1876 Facts About Sherry by Henry Vizetelly

Some other Jerez Bodegas.

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small quantity of sweetPedro Jimenez. These wines,which have very little spirit added to them,ordinarily attain, we were told, in course of years an alcoholic strength of 36 deg.of proofspirit. On the other side of Jerez and near to the circular line of railway connecting the principal Jerez hodegas are the cellars of Messrs. Wisdom and Warter,who,while shipping sherries of various kinds, make a speciality of wines of the fino type, prin cipally from the Montilla district. These wines develop in a limited degree earlier than the Jerez growths, and, while remarkably clean-tasting, exhibited a certain fulness combined with considerable character. As no spirit is added to them until they are on the eve of being shipped,then- alcohohc strength in the bodegas is remarkably low. To enable them to travel, however,the older wines have to be brought up to a strength of 32 deg. and the younger ones to 86 deg. With these wines we tasted some choice MontiUa of a fabulous age, also a fine full- flavom-ed wine known in the bodega as "Emperador," and several superior samples of sweet Pedro Jimenez. Hear to Messrs. Wisdom and Warter's are the newly-erected bodegasof Mr.R.Ivison,who has numerous fine wines of various types,and especiallyin the old Jerezano style—wines of remark able character and not too pimgent in flavour. One oloroso,the solera of which dated back to 1846, was exceptionally flne. Mr.Ivison, who is a great partisan of the Seville wines, which are very clean and fresh-tasting, although often of considerable 'alcoholic strength, hastens the development of certain inferior growths by subjecting them for six months or longer to natural heat under a low galvanised iron roof and in a special bodega admitting of scarcely any ventilation. In the adjoining bodegas of Messrs. Webber and Co. wines of the Jerez fino type are the dominating variety. Messrs. Mackenzie and Co.'s premises are close to the Jerez railway station, and are entered through a pleasant patio paved with marble and adorned with luxuriant tropical plants. Tothe left are the offices, to the right the sample-rooms, and beyond are the bodegas,the principal of which,remarkable for its broad