Fortified Wines

Fortification began as a way to protect wine on the move. One of the most important historical reasons for fortifying wine was to strengthen it so that it stayed fresh for longer, and in Jerez the practice originated in the need to stabilise wines consumed in distant markets during long overseas voyages. Over time the added spirit became a winemaking choice in its own right.

• Merchants shipped Douro wine down the river to Vila Nova de Gaia, fortified the finished wine with brandy there and sent it to England; at that stage most Port would have been dry
• The Methuen Treaty of 1703 set the duty on Portuguese wine at a third of that on French wine, and Portuguese wine exports then entered a new phase of expansion
• On 10 September 1756 a royal charter created the Companhia Geral da Agricultura das Vinhas do Alto Douro to discipline the production and trade of the region's wines and establish the demarcation of the region; the future Marquess of Pombal formed the company and demarcated the Port region
• In the 1820 vintage the grapes were so ripe they could not ferment fully; producers then began adding brandy sooner to arrest fermentation, and the sweet style eventually won out
• In Jerez the solera and criadera system began to take on its distinct characteristics in the late 18th century, and fortification, previously used to stabilise more delicate wines, became a true oenological technique for deciding the type of wine

When the spirit is added is a central choice. In Port the fortifying spirit is added after only a short period of fermentation, killing the yeast and leaving a high level of residual sugar; Fino and Amontillado Sherry are made from fully fermented must, and the strength to which a Sherry is fortified decides the type of ageing it undergoes. Ageing, under flor or in contact with oxygen, in casks or in heated tanks, then shapes each style.

• Port: at a certain moment during fermentation the must-wine is drained into a tank where grape spirit is added to halt fermentation, most often one part grape spirit to four parts must-wine, leaving residual sweetness and 19% to 22% v/v alcohol
• Port's fortifying spirit is aguardente, a local spirit of 77% ABV; in the traditional method grapes are trodden in large stone tanks, each called a lagar, while the modern method uses equipment such as robotic treading tanks
• Sherry: in the traditional process described by the Consejo Regulador, wines for Fino and Manzanilla are fortified to 15% by volume, enough for the flor yeast to form but intolerable for other micro-organisms, and wines for Oloroso to at least 17%; above 17% not even the flor yeast can survive, so the wine oxidises
• Sherry is aged in the criaderas and solera system: a proportion of wine is periodically drawn from the oldest tier, the solera (the saca), and replaced with wine from the next oldest criadera, so the wine sold combines different vintages
• Madeira: after fortification the wine ages either by estufagem, at least 3 months in stainless steel tanks heated to between 45 and 50 degrees Celsius, or by canteiro, oxidative ageing in casks for at least 2 years, usually on the upper floors of the warehouses where temperatures are higher

Many fortified wines are tied to named places with their own rules on grapes, ageing and labelling. The examples below show how differently the same basic idea plays out.

• Port (Portugal): produced in the Demarcated Region of the Douro from very ripe black grapes such as Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, with dozens of varieties permitted; small amounts of Port are also made from white grapes. Port falls into Ruby-style categories (Ruby, Reserve, Late Bottled Vintage and Vintage) and Tawny-style categories (Tawny, Tawny Reserve, Tawny with an Indication of Age and Colheita), alongside White Port and Rosé
• Sherry (Spain): the first Spanish Wine Law, published in 1933, referred to the Denomination of Origin Jerez and its Consejo Regulador, the first to be legally constituted in Spain. Styles range from Fino, aged under flor, to Amontillado, aged first under flor and then oxidatively, and Pedro Ximénez, made from sun-dried grapes whose fermentation is stopped by adding wine alcohol
• Madeira (Portugal): the most used varieties today are Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Malvasia, Terrantez and Tinta Negra; Sercial produces dry wines, Verdelho off-dry (meio-seco, which IVBAM's table calls medium dry), Boal semi-sweet (meio-doce), and Malvasia-Cândida and Malvasia-de-São-Jorge sweet
• Marsala (Italy): a fortified wine from the west of Sicily, categorised by sugar concentration, colour and ageing. Decanter dates its rise to 1773, when an English trader named Woodhouse arrived on the west coast of Sicily; Woodhouse added brandy to the wines to preserve them during the journey back to England. Italian Wine Central records that Marsala was established as a DOC in 1969, with ambra, oro and rubino styles
• Other Portuguese examples: Portugal produces four types of fortified wines, Port, Madeira, Moscatel de Setúbal and Carcavelos, and Madeira, Moscatel de Setúbal and Carcavelos joined Port among the appellations officially regulated from the beginning of the 20th century

Jerez has two ageing routes: biological ageing under a film of flor yeast, which protects the wine from oxidation, and oxidative ageing, in which the wine gradually darkens and concentrates. Port has a parallel split: Ruby-style wines keep the fruit and strength of a young wine, while Tawny-style wines develop a bouquet of dried fruits and wood with age.

