The many styles of fortified wines: Port, Sherry and Madeira are popular worldwide, but often misunderstood; here, a primer

Cheers, Nov-Dec, 2005 by Doug Frost

"ANY PORT IN A STORM," goes the old saw, and it's not hard to understand that sentiment. Sailor or not, a stormy evening seems far friendlier with your hands wrapped around a glass of rich Port.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Port is a fortified wine and together with its brethren Sherry and Madeira, the trio is called "fortified," because they are bolstered with the addition of distilled spirit. In the old days, a dose of spirit was added to fortify the wines for a voyage to England or farther shores. But closer to home, a tipple of one of these wines can bolster today's bar or restaurant patron as well.

For many, the assumption is that all fortified wines are sweet, and that they are consumed for dessert. Plenty of fortified wines are sweet, it's true, but there are many dry versions as well. Clearly a dry wine such as a Fino Sherry or Sercial Madeira is most appropriate at the start of the meal, not the end. But how about an Amontillado? When are you supposed to drink that?

The easy answer would be whenever you like, just as you would drink any other wine.

But the widely varying styles of fortified wines causes confusion for consumers and servers alike. Worrying about the precise placement of a fortified wine in a meal is as absurd as fretting over the position of any other wine in the meal order.

A BETTER BODY

Simply put, fortified wines have more body than most other wines, because they range in alcohol levels from 13 percent to as high as 20 percent. Wines with that kind of bone structure show up at dessert time simply because they're the biggest wines around. Chocolate's intensity and oiliness create a challenge for standard table wines that can be more easily overcome by the greater weight of fortified wines, such as a late-bottled Vintage Port or a Malmsey Madeira.

Dry Madeiras such as those made from sercial or verdelho seem uniquely suited for soups. Fino Sherry, and its more nimble sibling Manzanilla, famously accompanies many tapas, whether it's Serrano ham, grilled squid or patatas bravas.

And the well-known fortified wines aren't the only delicious drinks out there; notable fortifieds include Muscat de Beaumes de Venise from France's Rhone Valley, Portugal's Moscato de Setubal, and Australia's great "stickies."

Still, the big three, Port, Sherry and Madeira, have fame and historical importance. Perhaps more importantly, they also exhibit remarkable variety. Sherry can easily be cleaved into two styles: Fino and Oloroso.

Fino is always dry, and after long aging, it might be bottled as an Amontillado. That too should be dry, but often isn't. Oloroso is generally thought of as a powerfully sweet dessert wine. But it too can appear in other guises: Dry Oloroso is uncommon but not unknown. Lustau's version is delightful; think roasted walnuts.

SHERRY'S MANY STYLES

Few wine regions allow as much flexibility. But with Sherry's long history as a wine-producing region, all manner of wine has been made here at one time or another. So a myriad of styles is Sherry's legacy, and a Sherry lover's bounty.

The first step on Sherry's path is to be chosen either for Fino or for Oloroso. If chosen to be an Oloroso, the wine will be fortified to about 18 percent alcohol and then left to age in barrels.

If the wine is intended to be a Fino, the wine will be fortified to only about 15 percent alcohol and the barrel won't be completely filled to the top. The empty space above the wine will soon hold a yeast growth called the flor, a Spanish word meaning "flower." But it looks more like pond scum. However, the flor has a pretty purpose--it protects the wine from oxygen, and adds a nutty, almond-like character.

The almond note is not the most interesting part of a great Fino, however. It is that the greatest can also be light on its feet, even delicate; and at 15 percent alcohol, that is no small achievement.

There is another version of Fino called Manzanilla. It's a Fino that has been aged in the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barrameda. The ocean's proximity feeds the flor like in no other place; the flor here can grow half a foot tall or more.

Numerous wine books will obfuscate the matter but the growth of the flor is no mystery. The barrels selected for flor growth have previously contained flor-laden Sherry. The barrels are placed near the windows, exposed to ocean breezes that feed the flor.

And the flor grows because of the precise amount of fortification. Fifteen percent alcohol allows the flor to grow; the 18 percent shot that Oloroso receives kills off the saccharomyces yeast that creates the flor.

If Fino is a Sherry that grows under the flor, then as soon as the flor dies, that wine begins to change into something else. As the wine gains in richness, it is soon called an Amontillado.

If you're following the story, then you will suppose that all Amontillados are dry. But habit and commerce have it otherwise. Many Amontillados in the market are slightly sweet, and that sweetness is gained from the addition of sweet wines long produced in the area, especially from super-sweet grapes such as moscatel or Pedro Ximinez (PX for short).