Editing Sherry (section)

===Aging===
[[Image:FLOR-ValdiviaJerez59.jpg|thumb|Sherry barrel with transparent front so visitors can see the natural development of ''flor'']]
The fortified wine is stored in 500-litre casks made of North American [[oak (wine)|oak]], which is more porous than French or Spanish oak. The casks, or ''butts'', are filled five-sixths full, leaving "the space of two fists" empty at the top to allow [[flor]] to develop on top of the wine.

Sherry is then aged in the [[solera]] system where new wine is put into [[wine barrel]]s at the beginning of a series of three to nine barrels. Periodically, a portion of the wine in a barrel is moved into the next barrel down, using tools called the ''canoa'' (canoe) and ''rociador'' (sprinkler) to move the wine gently and avoid damaging the layer of flor in each barrel. At the end of the series, only a portion of the final barrel is bottled and sold. Depending on the type of wine, the portion moved may be between five and thirty percent of each barrel. This process is called "running the scales" because each barrel in the series is called a scale. Thus, the age of the youngest wine going in the bottle is determined by the number of barrels in the series, and every bottle also contains some much older wine than is stated. Sherry is aged in the solera for a minimum of two years.<ref>https://www.sherry.wine/sites/default/files/pliego_de_condiciones_de_la_do_jerez-xeres-sherry.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621152250/http://www.sherry.wine/sites/default/files/pliego_de_condiciones_de_la_do_jerez-xeres-sherry.pdf |date=21 June 2017 }}, art. C3 c)</ref> A large solera system may consist of scales that require more than one barrel to hold. The word 'solera' means 'on the ground'; this refers to the stacking system that was, and sometimes still is, used, with the youngest barrels at the top and the oldest scale, also somewhat ambiguously called 'the solera', at the bottom. Of late, sherry producers and marketers have been bottling their wines ''en rama'', with only a light filtration, and often a selection of a favored barrel from a larger solera.  Such sherries can be considerably more complex in flavour than the standard bottlings, and, according to many, are worth seeking out.<ref>Liem, Peter and Barquín, Jesús, Sherry, Manzanilla, and Morilla, a guide to the traditional wines of Andalusia, New York: Mantius, 2012.</ref> In order to allow the sale of reliable average age-dated sherries, the regulating council has set up a system that accurately tracks the average age of the wines as they move through their solera. Two average age-dated categories are recognized:  VOS ('Vinum Optimum Signatum' – 20 years old average age minimum) and VORS ('Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum' – 30 years old average age minimum).<ref>{{Cite web|date=25 February 2015|title=Age statements: VOS / VORS sherry|url=https://www.sherrynotes.com/2015/background/vos-vors-sherry-age/|access-date=4 July 2016|website=sherrynotes.com}}</ref>

[[File:Garvey-VORS-PedroXimenex-Jerez P1080824.JPG|thumb|right|30-year-old sherry]]

Sherry-seasoned casks are sold to the [[Scotch whisky]] industry for use in aging [[whisky]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Types of Sherry Cask Used To Make Whisky, And Their Effect on Flavour |url=https://topwhiskies.com/blogs/whisky-blog/sherry-casks-effect-whisky-flavour |access-date=26 July 2022 |website=TopWhiskies}}</ref> Other spirits and beverages may also be aged in used sherry casks. Contrary to what most people think, these sherry-seasoned casks are specifically prepared for the whisky industry, they are not the same as the old (and largely inactive) butts used for the maturation of sherry.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 September 2016 |title=Sherry and oak |url=https://www.sherrynotes.com/2016/background/sherry-and-oak/}}</ref>