1899 The Mixicologist by C F Lawlor

Il8

THE MIXICOLOGIST.

port wines ofSouthern California grown from the same varieties of grapes as are native to the Alto Douro dis trict. The word"sherry"is a corruption ofJerez(or Xer xes)—Jerez de la Frontera, situated in the midst of vineyards covering a tract of country twelve and one half miles long by ten miles broad, in Andalusia, the proper home of this wine. The term "bodega" orig inates here. It means a lofty, capacious storehouse, a substitute for a cellar, divided into from three to six aisles by rows of pillars, well lighted and ventilated; the rays ofthe fierce southern sun being carefully excluded by shutters or blinds ofesparto. Manyof these bodegas are so long that 100 butts of wine lie side by side in the row, and as these rows are composed of tiers three and four butts high, some idea may be formed of the num ber of butts housed beneath a single roof. Sherries are remarkable in that the better grades develop with age a great variety of flavors; indeed, it has been asserted that no two butts of wine from the same vineyard or vintage will be alike, each one possessing diflTerent characteristics, although pressed from the same grape. From ten to twenty percent of the vintage will become irremediably bad. Ofthe rest some wines remain Vinos fines, pale, dry, soft, delicate and fresh tasting; others passing through the finos stage -attain the dignity of Amontillados, stouter, dryer, more pungent and possess ing a marked etherous flavor. Others develop into Oloroso, the classic wine of Jerez, darker, fuller, richer and mellower, with a nutty flavor and an exquisite bouquet. When they are four years old they are ad mitted to the dignity offorming a part ofthe''Solera."

Made with