Other drinks

Let’s brandy!
«Cigar Clan» №5 (29) October-November 2006

Spain produces more brandy than any other country in the world. Most of Spanish brandy comes from Jerez.

Sherry brandy, or brandy de Jerez, belongs to a large family of spirits obtained by distillation of grapes. It differs from other similar beverages through the facts that its production is strictly limited by territory and has to meet certain regulations. Sherry brandy is one of only three types of brandy with controlled origin. The other two are French cognac and armagnac.

Alembics, or stills, used for distillation were brought to Jerez by the moors who conquered Spain. They used alembics to distill fruit and herb infusions in order to get medicinal and perfumery products. Christians who lived in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, were fast to copy technology and soon applied it to grapes. At first the distillate was added to local wine to improve its alcoholic strength and make it more stable for transportation and storage. Then the Spanish learn to make a separate drink that was exported in the Northern Europe, primarily to Holland. The Dutch invented the word brandewijn (“burnt wine”) that was later transformed into brandy. Distillation technique spread from the Southern Spain to the north — to France and all Western Europe. First written evidence about commercial production of grape spirit-based beverages in the region relate to the 16th century.

Nowadays each wine producing bodega in Jerez also makes sherry brandy. The highest quality comes from “Sherry triangle” — a territory lying between Jerez-de-la-Frontera, El-Puerto-de-Santa-Maria and Sanlucar-de-Barrameda. Keeping general influence of Greek, Roman and Arab civilizations, each town has own history and special atmosphere. All of them are known for their skill in making spirits.

First step towards making sherry brandy is distillation of base wine in continuous stills. The wine is usually made of neutral Airen grape with some Palomino. Spirits for high quality brandy is made in copper alquitaras. If the process goes under very high temperature, the distillate has more alcoholic strength, but fewer substances which make up the bouquet. That’s why only the middle fraction of spirit is used for brandy. It is called holanda to celebrate Holland, traditional market of Spanish sherry brandy. It takes 6-7 litres of base wine to get one litre of holanda.

After distillation the spirit contains between 60 and 70 percent of alcohol. Top brands of brandy are put in oak barrels. Olanda is kept there until it loses some alcohol — a natural process occurring through evaporation. For mainstream brandies the distillate is broken by water. Alcohol content is reduced approximately to 44 degrees.

Then starts a process of maturing which is unique to Jerez. It is so special thanks to an aging system known as ‘criaderas and solera’. Rows of barrels are put one on another; the first, or the lowest, is called ‘solera’, all the rest — ‘criaderas’. The barrels are kept so that the top ones contain the youngest vintage. The upper barrels are topped with young spirit which gradually moves down to lower barrels and is mixed with older brandy. Solera features a complex brandy that consists of different vintages.

Criaderas and solera are built from oak barrels previously used for aging sherry, so sherry brandy acquires specific flavours with richness, depth and mellowness. The acidity is felt less. Producers can also fine tune the style using barrels from a certain type of sherry. For example, Lepanto by Gonzalez Byass is aged in barrels after dry fino and oloroso sherries. As a result, Lepanto is refined and dry. For Cardenal Mendoza in Sanchez Romate sweet oloroso barrels are used — the brandy, accordingly, has honeyed and vanilla notes in the bouquet.

By period of aging sherry brandies are divided into three groups — solera, solera reserva and solera gran reserva. For the first, it is enough to have 6 months of barrel aging, for the second the time is extended to one year. For solera gran reserva the minimal period is 3 years, but best brandies of many bodegas substantially exceed the minimum and spend 10 to 15 years in barrel. Sherry brandy — as a category of aged sprits — gives more value in comparison with cognacs with the same aging period. In addition to Gonzalez Byass Lepanto and Sanchez Romate Cardenal Mendoza, the most famous solera gran reserva are also Gran Duque de Alba by Williams & Humbert, Conde de Osborne by Osborne and some others.

Gonzalez Byass
A company with 170 years of history remains a family business. Its Tio Pepe brand is one of the most popular sherries in the world. Together with famous wine, Gonzalez Byass produces 2 ranges of sherry brandy. Soberano includes young brandies with are usually used for cocktails. The prestige range is Lepanto, brandies spend at least 15 years in solera. According to the type of barrels, Lepanto can be OV (oloroso viejo), PX (pedro ximemez) and model Solera Special Reserve made from the best distillates and going through 15 rows of solera.

Sanchez Romate
Founded in 1781, Sanchez Romate is one of the oldest bodegas in Spain and one of the few family businesses in Jerez. The company supplies the Royal court of Spain, Vatican and the British Chamber of Lords. Sanchez Romate built first solera for sherry brandy in 1887 to satisfy family needs. Exemplary quality led to creating Cardenal Mendoza brand — it has been present on the national and international markets for over a hundred years. Brandies are aged in barrels of American oak where pedro ximenez and oloroso sherries were previously kept. Presented in famous handmade cork box, Cardenal Mendoza has noble aromas and balanced, smooth, ideally rounded taste.

Williams & Humbert
Company history started in 1877 when Alexander Williams joined his father-in-law wine business. The company had several bodegas in Jerez-de-la-Frontera, with headquarters in London. Today Williams & Humbert is one of the most respected producers in Jerez. The top brand is Gran Duque de Alba Solera Gran Reserva, aged in oloroso barrels. It has light, soft vanilla aromas and mellow, rounded taste. A more exclusive product is Gran Duque de Alba Oro Solera Gran Reserva Especial, that spends on average 25 years in solera.