Open a glass of Fino and you taste salt from the Atlantic. What is sherry? A white wine from southern Spain, made from grapes grown on chalk-white soil, aged under a living layer of yeast. Not liqueur, not your grandmother’s apéritif.
The confusion sits in the English word “sherry” and in half a century during which the world forgot this was once Europe’s most admired wine region. Time to set that straight.
Sherry is wine, just as Champagne is wine
Champagne is wine. Nobody questions it. It is a wine from a specific region in northeastern France, made by a specific method, protected since 1905 and locked into French AOC law in 1935. The bubbles are a property, not a category.
Sherry works the same way. It is a wine from a specific region in southern Spain, made by a specific method, protected by the Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and the DOP Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Both designations were created in 1933, with the Consejo Regulador founded in 1935. The Spanish equivalent of AOC, established at the very same moment.
Fortification is a property, not a category. Sherry begins as a dry white wine of around 11 to 12 percent alcohol. Then something special happens. But before and after, it remains wine.
To put sherry in a different box than champagne is to ignore two centuries of wine history.
Where does sherry come from? Marco de Jerez and the three towns
The region is called Marco de Jerez. It sits in the province of Cádiz in Andalusia, about 50 kilometres south of Seville. Three towns form what is known as the Sherry Triangle: Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda.
The aging of protected sherry must take place in these three towns and nowhere else. Grapes may also come from Chiclana de la Frontera, Chipiona, Puerto Real, Rota, Trebujena, San José del Valle and Lebrija, but the bodegas where the wine matures stand inside the triangle. That is fixed in law.
At its peak in the late nineteenth century the region covered more than 20,000 hectares of vineyard. Today that has shrunk to roughly 6,900 hectares. Phylloxera, wars, changing tastes, and a long stretch in which sherry was reduced to trifle-ingredient status all played their part. The renaissance of the past decade is happening on a much smaller footprint than the historical one.
What makes the region unique lies underfoot. Albariza. A chalk-white soil composed of 30 to 80 percent pure chalk, the rest a mix of limestone, clay and sand. Albariza absorbs the rain that falls between November and April, stores it in the deeper layers, and releases it slowly during the dry summers when temperatures easily push past 40 degrees Celsius. No albariza, no sherry. It is that simple.
Beyond albariza there are two other soil types. Barros is darker and clay-rich, gives higher yields but coarser wine. Arenas is sandy, holds water poorly and is mostly planted with Moscatel, which tolerates drought better. The grand crus of Jerez sit on albariza, in pagos such as Macharnudo Alto, Balbaína and Añina. Since 2015 these pagos have been formally mapped by the Consejo Regulador, and since 2022 they may appear on the label.
The three sherry grapes
Sherry is made from white grapes. Three varieties have been historically authorised, and since 2022 six older regional grapes that nearly disappeared after phylloxera have been added back.
Palomino Fino is the absolute lead actor. More than 98 percent of all sherry production comes from Palomino. The grape ripens early, gives juice with low total acidity (around 3.8 grams per litre) and notably low malic acid, which makes the young wine oxidise quickly. On other terroirs Palomino is dull and flat. On the albariza of Jerez it is the foundation for Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso and Palo Cortado. One grape, five completely different styles.
Pedro Ximénez or PX for short, covers about 0.5 percent of the planted area. After harvest the grapes are laid out on reed mats in the sun for ten to twelve days. This process is called asoleo. The water evaporates, the sugars concentrate up to 300 grams per litre. So much sugar that ordinary yeast cannot survive, so specialised yeasts must be used. The result is almost black, smells of raisins and walnuts, and lingers on the palate for minutes.
Moscatel accounts for around 1 percent of production. This grape too traditionally goes through asoleo, producing wines with explicit floral aromas and a honeyed, raisin-rich texture.
The six newly readmitted heritage grapes since 2022: Beba, Cañocazo, Mantúo Castellano, Mantúo de Pilas, Perruno and Vigiriega. None of these is commercially relevant right now, but that mostly speaks to the time required to bring historical varieties back.
