How to pour it
a sherry in
Place the bottle of fino in the refrigerator for three hours, until the wine reaches 6 to 8 degrees. An oloroso does not need to be as cold and shows best at 12 to 14 degrees.
Take the bottle out only when you’re ready to pour. Fino quickly warms up and then loses its fresh, salty character.
Uncork the bottle and fill the copita to about one-third full, around 5 cl. The empty space above the wine is where the aroma gathers.
Place the olives and almonds alongside it and close the bottle again immediately. An opened bottle of fino belongs in the refrigerator and is at its best within a few days.
What did you think of this explanation?
One click on a star is all it takes. If you’d like to add something, we’ll review it first before it appears here.
Save this page
Send this page to your own email, so you have the explanation at hand when you’re ready to pour. You’ll also receive a €5 discount code on orders from €50, for the glasses that go with it.
The story
Sherry comes from a small area in southwestern Andalusia, with Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda as its three corners. It is almost always made from the palomino grape, a white grape that is fairly neutral in flavor; pedro ximénez and moscatel are used for sweet styles. What makes sherry sherry happens only after fermentation. The wine is fortified with grape spirit and then goes into casks that are not completely full. Whether a layer of yeast grows in that space or not determines whether you get a fino or an oloroso.
The right glass
Sherry is served in a copita, also called a catavinos in Jerez: a small tulip-shaped stemmed glass of approximately 12 to 15 cl. Its shape keeps the aroma together, and you only fill it one-third full so that air remains above the wine. We carry this shape under the name port and sherry glass; a catavinos from a bodega is often slightly more slender, so these are the glasses that come closest. More small goblets can be found among the liqueur glasses.
Royal Leerdam Bouquet Port Glass / Sherry Glass 14 cl (6 pieces)
Chef & Sommelier Spirits Sherry Liqueur Glass 12 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 61,90.
The right tools
For sherry, alongside the glass, use cocktail picks for the olives and almonds and a zester for a strip of orange peel. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 69,85.
What do you pour alongside?
Sherry is itself wine, fortified with wine alcohol. These are the bottles that fit on the table alongside it, from a dry cava beforehand to a cognac after the meal. On each drinks page, you can read the percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it pairs with and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Fino and manzanilla are the pale, dry styles; amontillado falls somewhere in between, while oloroso is dark and nutty. Palo cortado starts out like a fino and ends up like an oloroso. Then there is the sweet side: Pedro Ximénez made from dried grapes, and cream, an oloroso sweetened with PX. In Andalusia, they mix fino with lemon soda to make a rebujito. Want to read more? View all drinks and brands.
Serving tip
Serve fino and manzanilla at 6 to 8 degrees, in a copita filled no more than one-third full. Oloroso and amontillado show better at 12 to 14 degrees. Serve them with olives, almonds or a piece of aged cheese, and store an opened bottle of fino upright in the fridge.
Good to know
What exactly is flor?
Flor is a layer of yeast that forms on the wine in the cask. It seals the wine off from the air while feeding on the alcohol and other substances. This keeps the wine pale and gives it that dry, almost salty character. This is called biological ageing, and it is what makes a fino and a manzanilla.
Why do amontillado and oloroso taste so different?
Once the flor layer disappears, or if the wine is fortified so much that the yeast can no longer live, the wine comes into contact with oxygen. This oxidative ageing makes it darker and brings notes of nuts, caramel and dried fruit. Oloroso ages this way from the start, amontillado begins under flor and then continues without it, and palo cortado falls somewhere in between.
How does the solera system work?
The casks are arranged in tiers. At the bottom is the solera with the oldest wine, and above it are the criaderas with increasingly younger wine. Only part of the wine is ever drawn from the bottom tier, and it is topped up from the tier above. This keeps everything blended and the style consistent year after year. That is also why a bottle of sherry almost never has a vintage year on it.
Which grapes are used?
The base is palomino, a white grape that is fairly neutral itself and therefore readily takes on the character of the aging process. Pedro Ximénez and moscatel are used for the sweet styles. For PX, the grapes are first dried in the sun, which greatly concentrates the sugar.
How much alcohol is in sherry?
Sherry is fortified with wine alcohol and therefore has a higher alcohol content than ordinary wine. The dry, pale styles are usually around 15 to 17 percent, while the oxidative styles are roughly between 17 and 22 percent. The exact content of your bottle is stated on the label.
How long does an opened bottle last?
Fino and manzanilla are essentially just wine and deteriorate quickly after opening; allow a few days, refrigerated and upright. Oloroso, amontillado and PX have already undergone long oxidative aging and therefore last for weeks to months.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fino and manzanilla?
Both are pale, dry sherries that mature under a layer of flor. Manzanilla is the name used only for wine matured in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, by the sea. Fino comes from Jerez de la Frontera and El Puerto de Santa María. Many people find manzanilla slightly lighter and saltier.
At what temperature should you serve sherry?
Fino and manzanilla at 6 to 8 degrees, so genuinely cold from the refrigerator. Amontillado and oloroso at 12 to 14 degrees; they become flat and heavy when too warm, but also closed when too cold. Serve sweet Pedro Ximénez at around 6 to 8 degrees.
Why is there no vintage year on a bottle of sherry?
Because the wine comes from a solera. In this system, young wine is continually blended with older wine, so each bottle is a blend of multiple years. A vintage would then say nothing. There are exceptions, but the rule is that sherry does not carry a vintage year.
Which glass do you use for sherry?
A copita or catavinos: a small tulip-shaped glass on a stem, holding about 12 to 15 cl, which you fill to roughly one third. A port or sherry glass from our catalogue has the same shape. A wide wine glass works less well because the aroma dissipates.
Everything for your bar,
to one address
Horeca-quality glasses, delivered as a set. Order today, delivered quickly.
Shop the glasses →