Palomino [pah-loh-MEE-noh]
The grape that makes the great Spanish sherries. Palomino is not distinctive when used to make standard white table wines, but when it’s processed to make sherry, it can turn into something special. It’s heavily grown in and around Jerez de la Frontera in the andalucia region of Spain. Palomino fino is actually the strain that now represents about 90 percent of the planting in the Jerez area, as opposed to the previously favored Palomino Basto (or Palomino de Jerez) grape. Palomino is also cultivated in the hotter growing areas of Australia, California, France, and South Africa, where its Afrikaans name is Fransdruif or simply Frans. Attempts to make sherry in these regions has produced some good versions of this fortified wine, but they’re not the quality of the top Spanish wines. Palomino is also called Ablan, Listán, and Tempranilla; in California, it’s mistakenly called Golden Chasselas. Australia’s Common Palomino is not the same grape as Palomino.
The New Wine Lovers Companion, 2nd Edition, by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst. Copyright © (1) 2003, 1995 by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst. Reprinted by arrangement with Barron's Educational Series, Inc.