• Fino Sherry: expect a sharp, delicate bouquet slightly reminiscent of almonds with a hint of fresh dough and wild herbs; light, dry and delicate on the palate
• Amontillado Sherry: aged first under flor and then oxidatively, it tends toward aromas of hazelnut and plants reminiscent of aromatic herbs and dark tobacco, with a dry finish
• Tawny Port: with age the colour slowly develops into tawny, with a bouquet of dried fruits and wood, and the older the wine, the stronger these aromas; the 30 years old category can show honey, spices, dry peaches, hazelnuts and vanilla
• Vintage Port: in its first five years it typically shows an intense ruby colour, aromas of red fruits and wild berries, a taste of black chocolate and strong tannins; after ten years in bottle it takes on garnet tones
• Pedro Ximénez Sherry: expect sweet notes of dried fruits such as raisins, figs and dates, with honey, toasted coffee and dark chocolate; velvety and syrupy, with enough acidity to mitigate its extreme sweetness

Serving advice runs from chilled aperitifs to cheese and dessert pairings.

• Fino Sherry: serve chilled between 6 and 8 °C; an aperitif that goes well with tapas, especially olives, nuts and Iberian cured ham, and with shellfish and fish
• Amontillado Sherry: serve at 12 to 14 °C with soups and consommés, white meat, tuna, wild mushrooms and semi-cured cheeses
• White Port: served chilled as an aperitif with toasted almonds, smoked salmon, dry plums or dates; dry White Port is the key ingredient in a Portonic, made with tonic water, ice and a slice of lemon
• Tawny and Ruby-style Port: a chilled 10 years old Tawny suits strong cheeses, patés, dried fruits and walnuts, and a young, fruity LBV or Vintage suits cakes and chocolate mousse
• Pedro Ximénez Sherry: serve slightly chilled at 12 to 14 °C; a dessert in itself, or with desserts based on slightly bitter chocolate, ice-creams and intense blue cheeses such as Cabrales or Roquefort

Some fortified wines are ready when bottled, others develop in bottle for decades, and how long an open bottle keeps depends on the style.

• Tawny-style Ports are blends of wines from several years, except Colheitas, which are wines of a single year; these wines are ready to drink when they are bottled
• Vintage Port is bottled two to three years after the vintage and develops gradually for 10 to 50 years before it is drunk; the IVDP says old Vintage Ports are superb drunk on their own after first being carefully decanted
• The IVDP suggests, for guidance only, that once a bottle is opened, Vintage keeps for 1 to 2 days, LBV 4 to 5 days, Tawny and Tawny Reserve 3 to 4 weeks, and Tawny with an Indication of Age and Colheita 1 to 4 months
• Amontillado's composition allows it to be stored in open bottles for months
• Madeira aged by estufagem cannot be bottled and sold before 31 October of the second year after the harvest, and canteiro wines can be sold only after at least 3 years counted from 1 January of the year after the harvest

Primary sources (OIV International Code of Oenological Practices, Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto, Consejo Regulador Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, and IVBAM for Madeira): https://www.oiv.int/standards/international-code-of-oenological-practices/part-i-definitions/special-wines, https://www.ivdp.pt/en/wines/port-wines/introduction/, https://www.ivdp.pt/en/wines/port-wines/the-winemaking/, https://www.ivdp.pt/en/wines/port-wines/special-categories/, https://www.ivdp.pt/en/wines/port-wines/choose-and-enjoy/, https://www.sherry.wine/sherry-wine/production/fortification, https://www.sherry.wine/sherry-wine/production/ageing, https://www.sherry.wine/sherry-region/history-of-sherry, https://www.sherry.wine/sherry-wine/dry-sherry-wines/fino, https://www.sherry.wine/sherry-wine/dry-sherry-wines/amontillado, https://www.sherry.wine/sherry-wine/naturally-sweet-sherry-wine/pedro-ximenez, https://vinhomadeira.com/o-vinho-madeira/vinificacao-e-envelhecimento, https://vinhomadeira.com/o-vinho-madeira/castas, https://vinhomadeira.com/o-vinho-madeira/castas/sercial, https://vinhomadeira.com/o-vinho-madeira/castas/verdelho, https://vinhomadeira.com/o-vinho-madeira/castas/boal, https://vinhomadeira.com/o-vinho-madeira/castas/malvasia-candida-e-malvasia-de-sao-jorge, https://vinhomadeira.com/o-vinho-madeira/historia, https://www.ivdp.pt/pt/comunicacao/guias-tematicos/enologia-e-praticas-enologicas/guia-enologia-e-praticas-enologicas/capitulo-3-especificacoes-dos-produtos-vitivinicolas-da-rdd-produto-acabado/, https://www.ivdp.pt/pt/vinhos/vinhos-do-porto/marcos-historicos/, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32013R1308. Secondary sources: https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2023/october/03/how-many-wine-types-and-styles-are-there, https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2022/december/13/understanding-wines-port, https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2026/the-history-of-port, https://winesofportugal.com/en/discover/history/, https://www.decanter.com/premium/marsala-diverging-paths-479518/, https://italianwinecentral.com/denomination/marsala-doc/, https://www.sherry.wine/documents/597/21052026_Pliego_Jerez_1wBQg8y.pdf, https://www.sherry.wine/documents/598/21052026_Pliego_Manzanilla_WA1VuvD.pdf, https://vinhomadeira.com/o-vinho-madeira/tipos-categorias. Last verified 2026-11-09