Britain ... accounted for over 90 per cent of all the sherry that was produced

By the middle of the nineteenth century, sherry was so popular in Britain that it accounted for over 90 per cent of all the sherry that was produced and for 43 per cent of the nations’ total wine imports. The enormous consumption of sherry Is to be explained by the fact that it was not drunk as an aperitif as it is today but was consumed throughout the meal.

A. Barr, Drink: a social history (1995), 84-5