Wine style

What is fortified wine?

Fortified wine is wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy or neutral grape spirit, has been added, typically bringing it to about 20% alcohol. Adding the spirit during fermentation keeps natural grape sugar, as in Port; adding it after fermentation gives dry styles such as fino Sherry.

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How it is made

Fortification began as a way to preserve wine, since alcohol is a natural antiseptic, and is kept today for the flavour and style it gives. The timing of the spirit addition decides the style. If spirit is added before fermentation has finished, it kills the yeast and leaves natural sugar, which is how sweet wines such as Port and the French vins doux naturels are made. If it is added after fermentation, the wine stays dry, as with most Sherry. Ageing then shapes the wine: Sherry matures in a solera, a series of barrels where younger wine refreshes older wine, while Madeira is deliberately heated, either in heated tanks (estufagem) or slowly in naturally warm warehouses (canteiro).

Main styles and grapes

Port is fortified with grape spirit (aguardente) partway through fermentation and has 19 to 22% alcohol; it is made from Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Francesa, Tinta Cão and Tinta Barroca, and comes as ruby, tawny, white and rosé. Sherry is made mostly from Palomino; fino and manzanilla age under a layer of flor yeast and reach about 15.5% alcohol, while oloroso ages in contact with air and reaches 17% or more. Pedro Ximénez grapes, often sun-dried, give sweet Sherry. Madeira is graded from dry to sweet by grape: Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey. Vins doux naturels are based on Muscat or Grenache.

Famous examples

Port comes from Portugal's Douro, demarcated in 1756, and was traditionally aged in lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia. Sherry must come from the triangle of Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María in Andalusia, sold as Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda; nearby Montilla-Moriles makes similar wines. Madeira, used to toast the American Declaration of Independence, can last over 200 years. Sicily's Marsala was developed by the English merchant John Woodhouse in the 18th century. France has vins doux naturels such as Banyuls and Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, Portugal has Moscatel de Setúbal, and Australia has Rutherglen.

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Fortified wine: questions and answers

What is the difference between Port and Sherry?

Port is a sweet Portuguese wine fortified during fermentation, which leaves natural grape sugar, while Sherry is a Spanish wine usually fortified after fermentation, so most Sherry is dry. Port is made mainly from red grapes in the Douro; Sherry mainly from white Palomino around Jerez.

How much alcohol is in fortified wine?

Fortified wines usually have about 20% alcohol. Port typically has 19 to 22%, while fino Sherry has about 15.5% and oloroso 17% or more.

What is Madeira wine?

Madeira is a fortified wine from the Portuguese island of Madeira that is deliberately heated and oxidised as it matures. This makes it extremely long-lived, and some bottles have lasted more than 200 years.

What is a vin doux naturel?

A vin doux naturel is a lightly fortified sweet French wine, made by adding spirit during fermentation to grapes such as Muscat or Grenache. Examples include Banyuls and Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise.

Why is wine fortified?

Wine was first fortified to preserve it, because alcohol is a natural antiseptic. Today it is done mainly for the style: adding spirit during fermentation keeps sweetness, and adding it afterwards keeps the wine dry.

Other wine styles

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Sources: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org

Last reviewed October 2026.