Fortified wines - Part 1

Fortified Wines - Part 1 - Sherry

These are wines that are made strong, or 'fortified', by adding grape spirit, and deliver some really unique and incredible flavours. The first I'll be telling you about is sherry.

Fortified wines

Historically, wines were fortified to make them longer lasting and thus more transportable. However these days, they've become popular in their own right for the fuller flavour.

There are two classic types of fortified wines:

1. Sherry from Spain
2. Port from the Douro Valley in Portugal

Sherry

Located in southern Spain, the climate in Sherry is hot and humid, and the soil is chalky. It's this particular environment that has extraordinary effects on the Palomino grape.

During the process of making sherry, the wine is aged and can be done so in two ways. Either it's aged in barrels biologically under a layer of yeast called 'flor', which prevents the wine from oxidising, and the result is very dry and tangy. Or, the wine is aged in oak casks for a much longer time; this type of sherry is known as Oloroso. The flavours are very nutty, bone dry and completely unique.

The majority of sherry will always be a blend of vintages, as they are mostly made using the solera system – an ageing process that gradually and continuously adds newer wines to create a blend.

Tio Pepe En Rama Fino Gonzalez Byass, £15.95

If you want to taste sherry that's been aged under a flor, then a Fino is a great place to start. If it's also En Rama or 'raw' and unfiltered, then even better.

This sherry will taste surprisingly fresh, and demands to be drunk with food.

Bodegas Hidalgo Amontillado Napoleon, £13.99

Amontillado is an aged Fino – and you'll instantly notice it's much darker in colour. It has the same tang, but there's a noticeable nuttiness that comes from the oak barrel. The overall taste is a little gentler and more aromatic.

Morrisons The Best Pedro Ximenez, £6.50

The Pedro Ximenez grape is used to sweeten sherry, and these grapes are picked when they're very ripe to achieve maximum sweetness. Because there's so much sugar within, the wine can only ferment to a certain point, which preserves the natural sweetness. The taste is treacly and it's quite intense – so you'll probably want to enjoy it with food. You can also pour it over some vanilla ice cream for a delicious treat.

Your assignment

Get hold of a Fino sherry, such as this one from Waitrose, and an Oloroso sherry, such as Morrisons' award-winning Oloroso, and taste them side by side. Note down how the differing ageing process has impacted the flavour; can you detect any smokiness? Does one feel lighter than the other?