, believed to be the largest quantity ever shipped by a single house in the same space of time. In the Shipping Bodega samples of wine of the very highest class were offered us to taste,including finos of great character, deli- cacy,^ and fragrance, amontillados that had developed their peculiar special qualities in perfection, and olorosos of fine high flavour and aroma. Another great shipping house is that of Garveyand Co.,who can boast of possessing the largest single bodegain Jerez. This vast structure is 600ft.in length by 126ft.in width,and its long vistas of piled-up casks of wine,fading gradually into obscurity, certainly offer an impressive spectacle. By close packing as many as 8,000 butts can be stored beneath this one roof.