Sack (wine)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sack is an antiquated wine term referring to white fortified wine imported from Spain or the Canary Islands.[1] There were sack of different origins such as:
- Canary sack from the Canary Islands,
- Malaga sack from Málaga,
- Palm sack from Palma de Mallorca, and
- Sherris sack from Jerez de la Frontera
The term Sherris sack later gave way to Sherry as the English term for fortified wine from Jerez. Since Sherry is practially the only of these wines still widely exported and consumed, "sack" (by itself, without qualifier) is commonly but not quite correctly quoted as an old synonym for Sherry.
Most sack was probably sweet, and matured in wooden barrels for a limited time. In modern terms, typical sack may have resembled cheaper versions of medium Oloroso Sherry.[1]
[edit] Origin of the term
It is believed that the origin of the term sack is from the Spanish word sacar, meaning "to draw out", which lead to sacas being used to mean exports of wine, which in term gave the English word sack.[1]
[edit] Literary references
William Shakespeares character Sir John Falstaff was a big fan of sack, and sometimes refers specifically to Sherris sack.[2]