Why is sherry fortified?
The short answer: because the wine otherwise would not survive the crossing to England.
The longer answer starts with the Moors, who brought distillation to Andalusia around the eleventh century. Centuries later, when English and Dutch traders bought wine in Cádiz for their home markets, the Jerezanos discovered that a splash of grape spirit kept the wine stable during the months-long sea voyage. The added alcohol killed off yeasts and bacteria, prevented vinegar formation, and kept the wine drinkable far beyond the horizon.
What they discovered was more than a preservation trick. Higher alcohol also changed what happened in the cask. Wines fortified to 15 percent could still develop a yeast layer (the flor) on the surface. Wines fortified to 17 percent or higher killed that yeast layer. Two completely different aging paths from the same base wine. That is where the styles come from.
The modern method is precisely regulated. The grape spirit is first blended with old sherry to form a 50/50 mix called mitad y mitad. Only then is it added to the young wine. This staged addition prevents an alcohol shock that would strip the young wine of its aromatics.
Since 2022, fortification is no longer mandatory. More on that below.
What styles exist? A first overview
Sherry follows two fundamental aging paths. Biological, under a living yeast layer (the flor). Or oxidative, in contact with oxygen with no protection. The difference defines everything: colour, aroma, taste, texture.
Fino is biologically aged sherry from Jerez de la Frontera or El Puerto de Santa María. Fortified to 15 percent, minimum two years under flor in American oak. The flor protects against oxidation and gives the wine its pale colour, dry bite, and aromas of almond, bread dough, green apple and salt. Drink with olives, jamón or fish.
Manzanilla is technically the same story as Fino, but exclusively made in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The town sits at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, right on the Atlantic. The coastal influence makes the flor thicker, the wine drier and saltier. As of 2022, only Manzanilla may be made in Sanlúcar itself, no Fino. A ten-year transition period applies to existing Fino producers in town.
Amontillado starts as Fino, flor and all, then continues as oxidative wine after the flor dies or is deliberately starved out. The result combines the finesse of biological aging with the depth of oxidation. Pale amber, aromas of nuts, dried leather fruit, smoky wood. Between 16 and 17 percent alcohol.
Oloroso is oxidative from start to finish. The young wine is fortified directly to 17 percent or higher, so flor never grows. The casks sit five-sixths full, with a layer of oxygen above. Years of contact with that oxygen turn the colour from pale gold to mahogany, with aromas of walnut, caramel, leather, tobacco and old oak. Full, dry, powerful. Oloroso literally means “fragrant”.
Palo Cortado is the mystery. On paper a Fino that unexpectedly developed Oloroso character. In practice a wine with the nose of an Amontillado and the palate of an Oloroso. The Consejo Regulador defines it aromatically, not technically. Rare, expensive, the favourite of many sherry drinkers who know all the styles.
Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel are the naturally sweet sherry styles, made by fortifying PX or Moscatel must before fermentation completes. PX is almost black and carries up to 500 grams of residual sugar per litre. Moscatel is slightly lighter and more floral.
Cream, Medium and Pale Cream are sweetened blends. A dry base (Fino, Amontillado or Oloroso) is mixed with PX or concentrated must. Cream is the sweetest, with 115 to 140 grams of sugar per litre, typically Oloroso-based. These categories were the commercial hits of the twentieth century, and at the same time the styles that built sherry’s grandma-drink reputation.
What changed? Vino de Pasto and modern sherry
In 2022 the Consejo Regulador approved the largest rule change in fifty years. The European Commission confirmed the modifications on 29 July 2025, with implementation on 25 August 2025. A few things shifted at the core.
Fortification is no longer mandatory. If a wine reaches the minimum alcohol thresholds (15 percent for Fino and Manzanilla, 17 percent for the oxidative styles) naturally, fortification can be skipped. The Consejo’s reasoning: warmer climate, higher natural alcohol levels, and modern understanding of asoleo make artificial fortification unnecessary. Wines that hit their ABV without spirit addition are no longer classified as “liqueur wine”, but as ordinary wine.
