What Drives Up the Price of Dark Sherry?

There isn’t a secret tax on tastiness. Dark sherry is just given more time to mature. Amontillados and Olorosos can spend 10 years maturing in the barrel, but the really good stuff is sometimes matured for 25 years. The bodegas have to factor in the cost of all that warehousing. What’s more, grape production is at a premium in Jerez, the sherry producing region, and these days many of the grapes that make PX, the wine that sweetens sherry, are shipped in. They can come from Montilla or Málaga, but the haulage costs all add up. Of course, each country has its own taxes to apply. In Britain, wine that might cost pence abroad has so much tax added to it that it you wouldn’t get many pounds change from a twenty. Added to that, sherries are branded wines. Because each bodega blends to create its own particular taste, you’re paying for the perceived value of that particular sherry house too, and then there are all the other costs of making a sherry on top.

How to Tell Good Cheap Sherry from Bad Cheap Sherry

If you really wanted to, you could buy cheap dark sherry easily. The trick is to find cheap dark sherry that’s also delicious. To do that, you can look out for a few things on the side of the bottle:

• How long has it been aged for? If a wine doesn’t have the potential to age well, it’s unlikely to be kept in the barrel beyond the minimum time to create the sherry;
• Is the mark ‘Sherry DO’ on the side? That being so, it will have been made to the quality regulations that all wines need to abide by in order to officially become a sherry;
• Has it won any awards? Sherry makes enter their wines to compete in award shows, and panels of blind tasters select the best. It’s a good marker of quality.

Where Else to Look

INVINIC! We have a really good selection of dark sherry, and we often have reductions on our stock. It’s probably because we’re based in Spain, and can find the good stuff for less. The price works out even better if you buy in bulk as it makes the best of the postage and packaging charge.

What’s more, we include the ratings given to sherries by wine critics.  Some critics develop a bit of cult following, and one of those is Robert Parker. Well, we’ve devoted a whole section of the site to wines that Robert Parker has rated highly, and that are still below €20.

Three of the Best

• Gran Barquero Oloroso. This sherry has been rated highly by both Robert Parker, at 92 points, and Guía Peñín gave it 90. Yet it’s only €13.95 – and for a full 75 cl bottle. Using Pedro Ximénez grapes, this is a sweeter style of Oloroso, and well worth the money.
• Juan Piñero Oloroso. Robert Parker gave this bottle 90 points, and at €13.50 for a full bottle, it’s a decent dark sherry on the cheap. As it uses Palomino grapes only, expect it to be more of a dry sherry with nutty, savoury flavours.
• Alvear Pedro Ximénez. This lovely sweet sherry picked up 93 Guía Peñín points, and 90 from the Wine Spectator. It has a lovely nose of coffee and toffee with a yummy chocolatey and coffeeish taste.

However if your tastes are more for the lighter kind of sherry, make sure to read ‘Palo Cortado Sherry: What You Need to Know’.

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La entrada How Do You Find a Dark Sherry at a Reasonable Price se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.

Beyond Croft Sherry

Sherry can be confusing for many consumers. Even wine lovers that may be experts on Rioja, Toro or Ribera Del Duero, can have trouble understanding the region. Sherry brands, such as Croft Sherry or Harvey’s Bristol Cream, offer the consumer a reliable product. The style of these wines is quite safe and not especially adventurous. Some have been made specifically to cater to the tastes of individual markets, such as the UK. Such brands can give the consumer an introduction to the Sherry category, but they do not offer the full picture. Those looking to better understand the versatility of Jerez wines will have to look beyond Croft Sherry and similar brands.

Types of Sherry

The wines of Jerez are complex and can be difficult to understand. The best way for you to truly understand these wines is by tasting them for yourself, but it can be tough to know where to start. We could write a whole book on the different types of Sherry wines, but for now let’s start with the basics. Looking beyond brands like Croft Sherry, we can identify two major styles of Sherry wines: those that have been aged biologically and those that have been aged oxidatively. After that, there are a number of styles in between the two, as well sweet as sherry.

Biologically Aged

These wines have been aged under a layer of yeast known as “flor”, and include the subcategories Fino and Manzanilla. If you would like to try something in this category, considering something like Hidalgo Fino or Manzanilla La Guita. These are typical expressions of their respective styles and mark an interesting starting point.

Oxidatively Aged

These wines, known as Oloroso, are aged without a layer of flor, are in contact with oxygen and so theyare said to age oxidatively. Gran Barquero Oloroso or Piedro Luengo Oloroso will demonstrate the typicity of the oxidatively aged style.

In Between

In between these two styles, we can find the intermediate styles of Amontillado and Palo Cortado. They begin their aging biologically and over time lose their flor and finish aging oxidatively. Try Gran Barquero Amantillado or Collecion Roberto Amillo Palo Cortado to get a sense of how these categories show characteristics of both biologically and oxidatively aged Sherries to create their own unique flavour profiles.

Sweet Sherry

Sherries bearing the labels Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso, Amontillado and Palo Cortado are all dry in style. However, there are a number of sweet styles available. Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel, from the grapes of the same name, are naturally sweet. Cream Sherry (also known as Dulce) is an artificially sweetened type. Gran Barquero Pedro Ximénez will illustrate the natural style, while Marqués de Poley Cream PX will offer an interesting comparison of an artificially sweetened expression of the same grape variety.

To continue learning about Sherry wines, visit the official site of Vinos de Jerez.

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La entrada Beyond Croft Sherry: The versatility of Jerez wines se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.