Fino sherry wine is a wine whose maturing is carried out under a layer of yeasts, known as “Veil of Flor”. These float on the surface of the wine, protecting it from contact with the air.
The best known wines for this type of ageing are the Jerés style wines, more specifically the Jerés Fino and the Jerés Manzanilla, which are wines made from the Palomino or Pedro Ximenez grape varieties, usually fermented in stainless steel tanks and then matured in used barrels in the SOLERA System (a technique that uses the mixture of new wines with old wines continuously throughout the ageing process, all the aromatic component of these wines is due to this type of ageing).
Jerés wines may also have other designations according to their sugar content and alcohol content. We have Amontillado (made from a foundation of Fino or Manzanilla, distilled wine is then added in order to increase the alcoholic content and kill the "flor”. Without this protection, the wines start to oxidise, gaining an intense amber colour and notes of dried fruits.
Fino Sherry Wine, such as Jerés Amotillado, when taken from the Solera System, are dry wines (without residual sugar), but for some specific markets it is common to sweeten them at bottling, and they are called Medium.
The Jerés Oleroso Fino Sherry Wine is another type of Jerés that's fortified (added grape brandy) after fermentation, as high as 18% volume, this level of alcohol content means the "Flor" cannot grow meaning that the wine remains subject to oxidation throughout the maturing process, producing wines with an intense brown colour and aromas of nuts, coffee and meat.
This type of wine is known for having a full body and high alcoholic content. Oleroso, too, when it comes out of the Solera is dry wine, but it is often sweetened before bottling and bottled under the name of Cream.
The Pedro Ximenez fino sherry wines are extremely sweet Jerés wines produced from Pedro Ximenez sun-dried grapes, they yield a wine with an almost black colour and intense flavour and aroma of dried fruit such as sultanas, figs and plums, it has a lot of body and a syrupy texture due to the high sugar content. Many times, these are the types of wines that are used to sweeten Amontillados and Olerosos.
Fina Flor is a Fino Sherry Wine created by the winemaker António Maçanita, from a fortunate accident. A badly filled barrel (i.e., the wine does not fill the whole container) left the white wine in contact with oxygen. This allowed "flor" to develop in low sulphur level conditions and in contact with oxygen. Over many months, the white wine gradually forms the white film that floated on top of it and protects it from the normal oxidation processes.