Anyone tried making sherry?

[Steve Broady]

Has anyone tried making sherry at home? I’ve done a little reading on line and found a couple recipes for something resembling sweet sherry, and a little bit about how’s it’s made on a commercial scale, but not much else. My hunch is that to do it right requires some high proof white brandy made from the same wine that you’re turning into sherry, and of course that’s impossible to buy. But that’s not a problem for us, is it?

Here’s what I’m considering if/when I ever tackle this project:
-Make a 5 gallon batch of wine using the appropriate juice and flor yeast, both of which I believe I can purchase here in the US. Take careful notes so that the %ABV can be determined reasonably accurately.
-Rack off 1 gallon of wine into a glass carboy, and distill the rest of the wine into the best brandy I’m capable of making from it, which will be kept full strength in glass.
-Fortify the wine to the appropriate level (I think it’s 17%, but I’d do more research first) to feed the flor. Over the course of a year or more, continue to occasionally feed the flor with more brandy as needed.

Obviously, this does not use wooden barrels or the solera process. What I’ve ready (and what I’ve tasted of commercial sherry) suggests that the wooden barrels are so well used that they contribute very little or no flavor to the sherry. If I wanted some wood presence, I could add small amounts of wood to either the wine or the brandy, just like we do when aging other spirits.

There doesn’t seem to be a good replacement for the solera process, but I’m not sure it’s really needed. It seems that the point is primarily to ensure that the flor has some fresh alcohol to feed on throughout the process, and to blend and age the final product and yield a continuous and consistent output. Regular additions of brandy would take care of the feeding, and I’m not planning on making more than one or two batches at the moment, so there’s nothing to blend and no need for consistency.

This is all theoretical at the moment, and I’m not planning on starting anything right this minute. This is one of many projects that I’m mulling over until the stars align and I decide that the time has come. I would very much like to hear from anyone here who has tried and succeed or failed, and also just to share ideas and brainstorm with anyone else who’s interested.

[NZChris]

Just do it, to get it wrong, you have to make bad wine or brandy. It's not all that technical unless you want to emulate a particular style, in which case you will have to start with the correct variety of grape.

I make something out of what I've got, chuck some toasted, charred, oak in it and leave plenty of headroom because I age in glass but want O2.

[contrahead]

Personally I'd make 5 gallons of the best wine that I could, and choose a yeast that will produce a sweet wine / not a dry one.

I'd bottle 1/2 to 3/4 of the wine and use the rest to experiment with, initially. The bottled wine will keep until it is needed.

Instead of brandy I'd fortify what was left with a mild corn or barley spirit. But if I only had the product of a sugar wash to fortify with, I'd first distill that again until it was nearly tasteless.

If you haven't already; read up on "Madeira"; the history of the island, why it was a strategic seaport and why the Portuguese version of sherry that they still make there was so famous. They stored their sherry in outdoor barrels, in hot full sunlight.

[NZChris]

Personally I'd make 5 gallons of the best wine that I could, and choose a yeast that will produce a sweet wine / not a dry one.

You don't even have to get that technical if you want a sweet wine as you can use the brandy to stop the ferment. If you want a really sweet product, Jeropiga is made by adding grappa, (by another name), to freshly pressed juice.

[Dougmatt]

A lot depends on which style you want to make. I’ve made a bit of port and done a tawny which uses oxidation versus bacteria (flor) like oloroso style. Basically fortify above 16% (no bacteria) put it in a spent barrel, leave head space and walk away for awhile (year +) can top up or better yet, solera. The good thing about using oxidation over flor is that the bottle keeps longer after opening and doesn’t have to be finished quickly.

Here are my thought on a Sherry which I’ve thought about, but haven’t done yet:

If I was going to do one I would probably ferment Moscatel grapes which are much easier for me to get in the US versus palomino fino and Pedro X. If I was able to get the grapes fresh and on stem, I would probably leave them in the sun and raisin them a bit if possible similar to amarone. This isn’t truly required, but I like the results in my amarone, so would try it. I would then do a first press, and ferment dry. Stabilize, clear and Fortify to around 17% (can always go higher later) Then put in a spent barrel and use oxidation similar to the tawny’s I’ve made to get the Oloroso style flavors. Taste it over time and Pull off a bottle now and then to enjoy. Maybe keep some back in glass to top up with as well or plan to do a new make in a year to solera with.

To fortify I would use the second press of the grape to make brandy, then use that to fortify.

[contrahead]

you can use the brandy to stop the ferment.

One year I made a delicious fortified wine from apricots. The wine was OK – if you like wine; but I sweetened and muscled it up to taste – with brandy.

I didn't measure at the time but suspect that the ABV of the experiment was well over 20%, probably over 30%. That did not prevent the corks from blowing off in the middle of the night though. Due to pressures from secondary fermentation, I had a few wine corks shoot about 40 feet, from the wine rack, down a hallway and into another room.

Lessons learned: don't sweeten with real sugar or don't use EC-1118 Champaign yeast, if you do.

[NZChris]

When aging, I don't jam the corks in so tight that they can't breath, so if I have had any fermentation, I've never noticed it. My Jeropiga is 18% abv and only has the natural yeast and sugar from the grapes.

[hawkwing]

I’ve tried the sweet cream version using raisins. I didn’t use the flor yeast or anything like that. It needs some age before I know what’s it’ll be like. But the color is nice. I fortified with neutral.

Harder for me to get the proper grapes or juice.

[Dougmatt]

you can use the brandy to stop the ferment.

That did not prevent the corks from blowing off in the middle of the night though. Due to pressures from secondary fermentation, I had a few wine corks shoot about 40 feet, from the wine rack, down a hallway and into another room.

Anything I back sweeten I hit with potassium sorbate to stabilize and prevent secondary ferment. That said, I am shocked that even EC could revive at that high of abv….

[Ptforme952]

Hi Contrahead. Your post had me laughing, as I learned a lesson with Champagne yeast also!! I was going for a sparking prickly pear wine and was generally successful using flip-top bottles (Thank God!), but my Mom did not refrigerate the bottle I gave her and the entire contents shot up to the ceiling when she popped it. Luckily, she had a good attitude about it.

I found your post because I made a fig/raisin wine this summer. It had very high alcohol content also, around 17-18% and actually is tasting more like brandy (but I didn't distill it). I reserved some and wanted to continue it to a fig vinegar. It's reminding me of a sherry right now and came here looking for how sherry is made.

Have a great day!

Did I post this correctly??? can't tell if its actually responding to your post??

[Bushman]

Hi Contrahead. Your post had me laughing, as I learned a lesson with Champagne yeast also!! I was going for a sparking prickly pear wine and was generally successful using flip-top bottles (Thank God!), but my Mom did not refrigerate the bottle I gave her and the entire contents shot up to the ceiling when she popped it. Luckily, she had a good attitude about it.

I found your post because I made a fig/raisin wine this summer. It had very high alcohol content also, around 17-18% and actually is tasting more like brandy (but I didn't distill it). I reserved some and wanted to continue it to a fig vinegar. It's reminding me of a sherry right now and came here looking for how sherry is made.

Have a great day!

Did I post this correctly??? can't tell if its actually responding to your post??

You are good to go Ptformer nothing shows up until your welcome post is accepted which I just ok’d.