c

during the 17th and 18th Centuries, many wine merchants from England, Scotland, Ireland (as well as Spaniards returning from the colonies), began to arrive in the area. Surnames such as Fitzgerald, Gar-vey, Gordon, O´Neale, Williams, Hum-bert, Sandeman, González, Misa, were common. During that period, the wines that were exported were very different from the sherries we drink today. They were usually young wines made from the harvest of that year. The regulations of the local Vintners´ Guild did not allow for the storage and aging of the wines since their primary interest was to sell all of the wine from that harvest. As a result, the wines had to be fortified, that is, alcohol had to be added to them in order to preserve them during their long voyages. The abolition of the Vintners’ Guild in the 19th Century allowed for shaping the identity of sherry wines as we know them today. The possibility of storing wines from different harvests, and the need to produce consistent quality wines for the market, led to one of the most unique characteristics of sherry produc-tion: the aging method of Criaderas and Solera (which will be explained in a future article). As the wines were kept for longer periods of time in the casks, the concept of fortifying the sherry, which had previously been used mainly for stabilizing the wine, became a com-mon oenological practice. The addition of alcohol in different proportions gave rise to the great variety of sherry wines available today.In my opinion, the main points to remem-ber from this brief history are as follows:a) Sherry wine´s identity has been shaped by our local history. Throughout the past 3,000 years different civilizations have each made their contribution to a uniquely cultural product.b) The production of wine in this region is an ancient industry that has never been interrupted and has always produced “traveling” wines.c) Xera = Ceret = Sherish = Xe-rez de la Frontera = Sherrish = Xerez = Sherry = Jerez are all different names for the same city.Look for the next article by Discover ……..Sherry where we will explore the topic of VITICULTURE

February 21, 2013