The vineyards and bodegas that produce sherry and sherry wine vinegar lie in the Jerez region in Cádiz: primarily Jerez de la Frontera, but also Sanlucar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa Maria. These three towns constitute the Denominacion de Origen (DOC) that is called Vinagre de Jerez.
Through waves of heat, sweet breezes from the Atlantic and the Guadalquivir River waft to Jerez from the west. To the east is the Mediterranean, and to the north are mountains. Among the early settlers were the Phoenicians, who introduced the region's palomino grape, which is the source of the sherry to this day. Andalusia became part of the Roman empire and, as a province of Rome, the region was christened Xerex in Latin. When the Moors arrived, they called Xerex "Sherrisch," which the Spanish translated as Jerez. In English, the local fortified wine came to be called "sherry."
The wine- and vinegar-making methods are unique. In contrast to the south of France, for instance, where the wine is kept in underground caves, thick with humidity and moss, wine barrels in Jerez are exposed to light and air under vaulted ceilings in vast sun-filled structures that vary architecturally from elderly warehouses to grand castles.
The palomino grapes are planted in the white (Albariza) soil, considered another contribution to the sherry's singularity. The grapes are harvested in September. To make the wine, the first pressing of the grapes is called the "must" or "yema" (yolk). The must is clarified and fortified; then the young wines enter their maturation period. Only top-quality young sherry, with its high acidity, is used to make sherry vinegar.
In 1995, the Jerez DOC designation became applicable for sherry wine vinegar as well as for sherry wine. Current legislation requires Jerez vinegar to have less than 1 percent alcohol and at least 5 percent acidity. The older the wine, the lower the alcohol, the higher the acidity. But the percentage of acidity is only partly responsible for the vinegar's sharpness.
The vinegar maturation process demands oxygen and fresh air, because the bacteria require oxygen to convert ethyl alcohol into acetic acid. Oxygen affects sherry vinegar even after the acetic acid has formed by further oxidizing components in the vinegar, deepening the color and making the vinegar more complex in flavor and aroma. The unique Jerez method for aging both the wine and the vinegar is called the solera system. The goal: to produce a consistent wine or vinegar year after year. The solera system was born in the 19th Century, when English demand for sherry had grown to vast proportions.
The vinegar ages in bodegas with high roofs and open vents, which admit the air necessary for the oxygenation of wines and vinegars. The bodegas are mostly situated toward the south or southeast to receive the sea winds. Sherry vinegar barrels are never completely filled, and the upper opening, called bojo, is never completely sealed, so the barrels constantly receive air.
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