Short version: if it works in the Douro (and champagne) why not in el marco? Some musings on what is, for me, a big mystery and an equally big missed opportunity.
Agreed, some of the finest Sherries I’ve ever had were Byass anadas. The 1964 Oloroso still lives in my memory, I’ve been fortunate enough to try it three times (shout out to Joe Perry who opened the first one for me!).
The current release available in the US (1982 Palo Cortado) is excellent but not my favorite among the vintages I’ve tried. Eagerly awaiting whatever the next release might be.
Thanks for raising this topic and I look forward to looking at some of the links in undertheflor. I am not sure how prevalent anada Sherry ever was. My recollection is that historically, aside from Gonzalez Byass and Williams & Humbert (both having maintained an extensive range of anadas), this was not a focus for Sherry producers. SherryNotes has a helpful piece (link below) which points out that even those producers did not commercially release anadas until fairly recently (the 1990s I think). Unfortunately, the Williams & Humbert releases must be minuscule and rare, and I only have a 1952 Oloroso gathering dust. Recently, Bodegas Tradicion has released some excellent old anadas as well, which were acquired from Bodegas Croft, and has stocks from a number of vintages that will be released in the future. If you have trouble finding the Tradicions at retail, they are quite generous in offering their range at SherryFest and trade tastings.
You (and Ruben) are dead right David since industrialization/modernization in the 19th Century vintage sherries have never been a big part of the offering, but I really don’t see why this should be so. There is real optimism around now about the possibilities for these wines going forward and the time seems to me to be ripe for considering this kind of idea - and not just for the big olorosos and palo cortados in the cellar. The young turks: Willy Perez and Ramiro Ibañez, amongst others, are leading the way. They have even started writing their own history of the region - linked in the post - on this subject. I certainly hope their ideas gain traction.
And thanks too Jay - I think I say 83 in the piece but I must mean 82. I found it very sprightly and approachable, but the 74 had more oomph. The nicest of all the vintage wines I have had though was the 2006 Fino En Rama, which is really good.
Excuse my ignorance - but -
What is the advantage to a 100% Vintage Sherry compared to a (solera-style) blended Sherry?
It is not black and white, but conceptually I believe that a 100% vintage wine - i.e., fruit from a single harvest - should be capable of greater extremes than the “average” achieved by the blend from the criaderas. As a result they may have different, sometimes more attractive characteristics
Thomas, that is actually quite a good question. As Andrew notes above, the solera system essentially blends vintage out of the Sherry equation. A rough comparison would be to look at Champagne houses, and the differences between vintage and non-vintage Champagnes. Krug makes both, and they have made some vintage Champagnes I enjoyed a great deal more and some I enjoyed less than their excellent NV. Aside from the solera difference noted above, there also appears to be a selection difference, with fuller musts being selected for anadas than for solera use as noted in the SherryNotes piece I linked above. From a commercial standpoint (as well as to suit my personal tastes), I think Sherry would benefit from greater diversity to move away from the very negative image it gained as a homogenized, industrial product and to one of a region producing a wide range of diverse, high quality wines by different methods in different styles, including more wines reflecting terroir. This response is probably too long, but one of my favorite producers is Valdespino, which owns vineyards (a rare thing) and still barrel ferments (even rarer). Tasting through their line-up you get the unusual experience of tasting a number of different styles of Sherry produced from the Macharnudo vineyard, and it is a great experience. If they added some anadas in different styles from Macharnudo it would be even greater in my opinion.
Interesting question and one I have wondered about. I don’t know a lot about it, but look forward to following this thread. Thanks.
Many thanks to you guys. These next couple of years could be really interesting
I have a few more thoughts on solera Sherries that have some bearing on the anada vs. solera discussion. While soleras eliminate vintage influence, there are a various factors that can make a solera Sherry less consistent over time than the methods suggest. For example, since most producers buy rather than grow their own fruit, there may be changes in vineyard sources. Also, over the years of turmoil and consolidation in the region, many soleras have changed hands so they have been moved to different facilities and there may be differences in how they are handled. Also, the wine used to refresh the solera may change or the frequency and amount of sacas may change. Although I am technically straying from Sherry to a region that makes similar wines, Alvear in Montilla has a PX known as Solera 1830. This is their oldest solera and really consisted of only a couple of barrels at most of ancient wine. The 750s I have of this wine have a much lower alcohol level than the current 500s they bottle. The reason is that they decided to refresh the 1830, using two other very old soleras, 1910 and 1920. I believe neither is offered commercially any more. Having tasted the 1830 from a new 500 as well as from much older 750s. While both are excellent, they are quite different.
Hi
As a Brit sherry is a sweet awful thing your auntie and grannie drinks, now i do know this a very unfair judgement and that it can be much more.
