5i6 Journal of A.gricuUurc. [lo Aug., 1909. 



usually known as the l'"iii(j tvpe; so that at the present dav the sherry in 

 greatest request is al)Sohitel\ ditierent to wliat it was loo years, or even 40 

 \ears ago. 



Even at the present da\ the majority of the wines required bv the trade, 

 and with which one usually meets with in hotels, are very different from 

 what one is given to taste in the bodegas. Sherry is in its natural state 

 a dr\ wine — a fruity sherry is quite an excei)tion, and yet the usual sherrv, 

 such as we know it outside of Spain, is more or less fruitv. often quite dis- 

 tinctly .so. In the bodegas, on the other iiand, one is struck l)v the ex- 

 treme dryness of the wines, which in some cases even amounts to bitter- 

 ness. Some of the oldest and most valualile wines often strike a person 

 tasting them for the first time as distinctlv ami unpleasantly bitter. This 

 peculiarity grows on one. however, and, after a while, no longer shocks the 

 palate, but is appreciated, for it is often the finest and oldest wines which 

 have bv long storage in wood acquired this character. 



Sherry a Blended Wine. 



This apparent contradiction is explained by the fact that the sherry of 

 commerce is nearly always a blended wine. The elements which go to 

 make ud the blend are invariably sound, pure, natural wines, thoroughly 

 well matured, but of quite distinct tvces. It is .seldom that an unblended 

 wine is shipped, though a limited number of special customers who have 

 acquired a taste for a particular t\ pe may .send orders for this wine without 

 admixture. 



As has been .stated, the majority of wines of Jerez are absolutely dry. 

 Besides blending to combine the different qualities required bv the trade, 

 the wine is nearly ahvavs rendered more or less fruitv by the addition of a 

 small proportion of sweet wine. In the case of the highest grade this is 

 added in the shape of the costly Pedro Ximenes, or Paxarete, whilst for 

 more ordinary (lualities a sweet white, made bv stopping fermentation with 

 spirit, known as " Dolce Apa:^0(Io " (sweet quenched), or of still sweeter 

 " Mistela," is used. Such wines are made in considerable quantities for 

 the sweetening, before shipment, of the cheaper grades of sherries. 



The blending of wines before .shipment is an operation calling for 

 skilful management on the part of the merchant. It is one of their 

 principal jjreoccupatifins tn maintain an even .standard and to be able to 

 execute repeat nrders to the satisfaction of their customers. Complaints 

 are frequent as to the demands of the tr.ide ; indi\idual customers are 

 becoming more and more difficuU to satisfy, each one requiring his own 

 particular blend, so that nearly e\erv customer requires a different wine. 

 Thus it is that tlie sample nxim is an important feature of all the larger 

 bodegas. In the.se rooms one sees thousands of Ixittles. each of which is 

 a sample corresponding to an order whicli has been forwarded b\ the 

 establishment. With the aid of these and reference to the lx>ok in which 

 a record of each l)]end is kept repeat orders are possible, but a considerable 

 amount of work, thought, and tasting is entailed.. A photograph of the 

 sample room of Messrs. Pedro Domecq, the well known sherry shippers, 

 IS here lenroduced. 



Prtxctpal Types or Sherry. 



The \ariety of wines a \isit()r is shown at any of the large bodegas 



is almost bewildering. His iirst impression is one of hopelessness of ever 



correctly grouping the different wines he has .seen or of arriving at a 



correct classification nf sherries t;enerall\ . He begins to realize how little 



