Spirited Wines-- a Tutorial on Fortified Wines

Spirited Wines—A Tutorial on Fortified Wines by David Sparrow for Side Dish, Winter 1999 Sherry, Porto, Madeira, and Marsala are important categories of wines different from table wines because they are fortified with grape alcohol, i.e. brandy. Fortification was undertaken in the first place to assure the stability and durability of base wine that might tend to fail otherwise, but it determines the style of the wines too. In general, these fortified.wines have well defined, memorable aromas and flavors. They can be vigorous or delicate, bold or subtle but as a class they leave the taster with strong impressions. One drinks these wines before or after dinner, with light refreshments or dessert, but less often with a main course itself. These wines are often used as ingredients in recipes, too. Sherry is the most complex category of fortified wines. Sherries are produced in a region of Andalusia in southern Spain primarily from the white-skinned palomino grape, grown in calcium-rich, clayey soils called albariza. Sherries can be classified rather simply into fino and oloroso, but each of these categories contains numerous components. Finos are wines created through the action on the ageing sherry of a film of yeast cells called flor. With the yeast nutrients replenished by the addition of young wine to sherries ageing in cask, the flor thrives and gradually changes and enhances the flavors of fino sherry over time, leading to the ...