Andalusia

**Andalusia** is Spain's hot, sunny south, and its most famous contribution to the wine world is Sherry, the fortified wine from around Jerez. **Wines & grapes** — Palomino is the backbone of dry Sherry styles like Fino and Amontillado, while Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel go into the intensely sweet, dark versions. The region also makes Montilla-Moriles and Málaga wines in a similar mould. **Character** — The blazing climate and chalky white *albariza* soils are ideal for fortified wines, and the region's genius lies in how they are aged: biologically under a protective veil of *flor* yeast, or oxidatively for the darker styles, with barrels blended over time through the layered solera system. **Good to know** — *Flor*, a living film of yeast, is what gives Fino and Manzanilla their tangy, saline freshness.

Wines

• Autoctona — Barranco Oscuro
• Faraon Oloroso — Bodegas Hidalgo
• Fino — MercaSur
• Floreado — Toro Albalá
• Manzanilla Papirusa — Lustau