What is Sherry?

Sherry is fortified wine from the Jerez region of Andalusia, aged in a solera system. Two biological regimes matter for mixing. Under flor (a film of Saccharomyces yeast), fino and manzanilla stay pale, dry, and aldehydic; without flor, oloroso takes on oxidative nuttiness. Amontillado sits between them. Fortification typically lands between about 15% and 20% ABV depending on style.

In the cocktail glass, fino and amontillado function like a more characterful dry vermouth — saline, nutty, low in sugar. Oloroso and cream supply richness in stirred drinks and cobblers. Fino, once opened, is especially fragile: flor character fades and oxidation proceeds quickly even under refrigeration.

Fino and manzanilla: almond, dough, sea air, and a yeasty flor character, with very little residual sugar. Amontillado begins as flor-aged wine and then oxidizes, adding hazelnut and dried-apple notes. Oloroso is aged oxidatively from the start: walnuts, dried fruit, more body. Cream sherry is sweetened. Cooking sherry is salted and will wreck a cocktail.

The Sherry Cobbler — sherry, sugar, citrus, crushed ice — was one of the defining mixed drinks of 19th-century America. Sherry then receded from the American bar as vermouth and later vodka took its place.

Contemporary bars restored fino to highballs and amontillado to stirred drinks in part because well-made sherry remains one of the better values in fortified wine, and because its salinity and oxidation give gin and whiskey a register vermouth does not.

Buy fino or amontillado from a shop with turnover; the wine should not have sat warm on a shelf for months. Refrigerate fino and manzanilla after opening and use them within days to a couple of weeks. Amontillado and oloroso last longer but still belong in the fridge.

Substitute fino for some or all of the dry vermouth in a martini when you want a saline, almond edge. Do not use supermarket cooking sherry, which is salted for the pan.