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Top Portuguese Vintage Port
Although it accounts for only about two percent of production, vintage port is the flagship wine of Portugal. It is made entirely from the grapes of a declared vintage year, and the vintage has to be favorable enough (considering the conditions) to produce a fine and lasting wine. The decision on whether to declare a vintage is made in the spring of the second year following the harvest.Here are s... [Read More]
Top Australian Tawny Port
Tawny ports are wines created from red grapes that are aged in wooden barrels, which exposes them to gradual oxidation and evaporation. As a result, they gradually mellow into a golden-brown color. The exposure to wood causes the wine's nutty flavors, which is blended to match the house style.Let's take a look at some of the top tawny ports that can be seen in Australia. Dutschke Old Codger - This... [Read More]
Top Madeira Wines From Portugal
Madeira is a type of fortified wine made in Portugal's Madeira Islands. It is prized equally for drinking and cooking, as the wine is used in preparing for "Plum in Madeira," a type of dessert. Historically, Madeira is the first wine enjoyed among American colonies due to an exemption to the importation ban of European products. Nowadays, it is produced in rarity, hence its high price.He... [Read More]
Inexpensive Spanish Sherry Wine
Sherry is a fortified wine made in and around the town of Jerez in Spain. It traces its roots even as far as 1100 BC, when Jerez was a center of viniculture, through the Roman period beginning in 200 BC, and even through the Moorish period.Sherries are usually inexpensive, which makes it a great wine of choice for those who are starting to learn about wines and wine tasting.Here are some of the mo... [Read More]
Madeira Wines
Madeira wines are fortified wines that are made form the Madeira Islands in Portugal. The main grape varieties used in the production of such wines include the Sercial, Tinta Negra Mole, Bual, Verdelho and the Malvasia varieties. The most widely planted grape variety used in making Madeira wines is the Tinta Negra Mole. The more expensive and better quality Madeira wines usually contain at least 8... [Read More]
Marsala Wines
Marsala wines are fortified wines that came from the Italian island of Sicily. The name for this type of fortified wine was derived from the name of the Sicilian coastal town that goes by the same name. Marsala wines are usually made from the local white grape varieties such as the Inzolia, Catarratto and Grillo. Marsala wines are then fermented to dryness with such methods as those being used in ... [Read More]
Port Wines
Port wine is a type of fortified wine that cam from the Duoro Valley in the Northern provinces of Portugal. Port wines are basically sweet fortified wines that are often served as a dessert wine. They are grapes that are produced and made into wine in this Portuguese wine region and then fortified with distilled grape spirits in order to increase its alcohol content to preserve it. Its name was de... [Read More]
Sherry Wines
Among the different types of fortified wines produced, sherries seem to be one of the popular choices available today. Although each fortified wine type has their own distinct qualities, they all have one thing in common in that they are all being fortified with alcohol. Aside from different factors such as the type of grape variety used, the environment that they were grown in as well as how they... [Read More]
Fortified Wines
Fortified wines are simply wines that have been added with brandy or any other neutral spirit that allows an increase in its alcohol content. A certain wine is said to be fortified if it contains more alcohol that what the ordinary yeast fermentation process can provide. Fortified wines usually contain between 17 to 21 percent alcohol while ordinary unfortified wines can contain somewhere from 14 ... [Read More]