FORTIFIED WINE

   

FORTIFIED WINE

FORTIFIED WINE

Of all the styles, the fortified wines are the most difficult to pin down. Why? Well, they are so varied and extraordinary that they evade simple categorisation. How ironic, then, that for a lot of drinkers fortified wine equates to simple, warm, sticky sherry or port, consumed only at Christmas or with Great Auntie's Madeira cake on her birthday. Let me try to persuade you to re-think these classic and wonderful wines.

FORTIFIED WINE

 Everyone should like fortified wine in at least one of its many different guises. Lovers of dry white wines will delight in a chilled glass of bone-dry fino sherry, one of the most mouth-watering aperitifs in the world. Those who dislike rich, red ports (some people will always associate them with hangovers) should attempt tawny port - mellow, nutty and soft - served lightly chilled with a homemade chocolate mousse.

 

Then there's Madeira, so often relegated to the kitchen cupboard and used only for cooking, but which can be magnificent, intense and intriguing. The fortified wines have so much concentrated flavour and aroma - it's partly why they are regularly used for sauces, of course - which is what makes them so fascinating and delicious. They are good value, too. A little goes a long way in the world of fortified wines and, once opened, they keep for longer than table wines (though not until next Christmas, please).

FORTIFIED WINE

 

If you're bored with Chardonnay and Cabernet or if you find a lot of modern wines too one-dimensional and fruity (or, as some critics put it, tutti-frutti, conjuring up the fruit-salad- style of much new-wave wine), then here's your chance to experience some different sensations. These wines are laced with wild, heady, exotic nuances and have wonderful mouth-filling textures. They make for some truly fascinating food matches. Give them a go!

 

APPEARANCE.OF FORTIFIED WINE

 More varied than many think. Sherry

isn't only richly amber-coloured but ranges from very pale straw to deep mahogany. Port can be a bright garnet, a brown toffee colour, or dark purply-black. Madeira veers between pale and deep tawny.

 

TEXTURE .OF FORTIFIED WINE

Think thick. Most fortified wines have a gloopy, more viscous mouth-feel than ordinary table wines. This is because of higher alcohol levels, but also due to sweetness. The wine seems to fill your mouth; it's heavier and weightier than table wine.

 

AROMA. OF FORTIFIED WINE

 Most fortified wines are deeply aromatic. Expect fresh, tangy lemons, a whiff of fresh bread and yeast, even green olives in the case of dry fino and manzanilla sherries. Richer, sweeter fortifieds are often raisiny and caramelly in aroma. Look for hints of hazelnuts and dried citrus peel, too. Ports often have a red-cherry or fruitcake-like character or, in the case of tawny, they are very nutty.

 

FLAVOUR . OF FORTIFIED WINE

A wide spectrum of tasting notes, some straightforward, like lemons in fino and plums or cherries in red ports, but more exotic in others. Amontillado is distinctly nutty; oloroso is richly raisiny. Tawny port has a creamy, nut-oil flavour, while vintage port can be bursting with spice, damsons, chocolate, figs, and sloes. Also, expect rich, tough tannins in young vintage ports. Many fortified wines have a fresh, tangy, dry finish; others leave a sweet honeyed taste behind.