II Oct., 1909.] SJicrry -Its Making ami Rearing. 621 



shire, Lancashire, and the northern counties of England, totalling 

 in all atxjut 10.000,000 inhahitants. It is, hesides, conveniently 

 situated for trade with Scandinavia, Russia, Denmark and other 

 North European countries. An estimate of its capabilities as a fruit im- 

 porting centre may be obtained from the fact that during the summer 

 months only of 1905, 20,000 tons of soft fruits and 80,000 tons of hard 

 fruits were distributed through the North of England from this port. 

 Hull, however, is onlv one of manv other distributing centres awaiting 

 our exploitation. 



SHERRY: ITS MAKING AND REARING. 



F. dc Castclla, Governwcut Viticitlturist. 



{Coniiuucd from page 583). 

 The "Soi,et?a'' Svste:\i. 



We have already seen in connexion with the making of Sherrv, 

 several notable departures from ordinar\ wine-making methods but it is 

 in its rearing — in the curious method by which the young wine is trans- 

 formed into the finished commercial article — that even greater differences 

 are to be found. This method must now be described. 



Clarets, Hecks and most other wines, though they mav differ in the 

 treatment they receive in the early stages of crushing and fermentation, 

 are, after racking from their lees, allowed to mature spontaneously, the 

 treatment thev receive being limited to ordinarv cellar care, filling up, 

 occasional rackings, &c. With Sherrv it is entirelv different, far this 

 wine is truly reared according to a methcdical process which may be termed 

 the solera system — a method peculiar to Jerez and the neighbouring dis- 

 tricts of San Lucar and Montilla. 



Solera is the name given in Spain to a series of butts of Sherry in 

 process of maturation, so conducted as to provide for progressive frac- 

 tional blending, thus insuring the continued production of a wine of even 

 type in spite of differences which may occur between the produce of suc- 

 cessive vintages. In other old world wine districts, wines of different 

 vintages are, as a rule, matured before being blended (if thev are blended 

 at all). Wines reared as at Jerez, on the other hand, cease to belong to 

 any particular vintage once they enter a solera. 



A solera consists of a series of stages, each of which comprises a 

 number of butts of about 115 gallons capacitv. The finished wine is ob- 

 tained from the final stage, from which not more than one quarter of 

 the contents of each b^jtt is withdrawn at a time. This deficiency is 

 made good from the stnge immediately preceding, and so on right through 

 the series, down to the youngest stages, withdrawals from which are re- 

 placed with young wine. The wine is thus slowly moved forward through 

 the series, several years elap.sing before it reaches the final stage from 

 which it is withdrawn in its finished state, after having been largely 

 blended during the process witli the older wines with which it became 

 mixed in the process. 



This will le better understood on reference to the diagram represent- 

 ing a simple fnrm of solera — one consisting of 50 butts divided into five 

 stages, each of which is of to butts. p'or the sake of clearness, each 

 stage here constitutes a row of casks. mirk-d resnectivelv with a Roman 



