1948 Shaking with Eddie by Eddie Clarke

SHERRY

S H E R RY is a wine made from white grapes grown in the South of Spain, in the Jerez district. It is usually fortified, but not neces­ sarily so. It is allowed to ferment in its own way when the grapes are gathered and pressed, and it is fortified " by the addition of Brandy at a much later stage of its existence. A l l Sherries are by nature dry, but many of them are sweetened before being shipped to England. The very dry, pale, somewhat austere Sherry is the best for an appetizer, but after dinner, with fruit or cake, a darker, sweeter, more comforting Sherry is best. In the case of Sherry, vintage does not count for much, nor does any individual vineyard. Sherry is a blend of wines similar in style but made from grapes of different vineyards blended together and of wines of different years also blended together, so as to maintain the same standard associated with certain " Marks " or " Brands " registered by the different Sherry shippers. Some of the drier styles of Sherry are Manzanilla, always a dry wine with a peculiar searching aroma, light in colour. V i n o de Pasto, a fuller wine, usually a little darker; Amontillardo, a finer wine, more distinctive, more refined and one that is capa"ble of acquiring a beautiful bouquet if kept in bottle for any length of time. Montilla is the prototype of Amontillardo but is rarely met with in England, it is a dry wine with great breed and is never cheap. Fino is a name covering a large range of wines somewhat light in colour.

A l l Sherry shippers ship Finos, Amontillardos, Vinos de Pasto and Manzanillas, but they also ship particularly dry Sherries under names of their own, registered by them and only used by them.

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