Venencia technique: drawing sherry from the cask

Jerez de la Frontera, Andalusia

The venencia is the instrument used to draw sherry from the cask in Jerez bodegas — a narrow cylindrical cup on a long flexible cane handle, designed to reach through the bunghole of a barrel without disturbing the flor yeast growing on the surface of fino and manzanilla. The venenciador draws the wine from beneath the flor and pours it from height into a copita glass without touching the instrument or breaking the pour. The technique is part of a continuous tradition of fino and manzanilla service that emphasises freshness above all. Fino drawn from the barrel and poured by venencia is a different experience from bottled fino — less oxidised, more alive, with the flor character at full expression.

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