This article is about the Spanish yeast. For the historical/genealogical abbreviation, see Floruit, and for the argentine pop singer, see Flor (singer).

Flor (Spanish and Portuguese for 'flower') is a variety of yeast found only in the region of Andalucía in southern Spain, and important in the manufacture of sherry. Normally in wine making it is essential to keep young wines away from exposure to air by sealing them in airtight barrels, to avoid infection by bacteria and yeasts that tend to spoil it. However, in the manufacture of sherries, the slightly porous oak barrels are deliberately filled only about five-sixths full with the young wine, leaving "the space of two fists" empty to allow the flor yeast to take form and the bung is not completely sealed.

The flor is a film of yeast cells which grows spontaneously during maturation on the surface of fermented musts, which will later be used for the making of certain types of Sherry especially Finos and Amontillados. It protects the wine from contact with the air, in that way avoiding oxidation and preventing the wine from becoming vinegary. The "velo de flor" on top of the wine looks like a thick white foam.

The flor favors cooler climates and higher humidity, so the sherries produced in the coastal Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María have a thicker cap of flor than those produced inland in Jerez. The yeast gives the resulting sherry its distinctive fresh taste, with residual flavours of fresh bread.

Depending on the development of the wine, it may be aged entirely under the veil of flor to produce a fino or manzanilla sherry, or it may be fortified to limit the growth of flor and undergo oxidative aging to produce an amontillado or oloroso sherry.

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