| FINO | This is the lightest and
driest of sherries
, carrying the delicate, fresh, yeasty flavour of the flor (This is
a strain of yeast that feeds off residual elements in the wine
and forms anything from a very thin film to a foaming crust on its surface). In cooler coastal areas such as Sanlúcar de Barrameda(where fino is known as Manzanilla), flor grows vigorously all year round, giving a great deal of flavour to the wine and preserving its delicate pale-straw tint. |
| AMONTILLADO | Amontillado wines starts out as Fino but spend much longer in the solera. At around 15 years old, amontillado takes on a darker colour and a more robust aroma, but maintains the savoury character of its youth. |
| OLOROSO | Oloroso wines develop through the solera without growing flor, and are darker, richer and more powerful in aroma, although not sweeter. Olerosos are among the longest-lived wines in the world, lasting up to 100 years or more. The best have a golden, nutty fragrance and rich, powerful palate with a long, bone-dry finish. |
| PALO CORTADO | Palo Cortado is a rare deviant, a wine that started life as a fino developing flor, and then lost it to undergo a kind of vinous sex-change in an effort to become an Oloroso. |
| CREAM SHERRY | Cream Sherry and other types have been concocted to appeal to individual markets. All Sherry is naturally dry, but soleras of sweetening wines are made from Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel grapes. |