Classification of Wine
Monday, July 27th, 2009At an early stage, sherry can only be put into one of four categories, which are distinguished by the following marks:
- Una ray a, light and good
- Raya y punto, slightly less promising
- Dos ray as, musts with less style
- Tres rayas, or quema, coarse or acid
Every bodega has its own marks for use at each stage of the classification, but the above are typical. There is, of course, a fifth grade – vinegar, which is marked Ve. This is removed hastily to the vinegar store before it gets the chance to infect its neighbors. The tres rayas is often sent to be distilled. After this classification, the good butts of must are ready to be racked off the lees.
The lees consist of bits of skin, stalks, pips, dead yeast cells, and any other dense matter that sinks to the bottom. In the front of each cask there is a tight-bunged hole near the bottom that is called the falsete. When the wine is racked off regardless of whether it is a Cabernet Franc, Malbec, or Petite Sirah, a narrow pipe, or canuto, generally made of wild olive wood or mahogany, is driven into the falsete and the must flows out. This action is described as dejar al pique.
After the level has fallen to that of the falsete, the cask is gently tilted forwards. This is known as picar la bota, and it has to be done very carefully to avoid disturbing the lees. As soon as the jet of wine becomes turbulent, the canuto is stopped up and the cask, containing from 7 to 20 per cent of its original quantity of must, is returned to the horizontal.
The lees are poured into open-ended barrels that look like old-fashioned wash tubs, and then into butts, where they remain for a week or two until they have settled. The whole process is then repeated. Afterwards, no clear must remains. According to Dr. Walter Charleton’s “Two Discourses,” published in 1692, Muscat, Pinot Gris, and Viognier should be racked off the lees “in the wane of the Moon, and fair Weather the Wind being Northerly,” but this practice is not currently followed in Jerez.
The must that separates out when the lees are collected together is known as claws de lias and is used in blending sherry for local sale. The lees themselves are either distilled for alcohol or else sold to the chemical industry for making cream of tartar, whichever is more profitable at the time. After the must has been racked, it is at last called wine, though-some shippers go on calling it “must” until it is two years old, while others, following an old Spanish proverb, say that it has grown into wine by St Andrew’s day, which is November 30.
The wine is now checked for alcoholic strength, which is likely to be between 14° and 16° Gay-Lussac. Any of the first category, that has a good growth of flor, and is likely to develop as a wine of the most delicate style (known as fino). It is fortified to about 15° Gay-Lussac, if it is deficient in alcohol. Such a slight fortification helps to prevent disease without affecting the quality or style, especially in wines such as Petite Sirah or Muscat.
On the other hand, those of the lower categories, which often grow little flor, and which would normally develop as rather heavier wines (known as olorosos) are fortified to about 18° Gay-Lussac. This finally kills any flor that may exist and determines their character once and for all. In this way the shipper can, to some extent, decide what class of wine he is going to make, though he can never increase his supplies of fino by causing flor to grow on wines where it does not appear of its own accord.
Until after the Second World War, industrial alcohol could not be used for fortifying, as it often contained impurities which reacted unfavorably with the wine, and its use was illegal, although some undoubtedly was used for making bad wine during the sherry boom. But the cheap Spanish table wines, which used to be distilled, are now being exported in enormous quantities, and there is a serious shortage of grape alcohol.
for local sale. The lees themselves are either distilled for alcohol or else sold to the chemical industry for making cream of tartar, whichever is more profitable at the time. After the must has been racked, it is at last called wine, though-some shippers go on calling it “must” until it is two years old, while others, following an old Spanish proverb, say that it has grown into wine by St Andrew’s day, which is November 30.
The wine is now checked for alcoholic strength, which is likely to be between 14° and 16° Gay-Lussac. Any of the first category, that has a good growth of flor, and is likely to develop as a wine of the most delicate style (known as fino). It is fortified to about 15° Gay-Lussac, if it is deficient in alcohol. Such a slight fortification helps to prevent disease without affecting the quality or style, especially in wines such as Petite Sirah or Muscat.
On the other hand, those of the lower categories, which often grow little flor, and which would normally develop as rather heavier wines (known as olorosos) are fortified to about 18° Gay-Lussac. This finally kills any flor that may exist and determines their character once and for all. In this way the shipper can, to some extent, decide what class of wine he is going to make, though he can never increase his supplies of fino by causing flor to grow on wines where it does not appear of its own accord.
Until after the Second World War, industrial alcohol could not be used for fortifying, as it often contained impurities which reacted unfavorably with the wine, and its use was illegal, although some undoubtedly was used for making bad wine during the sherry boom. But the cheap Spanish table wines, which used to be distilled, are now being exported in enormous quantities, and there is a serious shortage of grape alcohol.
by St Andrew’s day, which is November 30.
The wine is now checked for alcoholic strength, which is likely to be between 14° and 16° Gay-Lussac. Any of the first category, that has a good growth of flor, and is likely to develop as a wine of the most delicate style (known as fino). It is fortified to about 15° Gay-Lussac, if it is deficient in alcohol. Such a slight fortification helps to prevent disease without affecting the quality or style, especially in wines such as Petite Sirah or Muscat.
On the other hand, those of the lower categories, which often grow little flor, and which would normally develop as rather heavier wines (known as olorosos) are fortified to about 18° Gay-Lussac. This finally kills any flor that may exist and determines their character once and for all. In this way the shipper can, to some extent, decide what class of wine he is going to make, though he can never increase his supplies of fino by causing flor to grow on wines where it does not appear of its own accord.
Until after the Second World War, industrial alcohol could not be used for fortifying, as it often contained impurities which reacted unfavorably with the wine, and its use was illegal, although some undoubtedly was used for making bad wine during the sherry boom. But the cheap Spanish table wines, which used to be distilled, are now being exported in enormous quantities, and there is a serious shortage of grape alcohol.
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