criadera [kree-ah-DEHR-ah]

from

A Spanish term that translates as “nursery.” In the sherry-making region around JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, however, criadera is part of the SOLERA SYSTEM for aging and ensuring the consistency of SHERRY wines. It is the nursery where young wines are managed, cared for, and evaluated. To be very precise, all levels of wine in the solera system are referred to as criaderas, with the exception of the oldest level, the solera. The next level up (next oldest) from the solera is referred to as the first criadera, the level after that, the second criadera, and so forth. Some producers have up to fourteen levels in their solera systems.