1876 Facts About Sherry by Henry Vizetelly

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Facts about Sherry.

liable to get out of order tbe moment it is moved. As it is originally of a pale dull colour, vino de color bas to be added to give it a marketable tint. Some dulce, moreover,is requisite to round off its ra-wness, wbicb of itself is sufficient to revive fer mentation, and, as a consequence, spirit bas to be added in considerable quantities torendertbe wine wbat is termed" safe." Our wine-mercbants are mainly responsible for any excess of added spirit to tbe bigber-class sherries. Over and over again we were told tbat tbey positively demand it of tbe shipper,who, if left to himself and not made responsible, as be most absurdly is,for tbe condition of tbe wine for two years after it leaves bis possession, would send it over containing several degrees less of. spirit. It is excess ofadded spirit, and not gypsum or sulphur, which is tbe real bane of sherry. If, instead of wines being shipped when tbey are merely a year old,tbey were keptfor another three years,and tbe absurd practice of fining them,which simply emasculates them, were dispensed with,tbey might be shipped with a very slight addi tion of spirit—scarcely more than one-sixth ofthe quantity they receive at present. In this case we should have a tolerably developed wine, with a decided vinous flavour, unmasked by added alcohol, and consequently without that fieriness common to the cheap sherries we get at present. To please the public eye a trifle of vino de color might be necessary, but this would be in no way detrimental. A fair wine of the above chai-acter could,however,scarcely be shipped under.£22 per butt; whereas so keen is competition,that shipments ofnew wines are made at present at as low a rate as from £12 to .£14. In my judgment the quality of the finer Jerez wines,and particularly of the high-class ones,is materiallyimpaired bythe fining which these undergo,in obedience to public caprice, with the view of insuring an excessive brightness prior to shipment. This is more especially the case with finos, which lose much of their characteristic yet refined flavour and more of their bouquet by the process. In the bodega of Mr. J. W. Burdon at Puerto de Santa Maria,I had the opportunity of