🍷 Medium Sherry

Medium is a type of sherry, the protected designation of origin «Jerez-Xérès-Sherry». The official specification counts it among the vinos generosos de licor and defines it as a wine obtained from vinos generosos with a sugar content of at least 4 and less than 115 g/l. It belongs to EU category 3 (liqueur wine). The grapes come from the delimited area in the province of Cádiz and Lebrija.

The base is one or more dry vinos generosos, aged under flor, without flor or both, in oak butts of no more than 1,000 litres. Sweet components permitted by the specification are blended in — raisin must with neutral wine alcohol, rectified concentrated grape must or a vino dulce natural; this is called «cabeceo». The finished wine must have an average maturation of two years in oak casks. The specification does not prescribe which generoso forms the base.

By the specification Medium has 15–22 % vol. alcohol and from 4 to under 115 g/l of sugar. Its colour ranges from amber to dark chestnut; the aroma shows caramelised notes and/or nuts; the taste ranges from slightly sweet to sweet.

The sugar range of a medium is wide, so the label may replace the word Medium with «Medium Dry» if the wine has less than 50 g/l of sugar, or «Medium Sweet» if it has 50 g/l or more. A dry amontillado (no more than 4 g/l) is not a Medium. Pale Dry (4–50 g/l) and Pale Cream (50–115 g/l) cover a similar sugar range but must be based on biologically aged wines and are pale; Cream has 115–140 g/l.

Why it matters to you. The word Medium alone does not tell you whether the wine is nearly dry or clearly sweet; «Medium Dry» or «Medium Sweet» on the label narrows it down. At 15–22 % vol. it is stronger than table wine. The WHO states that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.