History of Sherry
The history of Sherry is closely linked with that of Spanish wine production, particularly the political fortunes of the Cádiz region, where it originated with the early Phoenician settlement of the Iberian Peninsula.[2]: 28 The Greeks soon followed and brought with them the tradition of making arrope, a dark colored sweet syrup made from unfermented grape juice that could be used to sweeten wine.[2]: 170–176 Following the decline of the Roman Empire, the area came under the rule of the Moors from North Africa who were in power until their expulsion during the Reconquista-from Jerez in 1231 and Cádiz in 1262 AD.Under the Islamic rule of the Moors, the consumption of alcohol was forbidden but some winemaking continued to exist in the region as part of trade and commerce with the non-Muslim neighbors.[4] The Moors also introduced the process of distillation known as alembic to the region which created a crude form of grape liqueur and would be a precursor to the technique of adding brandy to Sherry.The Venetian traders were losing their supply of sweet wine from the lands of Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Hungary to the emerging dominance of the Ottoman Empire.Seeing an opportunity to capitalize on this, the Spanish Duke of Medina Sidonia made several moves to put Sherry into the forefront of the world's wine market.Towards the turn of the 17th century, Sherry makers were starting to discover that the white chalk albariza soil of the area produced some of the freshest wine and there was some understanding of the strange but powerful effect of the yeast flor.The Sherry makers in Sanlúcar were a little more restrained in the use of their brandy, finding that the unique aspect of flor took on new distinction amid the salty sea breezes that cooled most of the area's bodegas.Despite these efforts, sales continued to decline at the end of the 20th century as Sherry fell out of fashion among consumers-especially in some of the emerging markets of the United States, Japan and Australia.
SherrySpanish wineCádizPhoenicianIberian PeninsulaJerez de la FronteraEl Puerto de Santa MaríaSanlúcar de BarramedaGreeksRomansSpanishBritishstatue of the god Bacchustrading postCanaanitewinemaking traditionsAncient Middle EastgrapevinesunfermentedwinemakingCarthageviticulturistColumellaRoman EmpireMartialsweeteningdecline of the Roman Empirethe areaNorth AfricaReconquistaIslamicalcoholforbiddendistillationalembicliqueurbrandyfrontierAge of ExplorationNew WorldEast IndiesChristopher ColumbusFerdinand MagellanAmericamaravedisarmamentsVenetianCyprusGreeceRomaniaHungaryOttoman EmpireFranceEnglishBordeauxDuke of Medina SidoniaexportEnglandHenry VIIICatherine of AragonEnglish ReformationRoman Catholic ChurchSpanish InquisitionprivateersPhilip II of SpainSpanish ArmadaFrancis Drakecaptured the harborSouth AmericaWilliam ShakespeareSir John FalstaffHenry IV, Part 2fortified wineMontillaTorrontesMalmseyPalominoPedro XiménezMuscatelalbarizaWar of the Spanish SuccessionNapoleonic WarsNetherlandsport wineMethuen TreatyoxidizeconcentratedbarrelsoleraRhinelandPortugueseolorosobodegasmanzanillaamontilladoSouth AfricaUnited StatesAustraliaGermanyphylloxeraDenominación de OrigentrademarkEuropean UnionHidalgo (sherry)History of PortWayback MachineAlcoholic beveragesHistory of alcoholic beveragesHistory of beerHistory of wineHistory of Bordeaux wineHistory of ChampagneHistory of ChiantiHistory of Rioja wineAlcohol industryBathtub ginBrewingBreweryMaltingLauteringDrinking establishmentsFermentationSimple syrupYeast in winemakingBanana beerBanana wine