Fortified wine

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Fortified wine

Fortified wine is wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
to which a distilled beverage (usually brandy

Brandy

Brandy is a distilled_beverage produced by Distillation wine, the wine having first been produced by Fermentation grapes. Brandy contains 36%?60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink....
) has been added.

Origin and styles
The original reason for fortifying wine was to preserve it. Alcohol is a natural preservative, and when added before the fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

The process of Fermentation in wine is the catalyst function that turns grape juice into an alcoholic beverage. During fermentation yeast interact with sugars in the juice to create ethanol, commonly known as ethyl alcohol, and carbon dioxide ....
of wine is complete, it kills the yeast and leaves residual sugar behind.

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Encyclopedia

Fortified wine is wine

Wine

Brandy

Origin and styles

The original reason for fortifying wine was to preserve it. Alcohol is a natural preservative, and when added before the fermentation

Fermentation (wine)

Alcohol by volume

File:Absinthe ABV.jpgAlcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage . The abv standard is used worldwide....
(ABV). Even though other preservation methods exist, fortification continues to be used because wine drinkers took a liking to this kind of wine.

Many different styles of fortified wine have been developed. The most popular ones are port

Port wine

Port wine is a Portuguese wine sherry from the Douro in the Norte, Portugal of Portugal. It is typically a sweet red wine, but also comes in dry, semi-dry and white varieties....
, sherry

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. In Spanish language, it is called Vino de Jerez....
, madeira

Madeira wine

Madeira is a fortified Portuguese wine made in the Madeira Islands. The wine is produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry wines which can be consumed on their own as an aperitif, to sweet wines more usually consumed with dessert....
, marsala

Marsala wine

Marsala is a wine produced in the region surrounding the Italy city of Marsala in Sicily. Marsala wine first received Denominazione di Origine Controllata, or DOC, status in 1969....
, and vermouth

Vermouth

Vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with aromatic herbs and spices using closely-guarded recipes . Some vermouth is sweetened; however, unsweetened, or dry, vermouth tends to be bitter....
.

Fortified wine is used as a base for some alcoholic beverages, such as cream liqueurs.

Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits

Distilled beverage

A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is a drinkable liquid containing ethanol that is produced by means of distillation Fermentation grain, fruit, or vegetables....
made from wine. Spirits are produced by means of distillation

Distillation

Distillation is a method of separation process mixtures based on differences in their Volatility in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it.

Fortification

Although grape brandy is most commonly added to produce fortified wines, the additional alcohol may also be neutral spirit

Neutral grain spirit

Neutral grain spirit is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that is distilled from cereal grain and has a very high ethanol content. The term neutral refers to the fact that it lacks any flavor derived from the Mashing used to distill it, nor does it have any flavor added to it after distillation ....
that has been distilled from grapes, grain, sugar beet

Sugar beet

Sugar beet , a member of the Chenopodiaceae family, is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production....
s, or sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane is a genus of 6 to 37 species of tall perennial plant Poaceae , native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World. They have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar and measure 2 to 6 meters tall....
. Regional appellation

Appellation

An appellation is a geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, such as what grapes may be grown, maximum grape yields, alcohol level, and other quality factors, may also apply before an appellation name may legally appear on a wine bottle label....
laws dictate the types of spirit that are permitted for fortification.

The source of the additional alcohol and the method of its distillation can affect the flavor of the fortified wine. If neutral spirit

Neutral grain spirit

Neutral grain spirit is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that is distilled from cereal grain and has a very high ethanol content. The term neutral refers to the fact that it lacks any flavor derived from the Mashing used to distill it, nor does it have any flavor added to it after distillation ....
is used, it will usually have been produced with a continuous still, rather than a pot still

Pot still

A pot still is a type of still used in distillation spirits such as whisky or brandy. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the mashing or wine ....
.

During the fermentation

Ethanol fermentation

Ethanol fermentation is the biological process by which sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose are converted into cellular energy and thereby producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as metabolic waste products....
process, yeast cells in the must

Must

Must is freshly pressed fruit juice that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace; it typically makes up 7%?23% of the total weight of the must....
continue to convert sugar into alcohol until the must reaches an alcohol level of 16%–18%. At this level, the alcohol becomes toxic

Toxin

A toxin is a poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms. For a toxic substance not produced by living organisms, "toxicant" is the more appropriate term, and "toxics" is an acceptable plural....
to the yeast and kills it. If fermentation is allowed to run to completion, the resulting wine will (in most cases) be low in sugar and will be considered a dry wine. The earlier in the fermentation process that alcohol is added, the sweeter the resulting wine will be. For drier fortified wine styles, such as sherry

Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. In Spanish language, it is called Vino de Jerez....
, the alcohol is added after the end of fermentation or soon before the end.

In the case of some fortified wine styles (such as late harvest

Late harvest wine

Late harvest is a term applied to wines made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual. Late harvest is usually an indication of a sweet dessert wine, such as late harvest Riesling....
and botrytized wine

Noble rot

Noble rot is the benevolent form of a grey fungus, Botrytis cinerea, affecting wine grapes. Infestation by Botrytis requires moist conditions, and if the weather stays wet, the malevolent form, "grey rot", can destroy crops of grapes....
s), a naturally high level of sugar will inhibit the yeast. This causes fermentation to stop before the wine can become dry.

Legal Aspects

By law, the term “fortified wine” is not permitted to appear on wine labels in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
; consequently, these wines are usually called dessert wine

Dessert wine

Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert, such as Sauternes and Tokaji. Despite the name, they are often best appreciated alone, or with fruit or bakery sweets....
s.In Europe, they are called liqueur wines

Vins de liqueur

A vin de liqueur is a Sweetness of wine Fortified wine style of French wine. The term "vin de liqueur" is also used by the European Union to refer to all fortified wines....
. Under European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 European Union member state, located primarily in Europe. It was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community....
legislation, a liqueur wine is a fortified wine that contains not less than 17.5% ABV

ABV

ABV is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* Alcohol by volume, a measure of the alcohol content of alcoholic drinks* Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Nigeria, from its IATA airport code...
(except for certain quality liqueur wines) and that meets many additional criteria.

External links

- A description.

Fortified wine

Origin and styles

Fortification

Legal Aspects

See also

External links