Vinagre de Jerez

Appearance & taste

Vinagre de Jerez is old gold to mahogany in colour and has a dense, oily structure. The aroma is intense and slightly alcoholic, with predominant notes of wine and wood; according to the specification, aromas of vanilla, milky coffee and toast also develop during cask ripening. Despite its acidity the taste is pleasant and long-lasting.

There are three categories according to ripening time: Vinagre de Jerez with at least six months, “Reserva” with at least two and “Gran Reserva” with at least ten years. Semi-sweet vinegars are made with wine or fortified must of the Pedro Ximénez (“al Pedro Ximénez”) or Moscatel (“al Moscatel”) varieties; with at least 150 g/l of extract they may be sold as sweet. Vinegar that comes from a single vintage only may be called “Añada” (vintage) from two years on.

The vinegar contains at least 70 g acetic acid per litre, “Gran Reserva” at least 80 g, sweet and semi-sweet vinegars at least 60 g. The residual alcohol is at most 3 % vol, and at most 4 % vol for sweet and semi-sweet vinegars.

Production

The starting material is “suitable wines” from wineries in the area of the Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla – Sanlúcar de Barrameda wines, young wines as well as aged ones. On delivery, each batch is acidified with vinegar from stock until it has at least 1 degree of acetic acid. Acetic fermentation takes place either under control in acetators or directly in the wooden casks in which the vinegar later ripens.

It is ripened by the classic “Criaderas y Solera” system or as a vintage (“Añadas”) until the vinegar has reached the characteristics of its category. All the ripening vinegar is kept in wooden casks that have previously held wine, with a capacity of at most 1,000 litres; the control body may exceptionally permit larger, historically significant casks. According to the specification, the casks provide a slow supply of oxygen, and the solera system evens out the differences between vintages.

It is bottled in glass or other suitable containers, at the registered wineries or at approved bottlers, including outside the area. The label or back label bears a guarantee seal or an identification number of the control body.

Origin & history

The area covers Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Trebujena, Chipiona, Rota, Puerto Real and Chiclana de la Frontera in the province of Cádiz and Lebrija in the province of Seville. It is shaped by plains and gentle hills with white albariza soil, a soft, lime-rich marl that retains moisture well. It has over 300 days of sunshine and about 600 mm of rain a year; the hot, dry levante and the moist poniente from the Atlantic determine the climate.

According to the specification, vine growing and the making of wine and vinegar here go back to the time of the Phoenicians. Wines and vinegars went to America and northern Europe via the nearby ports of Cádiz and Seville, and casks of American oak came from the colonies. The solera method arose in Jerez in the 17th century in order to be able to supply wine and vinegar of consistent quality. Typical are the strongly bulging casks of American oak (“bota”) and the wineries with high ceilings, thick walls and high windows through which cool air comes in at night but no direct light falls on the casks.