Quick Guide to Fortified Wine

What is a fortified wine?

Fortifying is adding alcohol (brandy or a spirit) to a base wine to increase the alcohol content to around 18-20%. It’s really that simple! Usually this is achieved through adding brandy to the base wine during fermentation.

Port is perhaps the best example of a fortified wine. It came about through a desire to make the shipping of wine to be a little more survivable, hence the ‘fortification’ of a wine. Since then, a plethora of fortified specialisms from all around the world have landed on the scene, including sherry, Madeira and in more recent years, the re-emergence of trendy aromatised wines such as vermouth.

As with all wines, strict regional laws (appellations) around the globe control what can be labelled as a particular style of fortified wine.

For example, Port can only originate from selected regions in Portugal and must be made in certain ways, with rules on labelling terminology mostly dependent on ageing processes. Likewise, sherry, Madeira and the other styles of fortified wine covered below, each have their own styles and regulations, making this category of wine a fascinating one to explore.

Types of fortified wine

As with all wines, the rules and classifications for what constitutes a fortified wine differ from region to region. To make things even more complicated, there can also be different styles of each type of fortified wine dependent on where you are in the world. Here’s an overview of the most popular types of fortified wine and where you’ll find them:

Port

Port is a fortified red wine hailing from the Duoro region of Portugal. Conditions here are perfect for producing powerful, very ripe red grapes, although white grapes are also grown here. The most prominent red varieties used to make Port are natives to Portugal including Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão and Tinta Roriz.

Port is commonly rich and sweet, but a range of styles exist, the most common being Ruby Port and Tawny Port. Ruby Port is probably the most widely enjoyed; this is the classic fruit-driven, deep purple wine with notes of blackberry, raspberry and chocolate. Tawny Port on the other hand is more amber in appearance, with complex notes of cinnamon and clove complimenting dominant caramel and nutty flavours. White and rosé styles are also produced in the Duoro, both with native varieties. Malvasia, Gouveio and Viosinho are the dominant white varieties grown here.

Fortification is primarily achieved with the addition of brandy, or generic grape spirit of 77% during the fermentation process. The high alcohol content drives sweetness, which varies dependents on the winemakers style and techniques.

Sherry

Sherry is made in the Andalucia wine region of Spain, specifically Jerez de la Frontera (or simply Jerez), and two other small towns of Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. Together, these three form the “Sherry Triangle”. Fortified wines here are made with native Palomino, Muscat or Pedro Ximénez grape varieties, each with their own flavour profile and wine styles. Palomino itself is quite bland, but a perfect grape to work with when it comes to fortified wine.

Production of Sherry is unique in that oxygen is deliberately exposed to the wines, which imparts a distinctively nutty aroma and flavour. Another unique element of making traditional Sherries is the addition of younger wines to ageing barrels before bottling, known as the solera method.

There are many styles of Sherry spanning the full spectrum of wine colour – the main ones being fino, a light colour and dry sherry, followed by manzanilla, amontillado, oloroso and Pedro Ximenez, which is the other end of the spectrum to fino and very dark and sweet. Sherry typically varies from 15% to 22% ABV.

Madeira

Madeira wine hails from the volcanic Portuguese Madeira islands of the same name. As with other fortified wines, there are variations in style and quality, much of which depends on the grape varieties used and the techniques of the winemaker. Madeira made with the Sercial variety tends to be drier and lighter in style, whereas the higher sugar content of Malvasia produces much sweeter wines. Verdelho and Boal and the other grapes used here.

Production of Madeira is steeped in history, with a reputation of being virtually unbreakable when it comes to ageing and shipping around the world. Techniques are also very unique to the island, with winemakers exposing wines to the relatively high air temperatures to heat and oxidize the wine. It is this heating process which helps to fortify the wine, which back in the 18th and 19th centuries was critical in keeping the wine in good condition as it travelled hundreds of miles below deck!

Marsala

Marsala is another fortified wine with a rich wine history. Originating on the Italian island of Sicily, from the town of the same name, this wine is classified by age, colour and sweetness, with alcohol content typically ranging from 15 to 20%. Marsala is very popular with food, both to enjoy as a dessert wine but also to cook with, adding richness and depth to sauces and desserts in particular.

Higher quality Marsala wine presents notes of caramel, nuts and spice – look out for Vergine on the label, this indicates the wine has been aged for at least five years. Mass produced Marsala tends to be aged for a year, and can be labelled as Fine. Grillo, Inzolia and Catarratto are the native Italian varieties used to produce the wine.

Rutherglen Muscat

Time we talked New World fortified wines! Rutherglen Muscat is an Australian specialism produced in the Victoria wine region. Here, red-skinned variants of the Muscat grape, commonly referred to as Muscat à Petits Grains Rouge, are grown in the warm Aussie climate. Ripeness at harvest is key to achieve the concentrated flavours and richness of Rutherglen Muscat wines, which have 95% ABV natural wine spirit added during the fermentation process.

There are four classifications to look out for, all dictated by age. Standard Rutherglen Muscat is aged for three to five years, whereas the high-end Rare Rutherglen is aged for a minimum of 20 years. Classic and Grand are the two remaining categories with six to ten and 11 to 19 years ageing respectively.

Vermouth and aromatised wines

Without complicating matters, vermouth is technically considered to be an aromatised wine, which can also be classed as a sub category of fortified wines. The main difference between vermouth and classic fortified wines such and port and sherry is that these wines are often flavoured with herbs and spices such as cloves, coriander and cinnamon. Hence the “aromatised” reference.

The rise of the cocktail scene over the past decade or so has seen the resurgence of vermouth, elevating it to a newfound trendy status among many city dwellers and cocktail aficionados. Think classic cocktails such as Negroni and Manhattans – you’ll often find you’ll be drinking vermouth.

There are two main styles of vermouth – dry and sweet. Dry vermouth is usually found in France and is floral and much dryer than other varieties. Sweet vermouth tends to be from Italy, and is more spice-led and floral, and the go-to for Negronis. Alcohol content for both will vary from 16 to 18% ABV.

All that said, flavour and styles vary considerably due to the different winemaking process and addition of botanicals (much like gin) which will be unique to each producer, so it’s certainly worth trying a few to find your preferred style.

How is fortified wine made?

There are two main winemaking techniques which are followed to make fortified wines, and these can usually be knuckled down to two methods – the port production method, and the sherry production method. From fermentation to fortifying, ageing and bottling, our handy diagrams below give a quick overview of how the two most popular types of fortified wine are made.

For a far more detailed looked at these production methods, check out our illustrated step-by-step guide on how each type of fortified wine is made.