Fino

 ( Sherry ) 

• Jerez Fino is made from grapes grown in the vineyards around Jerez and aged in the there, where the climate is hotter than those near the coast. The hotter summers cause Jerez Fino to develop a thinner layer of flor and thus a stronger flavour due to more exposure to the air.
• Puerto Fino is made around El Puerto de Santa María. The cooler climate near the sea results in a thicker layer of flor and a more acidic and delicate flavour than Jerez Fino.
• Manzanilla is made around Sanlúcar de Barrameda, where the climate is cooler than El Puerto de Santa María. Similar to the Puerto Fino, Manzanilla has a fresher and more delicate flavour than Jerez Fino.

Fino may also be produced in DO Montilla-Moriles. There the Fino along with the other sweet and fortified wines is made from the Pedro Ximénez grape as opposed to the Palomino grape used in Jerez.

Sweetened Fino is called Pale Cream Sherry.

On 12 April 2012, the rules applicable to the sweet and fortified Denominations of Origen Montilla-Moriles and Jerez-Xérès-Sherry were changed. Pliego De Condiciones De La Denominación De Origen «Jerez-Xérès-Sherry». Boletín Oficial de la Junta de Andalucía (BOJA) Página núm. 52 BOJA núm. 71 Sevilla, 12 de abril 2012. The Andalusia Government Official Bulletin Number 71, Page 5.

The classification by sweetness is:

The barrels for sherries made using the fino method are only partially filled to allow the action of the flor yeast to give it the distinctive fresh taste of dry sherries. If the flor is allowed to die and the wine undergoes oxidative aging, the wine darkens and the flavour becomes stronger, resulting in an amontillado sherry.

In the final classification of a fino, it is judged on such qualities as cleanness, paleness, dryness, and aroma. According to the overseer's judgment, the initial stroke mark on the cask may then be embellished with one or more 'palm leaves'--curved marks that branch off the side of the initial mark. Wines receiving these marks are designated accordingly "una palma", "dos palmas", "tres palmas", with each additional palm leaf indicating a higher standard of quality.

Since sherry is not vintage dated, it can be hard to tell when the Fino was bottled. While the bottling date is printed on the label, it is in an encoded form. On the back label will be a small dot matrix number that starts with the letter L. After the L will be either a four or five-digit number. For the four-digit number, such as 7005, the first number is the year, and the last three numbers are numbers between 1 and 365 that indicate the day of the year. So this Fino was bottled on 5 January 2007. The five-digit code is similar, such as 00507, where the Julian date precedes the year. This was also bottled on 5 January 2007.

• Article on dating Fino sherry bottles