![\"Different](\"https:\/\/www.veoapartment.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/sherry.jpg\")
Different layers of barrels are used for blending older and younger wines<\/p><\/div>\n
Now, right now you may be thinking \u2013 Sherry? That\u2019s that dark, overly sweet stuff that Grandma serves up on Christmas day, isn\u2019t it? Well, yes\u2026 and then again, no. Sherry is actually any wine made in the Sherry region (officially the area regulated by the commission that oversees the production and quality control of wines labelled Jerez-Xeres-Sherry), a roughly triangular area between the towns of Jerez, Sanl\u00facar de Barrameda and Puerto de Santa Maria, that produces some of the world\u2019s most complex and unique wines.<\/p>\n
Wine has been produced here at least since Roman times, and has seen many ups and downs in its quality and popularity since then, but it\u2019s currently having something of a renaissance, not only in Spain, but also in other European markets. The English, in particular, have had a long love affair with sherry that dates back to Elizabethan times, when it was known as sack (probably from the Spanish verb sacar, meaning \u201cto take out\u201d) and was referred to by Shakespeare in several of his plays.<\/p>\n
Almost all sherries are made from the palomino variety of grape, which is particularly well suited to the triangle\u2019s light chalky soil, the albariza<\/em>, though sweet dessert sherries may be made wholly or partly from Pedro Ximenez or Muscatel. After fermentation, the wine is fortified, and then may be aged under a layer of yeasts, called flor (making fino or manzanilla sherries), or exposed to the air (oloroso sherry), or both (amontillado and palo cortado sherries), in a system of barrels known as a solera<\/em>, in which wines of different ages are blended together.<\/p>\n Different types of sherry from dry (left) to sweet (right)<\/p><\/div>\n Most sherries are exceptionally dry, and are an excellent accompaniment to the famous Spanish hams and cheeses (and almost anything else!), and there is no gastronomic experience more quintessentially Spanish than sitting in a traditional style bar somewhere in southern Spain, eating jamon with a manzanillo or fino sherry. If you haven\u2019t tried it yet, put it on your to-do list immediately.<\/p>\n![\"Different](\"https:\/\/www.veoapartment.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/sherries.jpg\")