Sherry wines

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SHERRY WINES
Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes which t are grown near the Spanish town of Jerez,  The Spanish name is : Vino de Jerez.
The word "sherry" is an anglicization of Jerez.
Firstly, sherry was known as sack (from the Spanish saca, meaning "a removal from the solera"). "Sherry" is a protected designation of origin; therefore, all wine labeled as "sherry" mustlegally[1] come from the Sherry Triangle, which is an area in the province of Cádiz between some cities like  Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María. The Jerez Denominación de Origen was the first Spanish denominación to be officially recognized in this way.
Spain produces 19.8 million gallons of sherry a year. Other current producers of a "Sherry" are SouthAfrica, Australia, France, and Germany.

CLIMATE
In this area the prevailing climate of the Jerez region is warm as a direct consequence of its low-lying latitude.
The average annual temperature is 17.3ºC with very mild winters, during which temperatures rarely drop below zero, and very hot summers where temperatures frequently rise above 40ºC.
Also Is really important the influence of the twoprevailing winds known as the Poniente (from the west) and the Levante (from the south-east). The first one is cool and humid ( aprox 95% humidity) , the second one is hot and dry ( aprx 30 % humidity).

SOIL
The Sherry Region of Jerez is an area of open, gentle rolling hills or slightly sloping knolls - with gradients of between 10 and 15 per cent - covered by a limestone soil known asALBARIZA, characterised by the extreme, dazzling whiteness it takes on during the dry months.
characterized because it retains moisture well and can feed the vines in dry seasons. Albariza soil is easy to work.
Within the region there are also other types of soil used for the production of Sherry Wines, though in a lesser percentage, known as "barros" (clays) and "arenas" (sands).

VARIETIESThe varieties of vine as being suitable for the production of Sherry: Palomino, Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel.
* Palomino: the dominant grape used for the dry sherries. Approximately 90 per cent of the grapes grown for Sherry are Palomino. As varietal table wine, the Palomino grape produces a wine of very bland and neutral characteristics. This neutrality is actually what makes Palomino an ideal grapebecause it is so easily enhanced by the Sherry winemaking style.[11]
* Pedro Ximénez: used to produce sweet wines. When harvested these grapes are typically dried in the sun for two days to concentrate their sugars.
* Moscatel: used similarly to Pedro Ximénez, but it is less common.
However the “ sherry wines” made in other countries used to use other varieties of vine.

Apart fromnatural factors and varieties used, the way in which the vine is cultivated has a decisive effect both upon the yield of the vine and the characteristics of the grape produced.

THE HARVEST
the grape harvest has an essential role to play in the elaboration of this kind of wine.
The Optimal Moment is Towards the beginning of September when the grape is become soft and sweet, but we don’t knowexactly the date because it depends on the maturation of the grapes( at least 10,5 º Baumé, alcohol potencial) ,and this depends on many factors.
About the grape harvest most of the grapes are still cut by hand.
Once cut, the bunches are placed in plastic holding bins which usually carry 18 kg of grape, stacked one on top of the other so that the grapes will remain undamaged on their journey fromvineyard to wine-press

VINIFICATION ( STEPS)
1.Pressing
In addition to weighing the harvest, a representative sample of the whole load is taken by inspectors from the Consejo Regulador in order to analyse certain parameters concerning the degree of ripeness and healthiness of the grapes.
Then The grapes are generally unloaded into a reception hopper fitted, after that go to a crusher.
The...