Sack, an earlier form of Sherry

Sack is an antiquated wine term referring to a wine imported from mainland Spain or the Canary Islands. There was sack of different origins such as: Canary sack from the Canary Islands, Malaga sack from Málaga, Palm sack from Palma de Mallorca, and Sherris sack from Jerez de la Frontera. William Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff, introduced in 1597, was fond of sack, and sometimes refers specifically to Sherris sack.

Julian Jeffs writes "The word sack (there are several spellings) probably originated at the end of the fifteenth century, and is almost certainly derived from the Spanish verb sacar ("to draw out"). In the minutes of the Jerez town council for 1435 exports of wine were referred to as sacas. The term is still used for the withdrawal of wine from a solera." The term Sherris sack later gave way to sherry as the English term for fortified wine from Jerez. Since sherry is practically the only one of these wines still widely exported and consumed, "sack" (by itself, without qualifier) is commonly but not quite correctly quoted as an old synonym for sherry.

15th to 17th century: from Sack to Sherry

The latter part of the 15th century would see a resurgence in the Jerez region. Vineyards began to move out of the eastern region and be planted closer to where they are located today, where the soil was actually better for the grapes. On August 12, 1483, the Rules of the Guild of Raisin and Grape Harvesters of Jerez were established, the first regional rules regulating harvests, characteristics of the butts (known as botas), aging and commercial transactions. This would help with some standardization in the sherry (sack) industry as well as better uniting the winegrowers.

The wine trade with England may have originated in the 14th century, if not early, and England eventually became one the best customers for Sherris sack. In 1491, the Duke of Medina Sidonia abolished taxes on export of wine from the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, allowing both Spanish and foreign ships. English merchants were given preferential treatment in 1517, and distinction was upheld between second-rate wines, so-called "Bastards", and first-rate wines which were known as "Rumneys" and "Sacks". This period in time coincides with the planting of vines in the Canaries, after the Spanish all but exterminated the indigenous Guanches in the 1490s. Málaga, formerly in the Kingdom of Granada, also took to using the name sack for its wines, which were previously sold as "Garnacha".

What was Sack like at this time? First, it was not fortified so its alcohol content rarely surpassed 16%. Most sack was probably sweet, and matured in wooden barrels for a limited time. Sack makers were using a variety of grapes, including Torrontes, Malmsey, Palomino, Muscatel and Pedro Ximenez.

It was not until the turn of the 17th century, that producers in Jerez began to realize that their albariza soil, a white soil with a high proportion of chalk, produced some of the best wine. They also started to understand the effect of the yeast flor, leading to the creation of fino or "fine" wines, named because of their light and delicate style. And by the end of the 17th century, the word sack was gradually being replaced by "sherry."

18th to 19th century: Sherry becomes fortified

The sherry industry did not fare well in the beginning of 18th century. First, the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) allowed warfare and politics to once again adversely affect trade. In addition, sherry sales to England and Holland both were both significantly reduced as their tastes started to change toward port, partially influenced by the Methuen Treaty of 1703, which helped to establish trade relations between England and Portugal.

Many sherry merchants were thus unable to sell all of their wine, which had to sit around in oak barrels. These wines started to oxidize, acquiring more concentrated and nutty flavors. When the merchants were able to sell some of their sherry, the merchants would bottle some and then top off the barrel with some newer sherry. This fractional blending became the start of the solera system, which is now the norm. Though other wine makers around the world had done this before, it seemed to be particularly effective with sherry. This solera system would give sherry very distinctive flavors and characteristics.

As people began to gravitate toward sweet and stronger wines, sherry producers started to fortify their wines with brandy. This led to the discovery that the higher alcohol content killed off the flor, making the wine oxidize even more and develop into a style of wine they now called oloroso which means "pungent." The sherry producers in Sanlúcar used less brandy, producing a lighter, more delicate style with a freshness that reminded them of apples. They thus called these wines manzanilla or "little apple."

The wine makers also discovered that if they limited the number of times that fresh wine was added to the solera they could create another style of sherry that had some of the fragrance of the flor but with a little more oxidation and concentration of flavors. This reminded them of the wines from nearby Montilla and they thus named it amontillado meaning "in the style of Montilla." There was also more experimentation in making some of the wines sweeter, using the Pedro Ximénez grape.

At this time, England would also see a resurgence in their love for sherry. For example, in 1864, an astonishing 43% of the total wine imports to England were sherry. It became a custom in middle-class English homes to offer all guests a glass of sherry and a biscuit. By the 1870s, the sherry industry was at its highest point ever, with much of the credit to the significant number of English consumers.

Sherry in America

Sherry's roots in American history go all the way back to the first European explorers. Christopher Columbus, on his journeys, carried sherry on board. It was pretty common among travelers at that time. You couldn't take Burgundy or Champagne with you—you needed liquor or wine that could travel. With extreme temperature changes, high humidity and moisture, and constant motion, the deck of a ship is basically the anti-wine cellar—but it doesn't phase sherry one bit.

While many of us might think of the Portuguese fortified wine Madeira as the first American wine—it was used to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence, after all—Madeira was actually rarer than sherry on American tables. "It was a prestige beverage for celebrating the birth of a country, but not for the everyday," says Brown. "Just as much as Madeira was a part of colonial America, so was sherry."

As American society evolved, our relationship to sherry grew as well. In the early 19th century, the sherry cobbler was one of the first mixed drinks to use wine. A simple blend of sherry, sugar, and fruit, its novelty lay in the use of two brand-new inventions: the drinking straw and commercially available ice. Soon all manner of cobblers were being stirred up, but it all started with sherry.

For the American public, sherry was a way of life throughout the 19th century, both in mixed drinks like punches and cobblers and as a wine on its own. In 1846, some 25 years after the cobbler's invention, gothic master Edgar Allen Poe paid sherry the ultimate compliment: He made it a tool for murder in his story "The Cask of Amontillado," in which the promise of a full barrel of the precious stuff lures a man to his doom in the catacombs of Paris.

But as time went on and other, stronger spirits that could be made gained popularity and sherry's star began to fade. After Prohibition in the U.S. was repealed and liquor imports started back up, a vibrant cocktail culture was established around gin, whiskey, and Champagne, all available to some degree during the country's dry years. Spanish sherry, with a versatile reputation that had once been its key feature, was now too old-fashioned.