Sweet wines: sherry from Jerez

As we have discussed in past posts, several types of wines are produced in the world, so does the grape varities; in each wine region we can find a different one.

Today we will talk about the different types of sweet wines produced in Spain, we will focus on the famous sherry wine from Jerez.

Sweet wines are produced in 4 areas of Spain:

• Malaga: known for its "Moscatel" grapes, sweet wines are produced to accompany desserts; these wines are usually really dry, but with a floral aroma due to the varity of grape that is used.
• Priorato: Garnacha and Cariñena varities are used in this region, sweet wine is produced but it is completely different to the classical sherry.
• Lately in the area of La Rioja and Navarra sweet and fruity wines have been produced, although they were used to created sweet rosé wines and dry reds.
• Jerez: surely the world famouse region that has been mentioned so far. This type of wine is produced in the northwestern province of Cádiz, the towns where it is produced are: Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Trebujana, Lebrija, Chipiona, Rota, Chiclana de la Frontera and Puerto Real.

There are different types of sherry, these are the differences:

1. Generous: Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso and Palo Cortado
2. Generous liquor: Pale cream, Medium and Cream
3. Natural sweet: Pedro Ximénez and Moscate
4. Manzanilla
5. Special Wines

To produced these wines, three varities of white grapes are used: Palomino, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel.

The term "bodega" in Jerez, not only refers to the place where the wine is produced, there are three types of bodegas:

1. Aging cellars and forwarding
2. Aging cellars and storage
3. Production wineries

These are wines totally different to the ones we are used to. They have a higher alcohol content and the development is totally different.

Here we have some pictures of two of the most famous sherry wineries: González Byass (Tio Pepe) and Bodegas Osborne

Bodegas Tio Pepe:

Bodegas Osborne:

Soraya Meinema