For a sherry virgin where would be a good place to start with a dry sherry, im sure others might be interested
Hi Alan,
If you can find a bottle, try the Valdespino Manzanilla Deliciosa en rama. En rama means the Sherry has bottled without fining and with light filtration. In practice, fining and aggressive filtration strips much of the body and subtle flavors from Sherries, and in my opinion has done great harm to wider appreciation. If not, there are a number of other very good en rama bottlings of Manzanilla and Fino on the market, including La Gitana, Barbadillo Solear, and Lustau’s 3 en rama series (actually a range of 2 Finos and 1 Manzanilla from different cities).
I love Sherry, and have been drinking it semi regularly since the mid 80s. Visited Jerez, Malaga and Sanlucar de Barrameda back in the early 90s. And I’ve always loved the various house styles and understand the solera system.
A young, fresh Fino is my usual drink of choice, and love sampling Olorosos and Manzanillas - but I am really curious how a Sherry from a single vintage would offer more than the standard Solera style - especially the serious ones like Valdespino and Lustau.
Single varietal as well?
Is it the smaller ‘Almacenista’ houses that are now bottling these?
I believe the ‘Almacenistas’ purchase their casks from single vintages don’t they?
I think I have to take the opposite view. I like the fact that the obsession with vintages didn’t overtake sherry to the degree that it has other wines. And I don’t believe that a monovarietal, monoclonal planting in a small, clearly defined plot is the best way to understand “terroir” and a vineyard, and everything else about wine.
There are other regions of the world where wines were once blended - it’s in the last fifty years or so that vintages have become so important. And with sherry, the idea of drinking finos is also a fairly new idea.
For a new drinker, I would not recommend a fino or manzanilla. I would start with an oloroso. Finos are an acquired taste. Many people who do not know sherry and try a fino find it to be chemical-scented, whereas an oloroso has notes of caramel, etc., that people are familiar with.
Thomas - it’s a little complicated. In Jerez the licensing is kind of weird and there are licenses for each step in the process. You can be licensed to be a grower, or to “raise” or “mature” the wines or to blend them or to sell them. The almacenistas can produce wine themselves or or buy it from others, but they’re licensed to raise them. That’s usually done in soleras. But they can’t sell them as finished wine. So bigger guys like Lustau collect those wines and either blend them into a final blend or sell them as an almancenista bottling. Doesn’t necessarily mean they’re single barrel, vineyard, variety, producer, etc.
Thanks Greg - it was my understanding that the laws have changed and a lot more of the Almacenistas were starting to bottle their own products. I really haven’t heard or seen any of them - it’s still the same 5-6 producers you see here in the states.
But I will have to keep my eye out for some of these vintage Sherries -
And I’m with you Greg on the uniqueness of the solera system and the wines. I still think a great Fino, Manzanilla or Oloroso are the greatest wine bargains in the world.
Oh totally! Even the expensive ones!
Actually, the solera system is a 19th century development, and a brilliant one at that. However, vintage sherries were produced alongside solera sherries for quite a while. The near-total movement away from vintages is a 20th century development. Also, dry Sherry today is monovarietal, that again is largely a 20th century development which may or may not be a quality-driven decision. In other regions, quality grapes have been driven out for a variety of reasons. I am not aware of any dry Sherries using grapes other than Palomino.
Most of the vintage Sherries on the international market today are actually from large houses: Williams & Humbert, Gonzalez Byass, and Lustau are all large, and the Begas Tradicion anadas came from Crofts.
Perhaps an Oloroso is a good place to start. Since Finos and Manzanillas are products of biological aging, you do get what some people view as a “chemical scented” character. I have successfully introduced a fair number of people to Sherries with en rama Finos and Manzanillas, but I doubt heavily fined and filtered versions would have worked as well.
Alan, I second Greg on the recomendation for a first sherry of an oloroso or a palo cortado if you can get it. Gonzalez Byass do a fantastic dry Palo Cortado called Leonor which would be my first port of call, but any good wine merchant should be able to steer you to a good one. I wouldn’t go for one of the big 40 or 50 year old beasts either - something like Leonor or at most a 20 year old and away you go. (I love the Deliciosa but I agree with Greg that it can be an acquired taste.)
Greg, I am certainly not saying do away with soleras - as you will see in the blog post my suggestion is along the lines of Port, declaring 2 or 3 vintages a decade, and giving those wines their head, see where they go etc. Neither am I saying that every wine has to be single vineyard - although a lot of wines already are in fact, and all that needs to happen is some embracing of the facts by the bodegas.
David, indeed the DO of Jerez only allows palomino fino, pedro ximenez and moscatel - there is a movement dedicated to bringing back the 119 varietals that previously flourished in the area (the “Manifesto 119”) and there are some very small projects using those other grapes. One is the Encrucijado, by Ramiro Ibañez, but I can dig out the details of others if you are interested.
Anyway, thanks for the comments guys. Will keep bombarding you with my sherry ravings.