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Of
all Spanish wine, some of the most famous comes from the region of
Andalucia, these are the sherries, the drink we associate with
Christmas, vicars and WI gatherings . The capital of the
sherry producing region is Jerez. Like champagne in France,
"sherry" can only be produced in one area of Andalucia in the Cadiz
province. Sherry is made from the Palamino grape. The
resulting wine is then fortified with brandy. The actual process is
far more complicated involving ageing of the wine, blending, storage
etc. There are several types of sherry produced, fino, which
is a dry sherry often served in tapas bars to accompany the ham.
Manzanilla, this is produced in San Lucar de Barrameda and is drier
than most . It has a very pale colour compared with other
sherries. Olorosso is a full bodied dark sweet sherry, the perfect
aperitif. Cream sherry is more popular outside Spain and is a uk
favourite. Sweet to the point of sickly, this is the sherry we
associate with grannies and aunties. There are a lot more
varieties of sherry available with some producers specialising in
particular types.
Other than sherry,
Andalucia produces other wines. The Malaga area was once a major
produce of sweet white wine but changing tastes saw the market
decline. The area still produces wine but production has
switched to more sophisticated sweet wine. These wines are
reminiscent of Sauterne and have gained an excellent reputation.
Montilla in the
province of Cordoba is another wine producing area. The
wines are similar in taste to the fino sherry but without the added
alcohol. The grape variety used for Montilla wine is the
Pedro Ximenez which is much sweeter than the Palamino and results in
a high alcohol content. Locals will try to persuade people
that their wine is as good if not better than sherry.
Huelva is also a
wine producing region which has in recent years started to
experiment with different production methods. The grape
normally used is the Zalema, this produces a light white best drunk
young. Having a delicate flavour,
these wines are supposed to be
excellent with seafood.
Andalucia is
undergoing a lot of experimentation with its wine production and
acres of land are being tested with many different grape varieties
not normally associated with the area. It is hoped that within
a few years, the region will be producing wines to compete with some
of the best. |
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