(Vol. ix., pp. 222. 336.)
The wines of Xeres consist of two kinds, viz. sweet and dry, each of which
is again subdivided into two other varieties. Amontillado sherry, or simply
Amontillado, belongs to the latter class, the other description produced
from the dry wine being sherry, properly so called, that which passes in
this country generally by that name. These two wines, although differing
from each other in the peculiarities of colour, smell, and flavour, are
produced from the same grape, and in precisely a similar manner; indeed, it
frequently happens that of two or more _botas_, or large casks, filled with
the same _mout_ (wort or sweet wine), and subjected to the same
manipulation, the one becomes Amontillado, and the other natural sherry.
This mysterious transformation takes place ordinarily during the first, but
sometimes even during the second year, and in a manner that has hitherto
baffled the attempts of the most attentive observer to discover. Natural
sherry has a peculiar aromatic flavour, somewhat richer than that of its
brother, the Amontillado, and partakes of three different colours, viz.
pale or straw, golden, and deep golden, the latter being the description
denominated by us brown sherry. The Amontillado is of a straw colour only,
more or less shaded according to the age it possesses. Its flavour is drier
and more delicate than that of natural sherry, recalling in a slight degree
the taste of nuts and almonds. This wine, beings produced by a phenomenon
which takes place it is imagined during the fermentation, is naturally less
abundant than the other description of sherry, and there are years in which
it is produced in very small quantities, and sometimes even not at all; for
the same reason it is age for age dearer also. The word "Amontillado"
signifies like or similar to Montilla, _i. e._ the wine manufactured at
that place. Montilla is situated in Upper Andalusia, in the neighbourhood
of Cordouc, and produces an excellent description of wine, but which, from
the want of roads and communication with the principal commercial towns of
Spain, is almost entirely unknown.
The two sweet wines of Xeres are the "Paxarite," or "Pedro Ximenes," and
the "Muscatel." The first-named is made from a species of grape called
"Pedro Ximenes," sweeter in quality than that which produces the dry
sherry, and which, moreover, is exposed much longer to the action of the
sun previous to the process of manufacture; its condition when subjected to
the action of the pressers resembling very nearly that of a raisin.
Fermentation is in this case much more rapid on account of the saccharine
nature of the _mout_ or wort. In flavour it is similar to the fruit called
"Pedro Ximenes," the colour being the same as that of natural sherry.
Muscate wine is made from the grape of that name, and in a manner precisely
similar to the Paxarite. The wine produced from this grape is still sweeter
than the Pedro Ximenes, its taste being absolutely that of the Muscat
grape. In colour also it is deeper; but the colour of both, like that of
the two dry wines, increases in proportion to their age, a circumstance
exactly the reverse of that which takes place in French wines. German
sherry wines are capable of preservation both in bottles and casks for an
indefinite period. In one of the _bodegas_ or cellars belonging to the firm
of M. P. Domecq, at Xeres, are to be seen five or six casks of immense size
and antiquity (some of them, it is said, exceeding a century). Each of them
bears the name of some distinguished hero of the age in which it was
produced, Wellington and Napoleon figuring conspicuously amongst others:
the former is preserved exclusively for the taste of Englishmen.
The history of sherry dates, in a commercial point of view, from about the
year 1720 only. Before this period it is uncertain whether it possessed any
existence at all; at all events it appears to have been unknown beyond the
immediate neighbourhood in which it was produced. It would be difficult,
perhaps, to say by whom it was first imported: all that can be affirmed
with any degree of certainty is, that a Frenchman, by name Pierre Domecq,
the founder of the house before mentioned, was among the earliest to
recognise its capabilities, and to bring it to the high state of perfection
which it has since attained. In appreciation of the good service thus
rendered to his country, Ferdinand VII. conferred upon this house the right
exclusively to bear upon their casks the royal arms of Spain. This wine,
from being at first cultivated only in small quantities, has long since
grown into one of the staple productions of the country. In the
neighbourhood of Xeres there are at present under cultivation from 10,000
to 12,000 _arpents_ of vines; these produce annually from 30,000 to 35,000
_botas_, equal to 70,000 or 75,000 hogsheads. In gathering the {475} fruit,
the ripest is invariably selected for wines of the best quality. The wines
of Xeres, like all those of the peninsula, require the necessary body or
strength to enable them to sustain the fatigue of exportation. Previous,
therefore, to shipment (none being sold under four to five years of age), a
little _eau de vie_ (between the fiftieth and sixtieth part) is added, a
quantity in itself so small, that few would imagine it to be the cause of
the slight alcoholic taste which nearly all sherries possess.
In consequence of the high price of the delicious wines, numerous
imitations, or inferior sherries, are manufactured, and sold in immense
quantities. Of these the best are to be met with at the following places:
San Lucar, Porto, Santa Maria, and even Malaga itself. The spurious sherry
of the first-named place is consumed in larger quantities, especially in
France, than the genuine wine itself. One reason for this may be, that few
vessels go to take cargoes at Cadiz; whilst many are in the habit of doing
so to Malaga for dry fruits, and to Seville for the fine wool of
Estremadura. San Lucar is situated at the mouth of the Guadalquiver.