Sherry in Granada
Palo Cortao has around forty sherries on the list, on the way to seventy. This is the guide Enrique would give you at the bar, written down.
The styles
150 wines. Forty from Jerez, on the way to seventy.
From the palest to the darkest: that is how sherry is ordered — by how much air it has breathed in the cask.
- 01 / 07
Manzanilla
The fino of Sanlúcar: lighter, with the river breeze.
It can only be aged in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The damp air of the estuary thickens the flor and gives it a salty edge no other wine has.
- 02 / 07
Fino
Pale, dry and saline. Aged under a veil of flor.
Biological ageing: a layer of yeast, the flor, covers the wine inside the cask and keeps the air out. Pale, bone-dry, pungent. Drink it very cold.
- 03 / 07
Amontillado
Starts under flor, finishes in the air. Hazelnut.
It begins life as a fino and, once the flor fades, keeps ageing in contact with the air. Amber, dry, toasted hazelnut. The mushroom wine.
- 04 / 07
Palo cortado
The nose of an amontillado, the body of an oloroso. The rare one.
Meant to be a fino, it took another path. It loses its flor on its own and matures in the air with a finesse oloroso never has. Scarce — and the name of this house.
- 05 / 07
Oloroso
No flor from day one. Walnut, leather, body.
Fortified high from the start so no flor can grow. Pure oxidative ageing: mahogany, walnut, leather. Dry, even when it smells sweet.
- 06 / 07
Cream
Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez. Sweet with backbone.
An oloroso sweetened with Pedro Ximénez. For dessert, or a long sobremesa.
- 07 / 07
Pedro Ximénez
Sun-dried grapes. Raisin, fig, liquorice.
The grapes are dried in the sun until they turn to raisins. Black, dense, very sweet: fig, date, liquorice. With the cake, or instead of it.
01 / 05
What sherry is
Sherry is the fortified wine of the Jerez region: Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Almost all of it comes from the palomino grape and is aged in American-oak casks using a system found nowhere else: criaderas and solera.
02 / 05
Palo cortado
It is the wine this house is named after, and the hardest to find. It starts life as a fino, under a veil of flor. But sometimes the flor fades on its own and the wine goes on ageing in contact with the air. The cellar master, who had marked the cask with a chalk stroke, crosses that stroke with a line: palo cortado, the cut stroke.
In the glass it has the delicate nose of an amontillado and the round body of an oloroso. With the smoked bonito, it is hard to beat.
03 / 05
Criaderas and solera
The casks are stacked in rows. The bottom row, on the floor, is the solera, and wine for bottling is drawn from it. What is drawn is topped up from the row above, the first criadera, and that one from the second. Young wine learns from old, year after year, and one solera can hold wine from many harvests.
Casks are never filled to the top: a few fingers of air are left so the flor can breathe.
“La mejor variedad de vinos generosos. Buenas tapas y genial servicio”04 / 05
VOS and VORS
These seals certify the average age of a sherry. VOS (Very Old Sherry, or Vinum Optimum Signatum) guarantees more than 20 years; VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry, or Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum), more than 30. Wines to drink slowly — and to ask about at the bar.
05 / 05
How to order here
By the glass. If you do not know where to start, say what you are eating: fino or manzanilla with the artichokes, amontillado with the mushrooms, palo cortado with the bonito, a Pedro Ximénez with dessert. And if you want to try them all in a row, ask about a tasting.
FAQ
What people ask at the bar
01At what temperature should sherry be served?
Fino and manzanilla very cold (6–8 °C). Amontillado and palo cortado cool, around 12–14 °C. Oloroso a little warmer. Sweet styles as you like them.
02Is sherry sweet?
Mostly not: fino, manzanilla, amontillado, palo cortado and oloroso are dry. The sweet ones are Pedro Ximénez, moscatel and blends such as cream.
03How long does an open bottle keep?
Fino and manzanilla, a few days in the fridge. Oxidatively aged styles (amontillado, palo cortado, oloroso) keep for weeks.
04Do you have wines that are not sherry?
Yes: the cellar has around 150 wines. Sherry is the speciality, not the only choice.
Bookings
Shall we keep you a spot at the bar?