Generoso Wines

1- Base wine
2- Ageing
3- Soleras
4- Bottling
5- Market

WINEMAKING OF GENEROSO WINES

Generoso wines are wines with an alcohol content of between 15 and 23º, made by ageing methods that contribute their own qualities. They are usually identified with Andalusian wines, most famously Sherry, although they are produced in other areas of Spain.

a) Selection of the base wine

Generoso wines begin with a pale, light, very clean wine with an alcohol content of between 11 and 15º. The selection of this base wine or must-wine is usually made during the first days of January following the harvest and is based on the qualities needed to produce the different kinds of generoso wines: fino, amontillado and oloroso. Once the final end product for each of the must-wines has been decided, it is fortified to increase its alcohol content through the addition of vinic alcohol.

Butts, recipients made of oak wood with a capacity of 550 litres, are filled with each type of base wine and placed in the wine cellar to age as required to create the final product.

1- Base wine
2- Ageing
3- Soleras
4- Bottling
5- Market

b) Ageing

The ageing process varies depending on the type of generoso wine:

Finos: These begin as pale, light wines; the barrels in which they age are one-sixth empty and they are placed in the coldest and most humid part of the cellar. Inside the barrel, the wines undergo biological ageing, that is, through the action of yeasts that accumulate on the surface of the wine forming a velo de flor (literally, veil of flower). They are also known generically as vinos de crianza en flor. Their alcohol content is between 15 and 16º.

Olorosos: These start as fortified base wines with more colour and somewhat more body than those used for the preparation of amontillados. The barrels are completely filled and placed in the highest areas or in those places most affected by heat. They undergo a physical-chemical or oxidising ageing process in which the wine evolves due to the action of the oxygen that enters through pores in the barrel. This type of wine has an alcohol content of between 18 and 19º.

Amontillados: These come from fortified fino wines with a deeper colour. They are, therefore, fino wines whose normal development has been altered for some reason. They are fortified a second time, until the alcohol content reaches between 18 to 19º, and then continue ageing like oloroso wines.

The other generoso wines (manzanilla, palo cortado, palido, raya...) originate in these three types, or are the result of their blending with sweet wines.

1- Base wine
2- Ageing
3- Soleras
4- Bottling
5- Market

c) Escalas, criaderas and soleras

Inside their respective barrels, the different types of generoso wines pass through a process known as escalas, criaderas and soleras, the aim of which is to obtain homogeneous wines within each group.

The barrels of each type of generoso are grouped one on top of another, usually forming a stack three levels high. The barrels closest to the floor are the soleras, while the criaderas are found on top of them. The escala consists of various groups of criaderas and soleras in which the wine passes from one barrel to another, with the young wine always moving downwards and mixing with older wine, in a process called corrimiento de escalas. The barrels are all full at the end of the procedure.

The wine withdrawn from the system for sale is taken from the soleras, accounting for approximately one third of the content of the barrel. This space is then filled by a sixth of the content of the first criadera barrel through a process called rociado. Next, the same procedure is repeated in the higher criaderas. Finally, the last criadera is left empty and is filled with new fortified base wines.

Before sale, the wine is taken from the soleras and subjected to a cabeceo or blending process that homogenises its qualities. Next, it is stabilised through a clarification and filtering process. Finally, it is bottled.