Term
Solera
so-LEH-rah
A river of barrels
A fractional blending system: young wine refreshes older casks, year after year, so every bottle is a blend of many vintages, weighted toward the old.
Sherry, some Madeira, some Marsala, and a few rums and vinegars use soleras. You never empty a cask; you take a fraction and refill from the level above. The average age climbs; the style stays the house's.
Vintage-dated Sherry (añada) exists and skips this. Most of what you drink from Jerez has no single year, on purpose.
It is the opposite of Burgundian vintage talk, and just as terroir-driven in its way — the terroir includes the cellar.
