Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera is part of the famed Sherry Triangle in southern Spain. This region, along with Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María, forms the heart of an area where wine have been cultivated for ages, producing some of the world's most known wines.
The best wines from Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera is part of the famed Sherry Triangle in southern Spain. This region, along with Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María, forms the heart of an area where wine have been cultivated for ages, producing some of the world's most known wines.
The Moors introduced distillation in the south of Spain, leading to the development of brandy and fortified wine. It was in a town known as Sherish, that became the origin of both the term "sherry" and the city's name, Jerez. Jerez became popular with wine merchants from across Europe because of the rising demands for sherry, especially from Britain. It lead to a movement of merchants like Domecq, Osborne, Gordon, and Terry to Jerez. These merchants not only traded but also cultivated wines. Some of these names are in the 20th century know well known wine brands.
Sherry is considered a fortified wine due to the addition of distilled alcohol during the winemaking process, resulting in an alcohol by volume (ABV) range of 15%-22%. Jerez is the largest city in the province of Cádiz.
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Grapes in wines from Jerez de la Frontera
Palomino and Pedro Ximènez are the most important grape varieties in Jerez's terroir.
The Palomino grape, dating back to the Phoenician era, serves as the main grape for all Jerez wines. It is light bodied and has typical fruit accents from, amongst others, apple and pear.
Pedro Ximènez (also called PX) contributes to the sweet Jerez wines, giving them with flavors of chocolate, spices, and candied fruit.
Terroir of Jerez de la Frontera wines
Jerez de la Frontera is located in the Guadalquivir River valley. It’s soils, primarily albariza, barros, and arenas are crucial for the quality and finesse of the wines. Coupled with its climate influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and eastern plains' warmth, provide an ideal environment for grape maturation.
The region's 300 days of sunshine take care of a slow ripening process, preserving essential acidity in the sherry grapes and contributing to the gradual wine maturation.
Classifications of Jerez de la Frontera wines
Jerez is a Denominación de Origen (DO). The region's recent extensions in vineyard designations (Viñedos de Jerez Superior) and specific vineyard clusters, known as Pagos, further enrich the diversity of Sherry wines. There are some standard rules in place for the specific DO areas, some of these include:
- Authentic sherry is exclusively produced in the "Jerez DO" (Denominación de Origen) region, encompassing Sanlúcar de Barrameda, El Puerto de Santa María, and Jerez de la Frontera. The primary sherry styles, ranging from driest to sweetest, include fino, manzanilla, amontillado, oloroso, cream, and Pedro Ximénez. Paler, drier sherries primarily derive from Palomino grapes, while sweeter, richer variations come from Pedro Ximénez and occasionally muscat grapes.
- For the production of Jerez wines only grapes from the designated area can be used, mainly Palomino Fino (constituting 95% of production), Pedro Ximénez, and Moscatel.
- The aging process in Jerez is done by using the "criaderas y soleras" method, aging in oak barrels organized by age. This process brings a standard in wine maturation and ensures a minimum aging period of three years for DO Jerez classification. The result is a range of typical wines including Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso, Palo Cortado, Pedro Ximénez, and Moscatel, each with its own characteristics in flavour, colour, and alcohol content.