How the Solera Method Shapes Champagne, Sherry, and Beer

Whether you’re a wine connoisseur, beer lover, or spirits fan, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the word “solera” on a label. 

A time-honored blending and aging process, the solera method is a labor of love that has helped to define drinks like sherry, and brought fresh ways of enhancing flavors to categories like beer. 

What is the solera method?

The solera method was developed for aging sherry and continues to be most commonly associated with fortified wine, though has since expanded to of other beverage categories. This method of aging and blending functions as a continuous cycle. Alcohol is produced and placed into barrels, after which a portion gets taken out before the barrel is topped up with a newer batch of alcohol. 

This process of adding alcohol to the blend, aging it, extracting some, and adding more, proceeds through a succession of barrels arranged in a stack or pyramid. “The old barrels are at the bottom,” says Ian Nal, beverage director at New York City’s Bottino, which serves Emilio Lustau Solera Reserva Sherry. “The liquid moves from the newest barrels to the oldest, so there is a constant replenishing and co-mingling of an older and younger wine.”

The oldest barrels are referred to as the solera, while the youngest are the criadera.. “The solera barrels have a living layer of yeast, called flor, which protects the liquid inside from oxygen,” says Nal. “[This]causes an oxidative quality for sherry, which gives [it] a charming and distinctive flavor.”

How did the solera method develop?

Sherry is made in the region of Andalucia in Southern Spain. The area is part of what’s known as the Sherry Triangle because it contains the bordering points of three different cities: Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlùcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María. 

According to Mario Muñoz González, portfolio manager at sherry producer House of Lustau, the solera method developed in the Sherry Triangle around 1760–70. Area landlords and growers had enforced restrictive policies on winemakers and ultimately drove down the quality of sherry as producers couldn’t access certain grapes or afford to age their sherry before selling it. Winemakers came up with the dynamic blending system known as solera to continuously sell sherry while also being able to age it and sustain higher quality. 

“Solera is used primarily to create a consistent product, both in quality and production,” says Sarah Vanags, certified sherry specialist and wine director for Casa Teresa and The Square in Washington D.C. “As the method grew to be a standard part of the winemaking process of sherry…it was important for the wine to maintain its unique flavor profile when making its way to a growing international trade market.”

Over time, the producers of other beverages beyond sherry realized those benefits. The makers of other fortified wines, along with Champagne, whiskey, and beer producers, realized they could offer complex aged products without producing and waiting. Instead, distilling or brewing and aging could be done in a continuous cycle. 

Solera blending and aging have remained largely the same as a system over the past 250+ years, with one notable development. 

Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery in Swisher, Iowa employs solera in both its wine and its whiskey production. Director of operations and master distiller Murphy Quint says they use the traditional method for their wine, inspired by the Portuguese fortified wine Madeira. Their Quintessential Single Malt American Whiskey, however, utilizes a more modern vat-based approach. 

“For our solera vat, it never goes empty,” explains Quint. “We always bottle it to halfway down, then fill it back up.” 

The vat isn’t the whiskey’s first destination, either. The liquor starts in ex-bourbon barrels, where it ages for four to five years. Quint then transfers it to a variety of finishing casks, from port to sherry to different oaks. “We taste through [the whiskey in each cask] and determine which ones should be added to the solera vat,” says Quint.

Why use the solera method?

At traditional sherry houses, González says that a particular batch makes 54 moves from barrel to barrel over the course of a three-year period. Over that time, the production team performs constant maintenance. They keep tabs on each batch as it’s further blended through a process in which tasters called venenciadors use a tool called a venecia,  to remove samples for constant evaluation, until the finished batch, or sacas, is ready to be bottled. 

While solera aging is not necessary in terms of sherry category distinctions, many brands choose to carry on the tradition. It’s since become much more common than vintage aging, for this style of wine. 

Wine picks up unique oxidative qualities in the barrels, particularly owing to the layer of flor, which results in complex, signature flavors and a rounded mouthfeel. However, it’s even more important that the solera allows producers to slightly differentiate from batch to batch while maintaining an overall house style. 

A batch could feature different grape blends or, in Cedar Ridge’s case, have been aged in port or sherry casks, but those varying characteristics will mingle with the commonalities of older and newer batches before going into bottles. This blending also allows control over potential flaws.

“One reason we see solera popularity in Champagne is that it’s really easy for [producers] to emulate house style, make adjustments, and choose to not add one vintage if there’s too much acid or it’s just not right,” says Chris Clark, who serves solera-aged sherries and Champagnes as the beverage director of New York’s Oiji Mi and bōm. “Say you have a less-than vintage one year, but two fabulous years and three really good years. This tells the story of time not only at the vineyard but of the weather of the past decade. [Solera] mitigates any vintage problems you may have and gives you the best expression possible.”

How is the Solera method being used today?

Solera is a time-honored tradition and a means of efficient cyclical production, aging, and bottling. It’s a way to experiment but sustain consistency and protection against underwhelming harvests and batches. It’s also a flavor-and-mouthfeel distinguisher, and, when it comes to categories where it’s a more recent addition, an option for creativity-flexing. 

Cambridge Brewing Company in Massachusetts is believed to be the first brewery to incorporate the solera system into beer in 2003. Brewmaster Will Meyers was inspired to give it a go when he was seeking methods not normally used in beer, and learned about solera from a friend who made wine and vermouth. 

“When we release our 2024 expression of Cerise Cassée [a sour wild ale]…it will contain a percentage of every single batch of this beer we have created, each year, for over 21 years,” says Meyers. 

CBC’s solera system encompasses only eight oak barrels, so the total volume is small. It’s an integral part of the brewery’s lineup, however. Meyers sees solera the way sherry and Champagne producers do, as a never-ending, cyclical blending instrument that helps ensure consistency.

“We have also embraced the idea of establishing a very unique biosphere in our cellar and providing a home for the yeast and bacteria cultures we have introduced,” he says. “We have allowed them to lead the way in creating a unique, sublime beer.” 

This, Meyers adds, has inspired hundreds of brewers across the U.S. who have now started their own solera projects. Because of the continued cycle of curiosity, influence, and experimentation, much like solera’s own circular nature, we now have access to the strictest adherence to the solera tradition in categories like sherry as well as to the expressions of distillers like Quint and brewers like Meyers who have made solera their own.