Is Oloroso a sweet wine?

No. Like Amontillado, Oloroso is a dry wine, even if its colour and aroma suggest otherwise. Sweetened versions are sold under other names, such as Medium, often based on Amontillado, or Cream, often based on Oloroso.

What about Palo Cortado?

It is another dry Sherry that usually sits between the two: it generally starts under flor, like Amontillado, but develops a character that combines the aromatic finesse of Amontillado with the body of Oloroso. On the list, place it between Amontillado and Oloroso.

What do VOS and VORS mean on the label?

They are age indications certified by the Jerez Consejo Regulador (the regulatory council) for Amontillado, Oloroso, Palo Cortado and Pedro Ximénez: VOS means an average age of more than 20 years and VORS more than 30. These are long-aged wines and they usually sit at the top end of the list.

Comparison

Amontillado vs Oloroso

Amontillado or Oloroso: two dry Sherries with different ageing. How they differ in production, colour, aroma and food pairing, and how to present them on your wine list.

Amontillado and Oloroso are two of the dry fortified wines of the Sherry region (the Marco de Jerez), and they are often confused because both show amber tones and smell of nuts. The difference lies in the ageing: Amontillado has a double ageing, first biological under a veil of flor and then oxidative, while Oloroso only ever ages oxidatively. Both are usually aged in American oak butts using the criaderas and solera system, and both are dry, even if their colour suggests otherwise. They are also made in Montilla-Moriles (Córdoba), which gives Amontillado its name: 'in the style of Montilla'.

Comparison table

Aspect	Amontillado	Oloroso
Grape	Palomino, the base grape for dry Sherry (mainly Pedro Ximénez in Montilla-Moriles)	The same: Palomino in Jerez (mainly Pedro Ximénez in Montilla-Moriles)
Origin	Marco de Jerez (DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry), mainly in the province of Cádiz; also Montilla-Moriles	The same areas: Marco de Jerez and Montilla-Moriles
Ageing	Double: first biological, under a veil of flor like a Fino, then oxidative, in contact with air	Oxidative only: the wine ages without flor, in contact with air, from the start (in Jerez it is fortified with grape spirit to stop flor from developing)
Colour	Topaz to amber	Amber to mahogany, darker
Style and body	Dry, medium-bodied, taut and elegant	Dry, fuller-bodied, round and broad
Aromas	Hazelnut and toasted nuts, with a reminder of its time under flor and notes of wood	Walnut, toast, spice, leather and tobacco, with balsamic notes
Serving temperature	Approx. 12-14 °C	Approx. 12-14 °C, like Amontillado
On the list	A dry, food-friendly fortified wine; very useful with starters, soups and hard-to-pair vegetables	A more powerful dry fortified wine; goes with meat, game and cheese, or ends the meal with a dry wine

Key differences

1
Amontillado first goes through biological ageing under a veil of flor and then oxidative ageing; Oloroso only ages oxidatively.
2
Wines destined to become Oloroso are usually chosen for their greater body and structure and, in Jerez, they are fortified to a strength at which flor cannot develop.
3
Oloroso is usually darker, from amber to mahogany; Amontillado stays in topaz and amber tones.
4
On the nose, Amontillado recalls hazelnut and Oloroso recalls walnut, with more toast and spice.
5
On the palate, Amontillado is lighter and more taut and Oloroso rounder and more powerful, although both are dry.

Which one to recommend?

When to recommend Amontillado

Recommend it to guests who already enjoy a Fino or a Manzanilla and want a step up in complexity while still drinking a dry wine. It works very well with consommés, artichokes, asparagus or mushrooms, dishes that many reds and whites struggle with.

View entry: Amontillado

When to recommend Oloroso

Recommend it to guests looking for a dry wine with body and depth to go with braised meat, game or well-aged cheese. It is also a good way to end the meal without moving on to a sweet wine.

View entry: Oloroso

On the wine list

Group your Sherries from lightest to fullest (Fino or Manzanilla, Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso) and keep sweet styles such as Cream or Pedro Ximénez for the end.
Write 'dry' next to the name: because of the dark colour, many guests assume that Oloroso, and sometimes Amontillado, is sweet.
Because they have aged in contact with air, they keep much better once opened than a Fino or a Manzanilla, which makes them good candidates for pouring by the glass.

Food pairings

Amontillado

Consommé or chicken broth
Artichokes or green asparagus
Sautéed mushrooms
Ibérico ham

Oloroso

Braised oxtail
Game
Well-aged cheeses
Toasted nuts

Frequently asked questions

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