Fortified Wine

Fino Sherry

Fino is the palest, driest sherry: Palomino wine usually taken to 15% with wine alcohol and kept for two years or more under flor, a living yeast that keeps air off it. It is bone dry, with almost no sugar, and tastes of almond, bread dough and salt. In a drink it gives dryness and length at low strength, as in the Bamboo and the Adonis.

Quick Facts

ABV15% ABVThe Consejo Regulador's 2026 specification allows 14 to 17%; most bottlings are 15%.

Legal categoryFortified wineUsually a liqueur wine in law (15 to 22%); the 2026 specification also allows fino as plain wine. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry is a protected designation of origin

OriginSpain (Jerez de la Frontera, Andalucía)

Flavour Strengthlight medium

Our keeping timeA few days to a week in the fridge once opened.

Storage

Unopened: upright, cool and dark, and drunk young. Once opened: stopper it, refrigerate at once and finish it within a week.

Allergens

Contains: sulphites.

The ingredient

About Fino Sherry

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

Green almondSaline mineralityFresh doughDry yeast

Tasting Notes

Bright and bone-dry with subtle nutty aromas, soft herbal notes, and a pronounced saline finish. Light-bodied yet persistent, with refreshing acidity and no residual sweetness.

Flor keeps fino pale

Fino is usually fortified only to 15%, low enough for flor to grow. The yeast spreads across the wine in the butt, feeding on alcohol and glycerine and keeping air away, and it raises the level of acetaldehyde, which gives fino its sharp nose. After at least two years under that cover the wine is still straw-coloured and dry. The Jerez specification as amended in May 2026 puts fino at 14 to 17% with no more than 4g of sugar a litre, and lets a bodega make it without added alcohol where fermentation reaches the strength.

An open bottle lasts a week at most

Once bottled and opened, fino has no flor and little sugar to protect it, and at 15% it is little stronger than a table wine. Treat it as white wine: fridge, stopper, and a week as the limit. Our recipe notes ask for a recently opened bottle for this reason.

Fino against the bottles it is swapped with

Fino

Strength: 15%
Sugar: 4g a litre or less
Taste: Almond, dough, salt
Once opened: A week in the fridge

Manzanilla

Strength: 15%
Sugar: Under 4g a litre
Taste: Lighter, saltier
Once opened: A week in the fridge

Dry vermouth

Strength: About 18%
Sugar: Low
Taste: Herbal, floral
Once opened: Three or four weeks, in the fridge

Amontillado

Strength: About 17%
Sugar: 4g a litre or less
Taste: Hazelnut, dry
Once opened: Months, stoppered

	Strength	Sugar	Taste	Once opened
Fino	15%	4g a litre or less	Almond, dough, salt	A week in the fridge
Manzanilla	15%	Under 4g a litre	Lighter, saltier	A week in the fridge
Dry vermouth	About 18%	Low	Herbal, floral	Three or four weeks, in the fridge
Amontillado	About 17%	4g a litre or less	Hazelnut, dry	Months, stoppered

Equal partner or quiet modifier

Fino takes two jobs in our recipes. Poured level with dry vermouth it makes the Bamboo and the Coronation No. 1; against sweet vermouth it makes the Adonis. In smaller measures it dries a gin drink: 30ml in the Sherry Martini, 15ml shaken into the London Calling. Every one of them is stirred or shaken cold, and every one fails with a stale bottle. At the small end, 7.5ml in a Banana Calling dries the finish without tasting of sherry.

Using it

Using Fino Sherry

Usage

Stirred as an equal partner: 45ml with 45ml dry vermouth in a Bamboo, with 30ml sweet vermouth in an Adonis. As a modifier it takes 30ml under 60ml gin in a Sherry Martini, 15ml in a London Calling and 7.5ml in a Banana Calling.

Pro Tip

In a Bamboo or Coronation No. 1 the fino and vermouth are poured level, so both bottles must be fresh. A fino opened ten days ago drags the drink down further than any measuring error.

Top Tips

Open fino cold and keep it cold. The Consejo Regulador serves it at 6 to 8°C.
Write the opening date on the label. After a week in the fridge the salt has gone and the drink tastes thin.
Half bottles suit a home bar better than full ones; most of our fino drinks take 45ml or less.
Manzanilla swaps in one for one and makes the drink a little saltier.

Possible Substitutions

Manzanilla Sherry: Swap it straight: an identical style, aged in Sanlúcar, a shade lighter and saltier
Dry Vermouth: Less saline and more herbal, and slower to fade once opened

Production Method

Palomino wine, usually fortified to 15% so that flor can grow, then aged under that film of yeast for at least two years in American oak butts through a criaderas and solera system.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is fino sherry?

A dry white sherry from the Jerez area, made from Palomino grapes. After fermentation it is usually fortified to 15%, the strength at which flor yeast thrives, and it ages under that yeast for at least two years. The yeast keeps it pale and gives the salty, bready taste that sets it apart from the darker sherries.

How strong is fino sherry?

The Consejo Regulador's 2026 specification allows 14 to 17% ABV, replacing the 15 to 18% still widely quoted, and nearly every bottle is 15%. That is the figure our recipes use. A 45ml pour in a Bamboo holds about two-thirds of a UK unit before the vermouth adds its own, which is why fino drinks suit an aperitif.

How long does fino keep once opened?

A few days to a week, stoppered in the fridge. The flor stayed in the cask, and once air reaches the wine it starts to flatten within days: the salt goes first, then the freshness. An unopened bottle is for drinking young, not keeping, because fino does not improve once bottled.

What is the difference between fino and manzanilla?

Only where the wine ages. Both are Palomino wines aged under flor; manzanilla must spend its whole ageing in Sanlúcar, on the coast, and usually comes out a little lighter and saltier. In our recipes either works, and several name both.

Is fino sherry sweet?

No. The Consejo Regulador sets a ceiling of four grams of sugar a litre, and most fino has under one. The richness some drinkers expect from sherry belongs to cream sherry and Pedro Ximénez. Fino tastes of almond, dough and salt, with nothing sweet in it.

What can I use instead of fino sherry?

Manzanilla, measure for measure. Dry vermouth is the next choice: it keeps a drink's strength and dryness but adds herbs instead of salt. Amontillado works in the Adonis and Coronation No. 1 for a darker, nuttier drink. Avoid cream or medium sherries, which add sugar the recipe does not expect.

What cocktails use fino sherry?

Seven of ours. The Bamboo, Coronation No. 1 and East India No. 2 pair it with dry vermouth; the Adonis with sweet vermouth. The Sherry Martini puts it under gin, and the London Calling and Banana Calling shake a small measure into a gin sour to dry the finish.

From the Guides

Fino and the other sherry styles compared

Make something

Made with Fino Sherry

Featured In These Cocktails

Bamboo Adonis Sherry Martini London Calling Coronation No. 1 East India No. 2

Show all 7 cocktails

Banana Calling

Often Used With

Updated 12 October 2026

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