etymology note: Sherry

Sherry's spanish name is , el Xérès, sometimes also written el Jeres, after the name of its city of origin, Jerez de la frontera. These three variations on the same name comprise the brandname of the region's product Jeres-Xérès,-Sherry. Its land of origin is a trianglur region in the southernmost province of spain, cadiz, comprised of Jerez, the river guadalquivir (الجدول الكبير) and the city or town of sanlucar in the west, which is a producer of another wine made with the same process but whose brandname is Manzanilla-Sanlucar de Barrameda registered as the former in 1933, and puerto de santamaria in the south. Jerez is also known for its Jerez vinegars, made from the same wines of Jerez.

The region also produces vinegar out of the same wine. Of the three types of soil, the lightest and the best for the palomino grapes used in the production of the fino and orroso wines of Xérès , is called albariza (meaning standing out, en relief). In the step of the vinification process of Sherry wines, known as the solera system, three rows of barrels are arrayed atop each other, each containing the same wine but of a different age ordered youngest to oldest, from the top to the bottom row. Periodically, a third is removed (soutiré) from the bottom barrel, and replaced with a volume from the barrel above it, containing the younger batch. The removal of the liquor from the oak barrels is known as saka, which i only speculate may have derived from the verb saqa , ar. سقا.

The time of its adoption by its biggest fans, the brits, dates sometime between the 16th century and the 19th century.

The amount of stuff that interests the british in Spain, or in the Iberian peninsula in general, is bemusing. Some Brits apparently are also very fond of porto, which is another wine, originating from Portugal this time, whose production there is regulated since at least the seventeenth century.

Finally, and since all those etymology notes are largely conjecture, I'll venture tha t the namesake of the muted wine, el Xérès, may actually also come from the arabic word for beads, Kharaz , خرز .