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Oloroso
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oloroso ('scented' in Spanish) is a variety of sherry aged longer than amontillado, producing a darker and richer wine.
Unlike the fino and amontillado sherries, in oloroso sherries the flor yeast is suppressed by fortification at an earlier stage. This causes the finished wine to lack the fresh yeasty taste of the fino sherries. Without the layer of flor, the sherry is exposed to air through the slightly porous walls of the American or Canadian oak casks, and undergoes oxidative aging. As the wine ages, it becomes darker and stronger and is often left for many decades.
Oloroso sherry is also the base for many of the sweet sherries developed for the international market, such as Bristol Cream, in which oloroso is sweetened and sometimes has the colour removed by charcoal filtering to achieve a desired effect.
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- Cream sherry, Amoroso, and Brown sherry are different styles of sweetened oloroso.
- East India sherry is an antiquted style of sweet sherry that is aged in a hot, humid cellar to approximate the effect of tropical weather on casks of sherry stored on board ships.
Dry olorosos should be served at room temperature or slightly chilled, and can be served as an apéritif with nuts, olives or figs, with game and red meats, or after a meal with rich cheeses.
Sweetened olorosos should be served at room temperature and are usually served after a meal as a dessert wine.
Because oloroso sherries have already been through years of oxidative aging, they can be safely stored for years before opening. Once opened, oloroso will begin to slowly lose some of its aroma and flavour but can be kept, corked and refrigerated, for up to two months after opening.
- Sanchez Romate "Don Jose" Oloroso
- Lustau "Emperatriz Eugenia"
When the casks used to age oloroso sherry are retired, they are often sent to Scotland, where they are used to age fine Scotch whisky. The oloroso wine infused in the wood of the casks imparts some of the flavor and aroma of the wine to the whisky during the aging process. Oloroso casks are also used to age brandy for the same reasons.