ao July, 1909.] SJierry: Lis Making and Rearing. 443 



Although it has fallen from its former high position, the present 

 volume of trade is considerable, and the district, both on account of the 

 quality of its wine and the special methods bv which it is obtained, 

 amply repays detailed study. Besides, the literature which exists on the 

 subject, especially in the English language, is very limited. 



The situation of the district and its methods of culture and reconstitu- 

 tion en phylloxera resistant stocks, have already been dealt with in the 

 Journal for Mav, 1908. In the present article it is proposed to deal 

 with the making of the wine and its after treatment. The varied and 

 ■complex manipulations which result in the magnificent and unique wines 

 for which Jerez de la Frontera is renowned all the world over but par- 

 ticularly so in English speaking countries. 



It is scarcely necessary to point out that the word Sherry is a corrup- 

 tion of the older spelling of the name of the above town which was in 

 former times spelt Xerez. The initial "X" being pronounced almost 

 like " ch " in Southern .Spain the English name of the wine is easily 

 .accounted for. 



The Bodegas of Jerez. 



Jerez has been chiefl\ built up bv its wine trade, and the main objects 

 of interest to \isitors to the town are the bodegas of the large merchants. 

 These are unique in their way and totallv different from what one usuall) 

 expects from a cellar. It will be well to endeavour to describe what 

 these wine stores are really like and the conditions which prevail in them 

 .since these are factors which have a good deal to do with the evolution 

 of the wine and its ultimate character. 



The name '' Bodega '" is one, the meaning of which has become per 

 ^•erted in English speaking countries, where it has been adopted to desig- 

 nate a wine shop where a retail trade is conducted. Such distortions of 

 meaning when a word is transplanted from one language to another are 

 not uncommon, and the Spanish meaning in this particular ca.'^e is \erv dii 

 ferent to the one usually attributed to it in England. 



A bodega is really a cellar, or warehou.se ; it also means the hold of a 

 ship, but never a retail wine shop, which in Spain is known as a Posadc. 

 O"- Parador. A bodega is thus reallv a cellar, or, more strictly speaking, 

 a wine merchant's warehouse or store, for being entirely above ground it 

 cannot be termed a cellar. In Jerez the bodegas are one-storied buildings 

 with a large and lofty roof of heavv tiles, usually supported by brick 

 piers. On entry the impression created is curious. The general view 

 reminds one more of a church than a wine store, though the t.ers of butts 

 soon dispel this first impression. 



Everything in a well kept bodega, with the exception of the casks con- 

 taining the wine, is kept scrupulouslv clean. The brick work is white- 

 washed every year and the clean sanded floor is raked or swept as .soon 

 as foot prints have been left by anyone's passage. The first thing that 

 strikes one is the great height and, the loss of storage space between the 

 tops of the butts and the roof, the tiles of which contrast strangeh- 

 with the whiteness of the brickwork. Another curious feature is that the 

 casks are never cleaned. The solera svstem of handling precludes the 

 filling or emptving of a cask. Small additions or withdrawals are made 

 from time to time, but as a cask is never entirely emptied it can never hr- 

 wa.shed in the usual way ; except in the case of an accident happeninf; to 

 it^. it is never, after it has once been placed in rx)S'tion, moved. The dust 

 which forms on the out.side is respected as much as the lees in the interior, 

 .and the dingy appearance of these contrasts strangely with the marker! 



