🏷️ Solera
Criaderas y solera: a dynamic way of ageing wine in scales of casks, with periodic «sacas» and «rocíos»; the classic system of sherry.
Solera, or the «criaderas y solera» system, is a traditional dynamic way of ageing wine in scales of casks. Under the specification of the Jerez-Xérès-Sherry designation of origin, part of the wine in each cask of a scale with an even level of ageing is drawn off periodically (the «saca») and replaced with wine from a younger scale (the «rocío»). The «solera» is the final, oldest scale, from which wine is drawn for shipment or further blending; the «criaderas» are the intermediate scales.
The average age of such wine is set by the rotation of the whole stock: the specification gives the formula t = Vt/Ve, where Vt is the total volume of wine in the ageing system and Ve the volume taken out for sale in one year. Sherry may be aged either by criaderas y solera or as a single vintage («añada»), and the label may say «solera system» or simply «solera». The specification traces the system back to the 18th century, when it answered the markets' need for wines of a quality kept steady over time.
Brandy de Jerez is also matured by criaderas y solera, in oak casks of less than 1,000 litres that have first held sherry, according to its EU technical file.
How it connects to Wine
🏷️ Solera ← then ← 🍇 Grape brandies → related → 🍷 Wine
How it connects to Spirits
Links
- Previous step
- 🥃 Brandy de Jerez, 🥃 Whisky, 🍇 Grape brandies, 🍷 Mulled wine and fortified wines, ⚗️ How spirits are made, 🌴 Rum and sugarcane spirits, 🥃 Brandy del Penedés, 🥃 Ron de Guatemala
- Next step
- 🍷 Sherry
- What is packed
- 🥃 Ron Zacapa 23, 🥃 Ron Zacapa Edición Negra, 🥃 Ron Zacapa XO
- Made from
- 🍷 Amontillado
- Traditions
- 🥃 Ron Zacapa
- Part of
- 🏷️ Aging of wine, ⚗️ How spirits are made
- Where it applies
- 🗺️ Spanish wine, 🗺️ Portuguese wine, 🗺️ Italian wine
- Similar and different
- 🥃 Brandy de Jerez, 🍷 Sherry, 🍷 VOS and VORS Sherry, 🍷 Marsala Vergine, 🏷️ Aging of wine, 🏷️ Criadera, 🥃 Sherry vinegar, 🥃 Blending, 🥃 Kūsu
Frequently asked questions
What is a solera?
In the criaderas y solera system it is the final, oldest scale of casks, from which wine is drawn for shipment; the younger scales are called criaderas.
How is the age of a solera wine worked out?
The sherry specification uses t = Vt/Ve: the total volume in the system divided by the volume sold in a year.
Where is criaderas y solera used?
It is the traditional system of sherry, which may also be aged as single vintages, and Brandy de Jerez is matured by it as well.
What to read next
- 🗺️ Italian wine — The country's wine and winemaking: regions, grape varieties, appellations.
- 🥃 Whisky — Whisky is a grain spirit: under EU rules it is aged at least three years in oak casks and bottled at 40% ABV (80 proof in the US) or more. Scotch, Irish, bourbon.
- 🍷 Amontillado — Dry sherry aged first under flor (biological ageing) and then in contact with air (oxidative ageing); 16–22 % vol.
- 🥃 Ron Zacapa — Ron Zacapa is a Guatemalan aged rum made from sugar cane juice, not molasses: pineapple-derived yeast, ageing high in the mountains at about 2,300 m, solera system. 40% ABV (80 proof); launched in 1976.
- 🥃 Ron Zacapa 23 — Ron Zacapa 23 is the core line of Guatemalan Zacapa rum, 40% ABV; a blend of rums aged 6 to 23 years in the solera system.
Similar
🏷️ Oxidative ageing · 🏷️ Biological ageing · 🏷️ Spanish ageing categories · 🏷️ Oak ageing · 🏷️ Bottle ageing · 🏷️ Barrique
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.
What it includes
Sources
- Junta de Andalucía: Pliego de condiciones DO «Jerez-Xérès-Sherry» (consolidated, Orden de 13 de mayo de 2026), sistema de «criaderas y solera»
- Official Journal of the EU C/2026/4549: amendment and single document PDO «Jerez-Xérès-Sherry»
- eAmbrosia: technical file of the GI «Brandy de Jerez» (PGI-ES-01944), Ref. Ares(2016)6709766
- Wikidata Q1139868