Fine Sherry comes from the Jerez region of southern Spain, just above the Straits of Gibraltar. The region takes its name from the town of Jerez or, to give it its full name, Jerez de la Frontera. In ancient times it was the frontier town between the Christian occupied north and the Moorish occupied south, until reunited under the Christian Kingdom after the expulsion of the Moors. The wines of the region have been known outside Spain for many centuries. In fact, Sir Francis Drake (El Draco to the Spanish), when he sacked the town of Cadiz confiscated some 3000 casks of Sherry from the Quay, and took them home.

There are also many references to Sherris and Sherris Sack in Shakespearean works; the wine however must have been quite different from the Sherry of today because it was not fortified.Sherry today is a quite unique wine and can range from very pale and very dry to very dark and very sweet. It is, however, a white wine and produced from a single grape variety - the Palomino - with just a few subsidiary varieties for the sweeter wines.

The hot climate in southern Spain, together with the rather chalky soil, produces grapes very high in sugar which convert into a wine with a very high natural alcohol content of 14% or more. The chalky soil is responsible for a rather noticeable acidity in the wine. These features produce one of the most popular styles: the dry Fino and Manzaniia Sherries. Besides the unique climate and soil conditions, the methods of sherry production are quite unique, the style of maturation and manufacture differing greatly from other wine-producing regions.

Generic Types - Sherry styles are produced in South Africa, Australia and Cyprus. Of these, South African is closest to the Sherry from Jerez. South African producers use the Palomino grape, just as they do in Spain, and they have the good fortune that Flor grows on some of their wines - with the result that some very good wines appear.

Australian Wine has improved immensely in recent years. Many of the drier styles are produced on a Flor system. New EC Laws protect Spanish Jerez Sherry - all others must be labelled 'Liqueur Wine'.

A change to the Wine Australia Corporation Act 1980 means that from now on, ‘Sherry’ produced in Australia must no longer be called “sherry” but can be called ‘Cream, crusted/crusting and Solera Fortified’.