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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks from Jerez–Sanlúcar–El Puerto triangle, Andalusia, Spain

Sherry — fino and manzanilla (biologically aged under flor)fino

Palomino must is fermented dry, lifted with grape spirit to about 15 % and put into oak butts that are not filled to the top. A film of flor yeast grows on the wine's surface, shields it from air and slowly changes its flavour, while the wine moves down a stack of casks (criaderas and solera) for at least two years on average. Made in 5 steps over 2 years. The longest step, age in criaderas and solera, takes at least 2 years (Junta de Andalucía 2026). Saccharomyces cerevisiae flor strains, once classed as races beticus, cheresiensis, montuliensis and rouxii does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 yearsSet[pliego2026]Age in criaderas and solera
Temperature15–22 °CReported[garcia2025]Rest in part-filled butts while flor forms (sobretablas)
Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks2 yearsDOP Jerez-Xérès-Sherry (fino); DOP Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda (manzanilla)More alcoholic drinksMore from Spain

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedSet by the DOP rules, not by a recipe. At most 70 litres of protected wine may be made from 100 kg of grapes.
Palomino grape must · At least 10.5 degrees Baumé[pliego2026]
Wine alcohol for fortifying · Neutral alcohol of wine origin of at least 96 % vol, or wine or raisin alcohol of 95–96 % vol[pliego2026]
Starter: defined or spontaneous yeast for the base wine; flor is formed by film-forming Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains living in the bodega

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 years

Start
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What changes: Ripe Palomino grapes are pressed and the must runs off

Step 1 of 5
Harvest ripe Palomino and press
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Yeasts

Output: must.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Fino ages only under flor, a living film of yeast on the wine. Amontillado starts under flor and finishes in contact with air, while oloroso never has flor at all. The tier system blends young wine into old, so a fino has an average age, not a vintage.

Related ferments

Variants

  • ManzanillaFino-style wine aged under flor in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, under its own DOP; under the Jerez rules, fino may be aged anywhere in the zone except Sanlúcar.
  • Fino ViejoFino with an average age of at least seven years, showing slight oxidation.
  • AmontilladoBiological ageing under flor first, then oxidative ageing.
  • Palo cortadoMainly oxidative ageing after the first flor disappears.
  • OlorosoOnly oxidative ageing, after the first flor disappears.
  • VOS and VORSWines of more than 20 and more than 30 years.
  • Montilla-MorilesThe new wine is kept unfortified in clay or cement jars of 2,000–10,000 L before entering the tiers.

Made the sherry way

Safety

A fortified wine of 14–17 %. No safety limits specific to fino were found in the sources beyond the DOP's analytical limits.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Fortifying wine began in the 17th century to keep it sound on long sea voyages. The DOP rules consolidated in May 2026 set the strength of fino at sale at 14–17 %.

  1. [pliego2026] Junta de Andalucía 2026, Pliego de condiciones de la Denominación de Origen Protegida «Jerez-Xérès-Sherry», consolidated by the Orden of 13 May 2026 (BOJA no. 95, 20 May 2026)spec
  2. [garcia2025] García-García J.C., Mauricio J.C., García-Martínez T., Carbonero-Pacheco J., Giacosa S. et al. 2025, The 'criaderas and solera' system in sherry wines, biological aging, flor yeast dynamics, industrial applications and emerging challenges, Foods 14(24):4211paper
  3. [florido2023] Florido-Barba A., Cordero-Bueso G., Cantoral J.M. 2023, Alcoholes no vínicos para la mejora del desarrollo del velo de flor y de las características sensoriales de los vinos finos de la D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, BIO Web of Conferences 68:02011paper
  4. [carbonero2021] Carbonero-Pacheco J., Moreno-García J., Moreno J., García-Martínez T., Mauricio J.C. 2021, Revealing the yeast diversity of the flor biofilm microbiota in sherry wines through ITS metabarcoding and MALDI-TOF MS, Frontiers in Microbiology 12paper
  5. [wp-sherry] Wikipedia, Sherry (outline only)wiki