How to Taste Sherry - Part 1

Tasting Wine

The tasting vocabulary for wines is very diverse. To enologists a certain aroma will relate to a certain chemical or compound constituent in the wine, but the best we mortals can do is to relate aromas found in the wine to those we already know, such as fruit, flowers or nuts .Unfortunately for communication purposes, one person’s blackcurrant is another’s blueberry, so tasting notes differ widely between tasters according to their perception – or interpretation. Fortunately, however, this means that everybody’s point of view is valid – within reason. At the end of the day, all you need to become a skilled taster is honesty, perspicacity and ultimately experience.  There are those gifted with a special palate or scientific knowledge, but mostly it is just learned, and the more you have tasted the better. As they say in Spain: “Catar, catar y volver a catar.” (Taste, taste and taste again).

Tasting is not about swallowing wine, it is about analysing wine, and the condition it is in. It is not just about flavour; it is principally about aroma, but also appearance, flavour, texture, structure, balance and length. The ultimate taste of a wine is the guiding principle of those who make it, and the least we consumers can do is to taste it carefully and give it some thought. Personal taste should be irrelevant. Just because you don’t like sweet wines (for example), doesn’t mean they are bad wines. One must learn to judge a wine for what it is, whether one likes it or not. It is still interesting and one can learn from it.

Tasting Sherry

To taste any wine, you need a proper glass, and the famous “Copita” used in Jerez is ideal – in fact the International Standards Organisation have enshrined the copita as the “standard” tasting glass for wine (albeit in a slightly bigger version):

In order to get the maximum flavour and aroma from Sherry (or any other wine) always taste at room temperature. Fino/Manzanilla is lovely to drink at 7C with your tapas in a Jerez street, but chilling it obscures the aromas and flavour. Swirl the wine around the glass, watch it, see if there are any legs (tears, or trails of glycerol) down the sides of the glass. These indicate the glycerol content of the wine. Smell it carefully and note what you smell. Many of the aromas you smell will continue when you taste it, as the nose and palate are connected. The nose will tell you more about the wine, as the tongue can only really pick out acidity, tannin, salts and sweetness.

One key quality of any wine is balance. All the sensorial components should balance. While this can vary as (say a Claret) ages, its tannins gradually precipitating along with some of its acidity, Sherry is ready to drink when purchased, and should have perfect balance and stability.  This balance is achieved when the sweet flavours (glycerol, alcohol, sugar balance with the acid (mainly tartaric), saline(flor) and bitter (flor, tannin) flavours, forming a harmony.  Never be too quick to love or hate a wine, always give it some thought. Writing tasting notes is a useful aide-memoire, and concentrates the mind while tasting.

What to look for

Sherry is a white wine, and therefore has some descriptors in common with others, but it is also a fortified wine and undergoes a unique production process, and therefore has many descriptors not used for other wines. There are three unique characteristics, namely the flor yeast, the oxidation and the sheer (barrel) age of some wines. Then, of course, there are various different styles of Sherry but the over-riding aroma however is that of Acetaldehyde. This one word might be used to describe the smell of Sherry as a whole, but in particular those wines where flor plays a part in their ageing.

Acetaldehyde in Finos/Manzanillas is formed by yeast metabolism primarily during fermentation, but also where the wine is stored in barrels which are not completely full and air has access- typical in Sherry. Oxygen in the air oxidises the alcohol forming more Acetaldehyde and the flor yeasts matabolise it further creating the pungent “punzante” slightly oxidised bitter almond character of finos, Manzanillas and Manzanillas Pasadas, and to a lesser extent the related Amontillados and Palos Cortados where Acetaldehyde manifests itself as more hazelnutty.  With these wines, however, the yeast has gone and so the level of Acetaldehyde is lower. In olorosos there is much less, but there is some, and negligible amounts in the Moscatel and PX.

Finos and Manzanillas are generally the youngest wines to be sold, anywhere from 3 years onwards, and often retain primary aromas (those of the grapes themselves). This gentle fruit character is noticeable in younger wines, having survived fermentation (which gives secondary aromas), but is gradually overtaken by tertiary aromas, (those of crianza - ageing), after a longer time in the solera system. A young Fino/Manzanilla smells of fruit as well as flor, and is generally less bitter than an older wine. Manzanillas are often possessed of maritime aromas due to the vines’ and bodegas’ proximity to the sea: sea breezes, seaweed, aromas of a fishing harbour, and with more age, tarry rope and fishy aromas. Older Finos/Manzanillas, will take on more flor character – salinity, bitterness, almondiness, (acetaldehyde) and over time absorb some of the autolyic (decayed yeast) aromas from the bottom of the butt as well as some oxidation. In short, more complexity and concentration (Sherry butts lose an average of 4% per year to evaporation – of water).

This loss of water naturally concentrates everything else, including alcohol, so as the strength gradually rises in butts which are less regularly refreshed, the yeast gradually dies off giving us  Amontillado and Palo Cortado. These wines originated as Finos/Manzanillas, and for quite a long time can retain some of these characteristics, but as they continue to oxidise, they develop into their own unique style. Genuine Amontillados are at least 8 years old, and produce delightful aromas of hazelnut and toasted almond, often with a certain implied sweetness, as the glycerine stripped out by the yeast starts to concentrate again. The Palos Cortados, separated from the Fino family a little earlier, have the aroma of Amontillado, but more body and breadth on the palate – more like Oloroso with a more walnutty sort of flavour.