Bodegas El Maestro Sierra Fino 75cl

El Maestro Sierra Fino Sherry is aged in a solera with six scales. The solera system is an amazing thing; It is a method for ageing sherry, in wooden casks. The casks are stacked in groups and aged. The liquid is fractionally blended begining at the top with the freshest wine, and then it moves downwards until the lowest level (the Solera - means on the ground in Spanish) which contains the oldest wine - sometimes many decades old. Tapping and removing some of the wine at each level for bottling means that the system always contains wines, they are never drained so some of the earlier wine is always present in each cask. In theory this means that their are partial traces of the very first wine introduced to each solera system. I find this fascinating - sherry is totally up my street. I hope you enjoy discovering sherry too. 

Fino is the driest and palest style of sherry - perfect as an aperitif. Fino is usually ready to drink young within 4-6 years and should be treated as a wine and consumed on opening of the bottle - so this handy half size bottle is perfect for sharing for two.

The most important thing as far as production of fino is concerned is the yeast (known as flor) which is present as a layer on top of the fermenting wine. This protects the wine from oxidation by acting as a protective blanket over the wine. The resulting wines are fresh and bright. A bowl of olives and some almonds make for a perfect pairing with this wine.