Port & Sherry
Fortified wines — the most notable being Port and sherry — are made by adding a neutral spirit (usually brandy) to stop fermentation and raise the alcohol level of the wine. This process allows fortified wines to age longer in the bottle and to remain fresh for a longer period after they have been opened. Fortified wines can be made from white or red grapes and run the gamut from dry to sweet, introducing a range of distinct styles. A favorite dessert wine, Port, is a fortified wine made in the Douro region of Portugal from a variety of different grapes. Port can be unaged or aged in wood barrels to create Ruby Port or aged for extended periods of time, even decades, to create Tawny. The best Port vintages are extensively aged to create Vintage Port, which can develop and improve for decades. Madeira is also a Portuguese fortified wine, but it is made on the Madeira Islands off the coast of Africa. Styles of Madeira run from the very dry Sercial, which is typically enjoyed as an aperitif, to the decadently sweet Malvasia, which is usually paired with desserts. Showing similar versatility is the Spanish fortified wine Sherry. Sherry is typically made with the Palomino grape and ranges from the dry Fino to the very sweet Jerez Dulce, which is often made with Pedro Ximénez grapes. Marsala is Italy’s versatile fortified wine, drawing from the city of Marsala in Sicily, and it too can range from dry to sweet. Today, Marsala is most commonly used in Italian cooking — dry versions appearing in sauces and sweet versions appearing in desserts. A final wine that deserves note is Vermouth, for which we have a dedicated section.
Top Port & Sherry Posts:
Exploring Port Wine: Touring Porto and the Douro Valley
What is Fortified Wine and How Is It Made?
2016 Vintage Port (and Beyond)
Madeira Wine 2018
Hidalgo Fino and Bodegas Dios Baco Oxford 1.970 Pedro Ximenez Sherry
It’s only been a year since we looked at Dow’s two entry-level Tawny Port releases, one a 10 year old and one a 20 year old. We just got fresh bottles of each, so let’s take a spin back into these expressions to see what, if anything, has changed. Dow’s Tawny Port 10 Years Old…
Although you may have tried American sherry, true sherry is made exclusively in a small triangular area in Spain geographically demarcated by the cities of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Sherry has been growing in popularity in the U.S. over the past few years, but it can…
It’s been four years since we saw an LBV bottling from Dow’s, with the 2011 vintage. 2015 was not a declared vintage for most Port houses, though Dow’s had a notable small release from a single vineyard. As for this Late Bottled Vintage offering, it’s decidedly approachable, with unusual elements of fig jam and cola…
Madera, California-based Quady is one of the most venerable names in U.S. dessert wines, its history dating back to 1975. Quady’s still at it, with a collection of vintage Port-like wines which it cheekily refers to as Starboards — although they are made with traditional Portuguese grape varieties grown in Amador County. Today we look…
It’s been six years since we checked in with Inniskillin (and six more years before that), so it’s high time we sampled the Canadian winery’s icewines once again. Inniskillin makes icewine (aka ice wine) from three different varietals (plus a sparkling version) all grown in the Niagara peninsula and all made from frozen grapes that…
Like Graham’s Six Grapes and Sandeman’s Founders Reserve, Fonseca Bin 27 is a widely available and top-selling ruby Port wine with wide availability, produced by one of Portugal’s most notable producers. We last encountered Bin 27 in an informal review with Taylor Fladgate group CEO Adrian Bridge way back in 2012. A fresh, more refined…
It’s the 10th anniversary of “Tio Pepe En Rama,” the Jerez winery’s special edition Fino style sherry that is bottled unclarified and unfiltered. 67 casks were used to create this 2019 bottling, which is intended to be consumed as young as possible. As with the 2018, this sherry has all the trappings of a classic…
We’ve covered Graham’s 10 year old tawny Port a couple of times, but this is our first formal go-round with the 20 year old. This expression is a quite sweet raisin bomb up front, with a few cranberry and cherry notes mixed in for good measure. A hint of black tea and a touch of…
Croft Pink was the first Rose Port, and remains the most popular on the market (at least from my perspective). The style has been around only since 2008, but since that time dozens of major and minor Port producers have followed suit. The main difference in the production of Rose Port vs. other styles is…
This will hurt some people’s feelings, so I’m just going to come right out and say it: dark chocolate does not pair well with wine. After a meal, nothing is classier than setting out some dark chocolate alongside a glass of 20 year-old tawny port. But the fact is that the dark chocolate and the…