What is Spanish brandy de Jerez?

Brandy de Jerez must mature within the triangle of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in casks that previously held wine from Jerez.

The pliego de condiciones of the geographical indication lays that down. The casks are of oak, hold less than 1,000 litres and are envinado: they first held sherry before the brandy went in.

Spanish brandy from outside that area does not have to comply with that. The name Brandy de Jerez may only be on the bottle if the maturation took place in the Marco de Jerez.

With criaderas y solera the casks lie in rows and a portion is continually drawn off from the bottom row, which is then topped up from the row above.

In this way younger brandy continually runs into older brandy. The system is never emptied completely, so there is no batch that starts on one date and ends on one date.

That is why the age of Brandy de Jerez is expressed as vejez media, an average maturation. That is a different measure from an age in years, which refers to the youngest component.

Solera stands for an average ageing of more than six months, Solera Reserva for more than one year and Solera Gran Reserva for more than three years.

Those three categories are laid down in the pliego de condiciones of Brandy de Jerez and in the regulations of the Consejo Regulador. They say something about time in the cask, not about the bodega or the cask type.

In addition there is the designation Añada, for brandy that has matured separately for at least twelve years without being blended with other batches.

The casks for Brandy de Jerez are made of oak, hold less than 1,000 litres and have previously contained wine from Jerez.

Many bodegas put on the label which sherry it was. You will come across names such as Pedro Ximénez, oloroso and amontillado, and these refer to the wine that was in the cask before the brandy went in.

On the shelf in Bathmen there are bottles with Pedro Ximénez or oloroso mentioned on the label. What the cask does to the brandy differs per bodega and per batch.

The label states the category (Solera, Solera Reserva or Solera Gran Reserva), the bodega and the alcohol percentage.

Brandy de Jerez must have 36 percent by volume or more. The 2005 regulations named a range of 36 to 45 percent by volume for sale to the consumer.

If an age in years is stated on a bottle of spirits, then under article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 it refers to the youngest alcoholic component. With Brandy de Jerez it concerns an average, and that reads differently.