Having visited Cadiz in August, we choose to visit the Sherry making area near-by.

After a drive through Cadiz and Jerez, we visited Osbourne Family Wines in El Puerto. This is a 250 year old family business (currently 300 family members are shareholders) that was originally started by an Englishman, Thomas Osbourne. It's a large producer with slick marketing (their symbol of the Bull is very famous throughout Spain). After receiving a great overview of the unique production process we tasted 5 lovely examples of Sherry, from very (very, very dry) to sweet.

David's old friend Peter Harkin lives in Cadiz and he met us after our first visit and we went to the opposite example of production. Our second visit was to a small family bodega, Gutierrez Colosia, where we had a private tour with the owner's daughter. She further enhanced our understanding of the process, after which we tried another 6 Sherrys.

In summary, we noted that its: 1) less about the quality of the grapes and more about the production process that creates the uniqueness of the wines; 2) they use two fermentation processes, Biological (no oxidation) with the natural yeasts protecting the wines (alcohol of no more than 15%) which produces the driest and palest Sherrys. And the Oxidation process where higher wine alcohol is added leading to darker and sweeter wines; and 3) Medium and Cream blends are also created by mixing the first two.

Having begun the day knowing nothing about sherry and not particularly liking it we ended the day knowing a little more and liking it a lot more!!

Our day was followed by a walking and driving tour through El Puerto, a break at Pete's home, a fast boat across the bay back to Cadiz, dinner on board with Pete, and the ship's lively dance party on deck, Rock the Boat.

It was great spending time with Pete and seeing the area with a local.

On Wednesday we walked through the sites of Cadiz viewing the Cathedral, the sea, the Roman Theatre, and the local market with lots and lots of fascinating fish on display.

Departure was 1:30 pm so the rest of the day was eating, exercise, eating.....

Detailed information on Sherry making-

Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Fronterain Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versions similar to white table wines, such as Manzanillaand fino, to darker and heavier versions that have been allowed to oxidise as they age in barrel, such as Amontillado and oloroso. Sweet dessert wines are also made from Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel grapes, and are sometimes blended with Palomino-based sherries.

Sherry has protected designation of origin status, and under Spanish law, all wine labelled as "sherry" must legally come from the Sherry Triangle, an area in the province of Cádiz between Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María.

After fermentation is complete, the base wines are fortified with grape spirit to increase their final alcohol content.  Wines classified as suitable for aging as fino and Manzanilla are fortified until they reach a total alcohol content of 15.5 percent by volume. As they age in a barrel, they develop a layer of flor—a yeast-like growth that helps protect the wine from excessive oxidation. Those wines that are classified to undergo aging as oloroso are fortified to reach an alcohol content of at least 17 per cent. They do not develop flor and so oxidise slightly as they age, giving them a darker colour. Because the fortification takes place after fermentation, most sherries are initially dry, with any sweetness being added later.

Wines from different years are aged and blended using a solera system before bottling so that bottles of sherry will not usually carry a specific vintage year and can contain a small proportion of very old wine.

Barrels in a solera are arranged in different groups or tiers, called criaderas or nurseries. Each scale contains wine of the same age. The oldest scale, confusingly called solera as well, holds the wine ready to be bottled. When a fraction of the wine is extracted from the solera (this process is called the saca), it will be replaced with the same amount of wine from the first criadera, i.e. the one that is slightly younger and typically less complex. This, in turn, will be filled up with wine from the second criadera and so on. The last criadera, which holds the youngest wine, is topped up with the wine from the latest harvest, named sobretabla. Taking away part of the wine and replacing it with the contents of other scales, is called rociar or to wash down.