Vino de Pasto got a formal place. Since 2018 producers like De La Riva, Luis Pérez and Forlong have been bottling unfortified white wines under the Vino de Pasto label. Literally “wine to drink with food”. No fortification, focus on terroir, often single-variety Palomino from a specific pago, sometimes briefly under flor or aged in old sherry casks. These wines show what Palomino can do without the fortification lens, and prove that the albariza alone is already enough.
Pagos on the label. Since 2022 producers may name the specific pago the grapes come from, provided 85 percent or more originates from that pago. For anyone approaching sherry on a terroir level, this is the breakthrough.
New categories Fino Viejo and Manzanilla Pasada for wines with at least seven years of biological aging. Above the existing VOS (twenty years) and VORS (thirty years) categories from 2000.
En rama is officially recognised for unfiltered, non-cold-stabilised sherries. The rawest, most authentic version of what was in the cask.
Six heritage grapes are once again allowed for protected production, alongside the three main varieties. Beba, Cañocazo, Mantúo Castellano, Mantúo de Pilas, Perruno and Vigiriega. The restoration of a historic genetic palette.
What this all means: sherry is no longer a museum piece. The legal framework moves with climate, taste and technique, without surrendering the core.
How to start with sherry
Forget everything you think you know. Buy one bottle of Fino or Manzanilla, freshly bottled, no more than a year in the bottle. Store in the fridge. Drink cold, in a white wine glass, with olives, salted almonds or jamón ibérico. Finish within five days of opening, because biologically aged sherry is a living wine that loses ground quickly once exposed to air.
Then: try an Amontillado with aged cheese or mushrooms. An Oloroso with game or hearty stews. A Pedro Ximénez over vanilla ice cream, or simply on a wooden spoon after dinner.
Anyone wanting to dig deeper should read Peter Liem’s Sherry, Manzanilla and Montilla (2014, revised 2022) or Julian Jeffs’ classic Sherry (first edition 1961, sixth edition 2016). Both authors work from primary sources and years on the ground. They write about a wine, not about a separate category.
Because that is sherry. Wine. Just as Champagne is wine.
Sources
- Consejo Regulador del Vino de Jerez, Pliego de Condiciones DOP Jerez-Xérès-Sherry actualizado 2024. https://www.sherry.wine/documents/487/PLIEGO_CONDICIONES_JEREZ_ACTUALIZADO_2024.pdf
- Consejo Regulador del Vino de Jerez, Recent regulatory changes. https://www.sherry.wine/recent-regulatory-changes
- Consejo Regulador, El Marco de Jerez y los Pagos. https://www.sherry.wine/es/vinos-de-jerez/pagos
- Consejo Regulador del Vino Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda. https://manzanilla.org
- BOE / DOUE-L-2025-81213, EU confirmation of fortification rule change 2025. https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=DOUE-L-2025-81213
- BOE / DOUE-L-2022-80052, modificación pliego de condiciones Jerez-Xérès-Sherry 2022. https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=DOUE-L-2022-80052
- Junta de Andalucía, BOJA 133/2025 modifications DOP Jerez. https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/boja/2025/133/43
- Peter Liem, Sherry, Manzanilla and Montilla: A Guide to the Traditional Wines of Andalucía (Manutius, 2014; revised 2022).
- Julian Jeffs, Sherry (Faber & Faber, sixth edition 2016).
- Sherry Notes (Ruben Luyten), Background articles on Palomino, albariza, solera, Vino de Pasto. https://www.sherrynotes.com
- Decanter, Sherry: the comeback. https://www.decanter.com/features/sherry-the-comeback-248222/
- Spanish Wine Lover, Jerez redefines itself: end of compulsory fortification and new DO. https://spanishwinelover.com/jerez-redefines-itself-end-of-compulsory-fortification-and-new-do
- Jancis Robinson, Sherry rules change. https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/sherry-rules-change
- Lustau, Albariza, queen of soils in the sherry region. https://lustau.es/en/blog/albariza-queen-of-soils-in-the-sherry-region/