There are different kinds of wines under the Appellation of Origin Jerez-Xérez-Shery.
We are going to focus in one :FINO WINE. A very special dry white wine that you can find in the South of Spain, in the triangle formed by Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda called “El Marco”.
In the 18th century started its elaboration. It was discovered that the mix of the kind of earth of the área “Albariza” where the vines grows (with an organic origin from the sedimentation of waters) plus the winds (Levante y Poniente), the Guadalete river and the currents between Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean made a climate that allows the proliferation of microorganisms that are the key of this special elaboration process.
The Process
The grapes are collected , pressed and then put in oak barrels.
There are rows of barrels; the first one (over the floor) is called Solera and the ones above, Criaderas. Usually we find 3 rows.
These buildings are height and with arcs. This wine cellar isn´t dirty!!! The black spots you can see in the next photo are part of the microorganisms that proliferate and make the perfect microclimate and are carefully supervise.
The process is dinamyc and takes arround 2 to 5 years (depending on the quality…)
The wine that will be bottled is taken from the floor row (“solera”). Same amount of wine will past from the 1st Criadera to the Solera; and from the 2nd Criadera to the 1st Criadera and the wine that is just pressed is put in the 1st Criadera.
As you can imagine, this makes Fino been and homogeneous dry white wine with a uniform taste. When you are opening a bottle you are tasting some drops of wine with 150 years old!!!, because is in continuous mix, the new and the old juice.
A key part of the process is a fine layer of yeast called "Flor”, microorganisms which develop over the wine surface and prevents it from oxidation. That´s why is a Biological ageing.
Now at days is almost impossible to start from the beginning this process because takes a century to find this special conditions and only is found in a few places in the World. To make a liter, 30 liters are needed in the barrels with all the years behind to create the perfect microorganisms.
We usually drink it at the Ferias, the typical celebration in the South of Spain. I made a meet-up last year and maybe you would want to know more about our culture… [RECAP] FERIA Del Puerto de Santa María - Worldwide Cultural
You can visit several Wine Cellars, some of the most well known are Osborne, Terry, González Byass.
Last summer I choosed Gutiérrez Colosía, a small one that has changed it way of working to adapt to the new times and survive.
Tickets cost around 15 euros (some tours are more elaborated than others) and you have degustations of the differents kinds of wines that are made following the same process with some variations. (You can visit them without drinking too).
The tours usually are adapted for people with reduced mobility, as the one I did.
It´s a good way of visiting these cities , connect with other people and have socializing time, even if you go alone.
Thank you very much for taking your time and read about our wines.
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Greetings from the South of Spain,
Alejandra.
