25th anniversary events | The Jancis Robinson Story

The wine that's not for drinking

Wednesday 18 November 2020 • 4 min read
Casks maturing in a sherry bodega

Richard revives his Spittoon column with the curious story of the Jerezanos' other business.

Which traditional white wine is aged in 100% new oak for two years, only to be turned into vinegar?

Millions of litres of it are maturing in brand-new barrels right now, soaking up all that expensive flavour, before fulfilling their unlikely destiny. In fact, their fate is determined from the moment the grapes are picked, because this wine is a mere waste product from a far more profitable industry.

That industry is whisky, and the wine is sherry – at least, in theory.

montage of sherry cask whisky labels

Why whisky loves

...
Become a member or log in to continue reading
JancisRobinson.com 25th anniversaty logo

Go for gold with your wine knowledge.

The world just came together in Italy – and there’s never been a better time to explore its wines and beyond.

For a limited time, get 20% off all annual memberships by entering promo code GOLD2026 at checkout. Offer ends 12 March. Valid for new members only.

会员
$135
/year
每年节省超过15%
适合葡萄酒爱好者
  • 存取 290,069 条葡萄酒点评 & 15,927 篇文章
  • 存取《牛津葡萄酒指南》《世界葡萄酒地图集》
核心会员
$249
/year
 
适合收藏家
  • 存取 290,069 条葡萄酒点评 & 15,927 篇文章
  • 存取《牛津葡萄酒指南》《世界葡萄酒地图集》
  • 提前 48 小时获取最新葡萄酒点评与文章
专业版
$299
/year
供个人葡萄酒专业人士使用
  • 存取 290,069 条葡萄酒点评 & 15,927 篇文章
  • 存取《牛津葡萄酒指南》《世界葡萄酒地图集》
  • 提前 48 小时获取最新葡萄酒点评与文章
  • 可将最多 25 条葡萄酒点评与评分 用于市场宣传(商业用途)
商务版
$399
/year
供葡萄酒行业企业使用
  • 存取 290,069 条葡萄酒点评 & 15,927 篇文章
  • 存取《牛津葡萄酒指南》《世界葡萄酒地图集》
  • 提前 48 小时获取最新葡萄酒点评与文章
  • 可将最多 250 条葡萄酒点评与评分 用于市场宣传(商业用途)
Pay with
Visa logo Mastercard logo American Express logo Logo for more payment options
Join our newsletter

Get the latest from Jancis and her team of leading wine experts.

By subscribing you agree with our Privacy Policy and provide consent to receive updates from our company.

More Hemming's spittoon

Rollercoaster
Hemming's spittoon Wine doesn't always have to be great, argues Richard. Most wines I taste are of average quality. Mediocre. 15.5 out...
Image
Hemming's spittoon Is finding the right food and wine match ever possible? Probably ... When you consider the virtually infinite number of...
Image
Hemming's spittoon How technology is being used to share every detail of how a wine is produced – for free. If you...
Image
Hemming's spittoon If wine will be the death of you ... would you still drink it? As if we didn’t already have...

More from JancisRobinson.com

Samantha harvesting protea’s on Ginny Povall’s farm
Wines of the week Two wines to conjure up spring. Flower Girl Albariño 2025 from €20.95, $25.65, £23.95 and Big Flower Cabernet Franc 2024...
left-bank 2016 firsts bottle line-up
Tasting articles Impressions from the most recent Ten Years On tastings held by Bordeaux Index and Farr Vintners. See this report on...
Le Pin Lafleur and Petrus 2016 bottles
Tasting articles 这是关于这个备受赞誉年份的三篇文章中的第一篇。请参阅 这份指南了解我们对2016年波尔多的全面报道。 今年在法尔酒商 (Farr...
Sam smelling a glass of wine.jpg
Mission Blind Tasting 香气的力量,以及如何利用它来判断你杯中的酒款。 在上周的MBT中,我们专注于 收集视觉线索。今天我们将深入探讨如何评估葡萄酒的"香气"...
Corbieres - vineyard island
Don't quote me 克里斯·霍华德 (Chris Howard) 思考着法国朗格多克地区水、天气和葡萄藤之间的微妙平衡。 夏末的阳光炙烤着红色的山谷...
bunch of California Riesling
Tasting articles 坚信雷司令 (Riesling) 固有的伟大,这些加州酿酒师尽管面临着销售葡萄酒这一西西弗斯式的任务,仍然坚持不懈地努力。上图...
Close up of two rows of wine glasses stretching into the distance
Tasting articles 从一片酒杯的森林中,全面探索玛格丽特河最佳酒款及其国际竞争对手。包括预览一些将在 我们即将举行的东京品鉴会上倒出的美酒。...
Jasper Morris MW at The Stokehouse
Nick on restaurants 餐厅经营者和葡萄酒从业者如何在用餐中合作。 "葡萄酒晚宴"这个词对于任何阅读葡萄酒网站的人来说都显得相当奇怪。毕竟,我听到你们说...
Wine inspiration delivered directly to your inbox, weekly
Our weekly newsletter is free for all
By subscribing you're confirming that you agree with our Terms and Conditions.