334 WILD SPAIN. 



the young wines are removed on bullock-carts to the 

 bodegas of Jerez, or San Lucar, and there remam till 

 January, when fermentation is complete ; the wine is then 

 placed in clean casks, and so left to mature. The contents 

 of each cask, however, are kept distinct and separate- 

 that is the wine- juice that ran from the la;iar into one 

 cask is not mixed or blended with another. 



And now follows one of the most curious circumstances 

 known in oenology. The wines thus made — the uniform 

 produce, be it repeated, of a single vineyard, gathered the 

 same day, pressed in the same lagar, and suljjected to 

 identical treatment — develope wholly different characters 

 and qualities. Some of the casks prove to be wines of 

 the highest grade and value ; others indifferent, some 

 coarse, and some even vinegar. Then amongst those 

 casks which have developed into the wines styled in Jerez 

 finos {i.e., soft, dry, and delicate, with a fresh, pungent 

 flavour), there is found here and there one which has 

 acquired the rare and highly valued amontillado character. 



This singular inequality in development appears to be 

 merely a matter of chance — of caprice in fermentation ; 

 and is quite inexplicable and uncontrolled by any known 

 laws or causes. Some years ago an attempt was made to 

 bring the light of modern science to bear on the old rule- 

 of- thumb methods of "rearing" sherry. An English 

 scientist of high standing essayed the task of assuring 

 an approximately equal development of all the wines 

 grown in one year and one vineyard. The result, how- 

 ever, was unsuccessful ; or if an approximate level was 

 attained it was, unfortunately, the level of mediocrity, or 

 worse ; the wines operated upon were destroyed, and the 

 savant left Spain under a cloud. 



Although the vine is almost ubiquitous throughout the 

 south of Spain, and the production of wine practically 

 unlimited, yet there are only two districts which yield the 

 specific wine entitled sherrii. These two districts are 

 the amphitheatre of hills which surround the city of 

 Jerez de la Frontera, and a small area of 1,500 acres in 

 Montilla called Moriles. It must also be remembered that 



