Sack is an antiquated wine term referring to white fortified wine imported from mainland Spain or the Canary Islands.[1] There were sack of different origins such as:
The term Sherris sack later gave way to Sherry as the English term for fortified wine from Jerez. Since Sherry is practically 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]
Today, sack is sometimes seen included in the name of some sherries, perhaps most commonly on dry sherries as "dry sack".
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The Collins dictionary, the Chambers dictionary, and the OED all derive the word "sack" from the French sec, "dry". However, the OED cannot explain the change in the vowel, and it has been suggested by others that the term is actually from the Spanish word sacar, meaning "to draw out", which led to sacas.[1] The word "sack" is not attested before 1530.[2]
The Duke of Medina Sidonia abolished taxes on export of wine from Sanlúcar de Barrameda in 1491, allowing both Spanish and foreign ships. English merchants were given preferential treatment in 1517, and distinction was upheld between second-rate wines, so-called "Bastards", and first-rate wines which were known "Rumneys" and "Sacks". This period in time coincides with the planting of vines in the Canaries, after the Spanish all but exterminated the indigenous Guanches in the 1490s. Málaga, formerly in the Kingdom of Granada, also took to using the name sack for its wines, which were previously sold as “Garnacha”.[2]
William Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff, introduced in 1597, was fond of sack, and sometimes refers specifically to Sherris sack.[3]
Robert Herrick wrote two comic poems in praise of sack, "His Farewell to Sack" and "The Welcome to Sack."
The early Poet Laureates of England and the U.K., such as Jonson and Dryden, received their salary, in part or in whole, in sack. Later Laureates, including Pye and Tennyson, took cash in lieu of sack.