lo Aug., 1909.] Slurry : Its Makmg and Riariiig. 519 



A remarkable feature of sherry generally is that it is a wine which can 

 Ih? almost indefinitelv stored in wood. Unlike most other wines, which 

 should be bottled as soon as their maturation in the cask has reached a cer- 

 tain stage, sherry undergoes a continuous evolution when stored iii wood — - 

 an evolution which may be divided into several distinct stages. Amontillado 

 .is the second stage in the develofment of wine's of the fino type. The term 

 is derived from the name of the town of Montilla, which has already been 

 referred to, and means literally " like Montilla," a term which came into 

 use many years ago, when the development of fino wines was an innovation 

 in Jerez, and something was required to distinguish them from the old 

 fashioned brown sherries and wines of the oloroso and allied t\i>es. 



The transformations which occur during the evolution of sherries are 

 most interesting ; one of the strangest is the gradual increase in the alco- 

 holic strength of the wine, which is the result of the curious conditions 

 prevailing in the bodegas in which it is stored — abundant ventilation — a 

 drv atmosphere, and a fairly high temperature * — not onlv the strength, but 

 .also the colour, undergoes change becoming gradually darker, at first 

 very slowly, but afterwards more rapidly. Exceedingly old wines are 

 of a deep brown colour. 



After a time the strength of the wine in a fino " solera " will have in- 

 •creased to such an extent that for can no longer live on its surface. The 

 Avine continues to develop, however, but no longer on the same lines. It 

 has entered the second, stage of its evolution and is becoming amontillado. 

 The exact age at which this change takes place is variable, depending on 

 the individuality of the wine. The transformation is gradual ; for some 

 years the characteristic " ether " taste of the fino is retained, but it even- 

 tual Iv gives place to a curious " bite," or sharpness, akin to bitterness, 

 difficult to define, but well known to connois.seurs of sherry. It takes 

 from twehe to twenty years, from vintage, before a wine can become 

 .amontillado. At first it is an amontillado fino, but as the length of time 

 since the disappearance of f.or increa.ses, so does the fino character also 

 -disappear, until the wine has reached the complete amontillado character 

 when it is said to l>e a vino hecho,\ or made wine. 



Even after this, evolution continues, but again on different lines, for 

 the wine enters on its third, or final stage. This is a rather less distinct 

 transformation than the former one, nor is it distinguished by anv par- 

 ticular name. The result is simplv said to be a inno vie'/o (old wine). 

 It has by this time become stronger in alcohol, darker in colour, and usually 

 -distinctly bitter. 



A curious fact is the similarity which exists between the wine at this 

 stage, and an old oloroso of similar age, a similarity which is in striking 

 contra.st to the marked difference which existed between them at an earlier 

 period of their contemporarv history. In their youth the fino taste, 

 •due to the growth of for, .separated them absolutely ; with the disappear- 

 ance of this flavour from one of them, in their old age. they become a good 

 ■deal more similar to one another. 



All finos. howe\er, do not de\elop absolutely on these lines. It is 

 only finos possessing sufficient bodv which will make good amontillados, 

 and which are worth keeping for the long series of years the change de- 

 mands. Thin wines, such as the manzanillas of San Lucar, are not worth 



*I had at first some difficulty in creditin,' that this increase in strength really took place. It is not 

 in accordance with the experience of mist esllirinen in Victoria. On eiquirv, the correctness of the 

 <-ontention was p'oved to ine in vari'ms ways. The question will he dealt with in detail later. 

 + Hecho is th past panicijilc of the verb hacer, to do or make. 



