Fortified wines were once a staple for many wine drinkers around the world. Indeed, the only wine for some people! Their popularity has dramatically faded with the masses over the last several decades. The passion of the wine cognoscenti for this style, though, has never faded. Here are six fortified wines that you absolutely must try before you die. Put them on your bucket list today!
The 6 Best Fortified Wines to Try Before You Die
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Commandaria
Commandaria is widely recognised as the world's oldest named wine still in production and was served at the wedding of King Richard the Lionheart. For the best experience, look for one made from the Xynisteri grape. Read more >>
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Madeira
In the 1700s, Madeira was one of the most popular wines in Britain and North America; it was even used to toast the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Make sure you get one made from one of the four key varieties. Read more >>
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Aged Tawny Port
Tawny Ports are hedonistic treasure troves: alluring perfume, sensuous silky texture, and layer upon layer of elegant, complex, beguiling flavours — and they're a real bargain too. For the best experience, make sure it's a 20-year-old (or older). Read more >>
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Vintage Port
Vintage Port is the crème de la crème of Ports, and there's no better way to add some delicious sophistication to your postprandial chatter. Read more >>
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VORS Amontillado Sherry
VORS stands for Very Old Rare Sherry and indicates an average age of at least 30 years, so there's already lots of concentrated, complex flavour going on. Amontillado's unique combination of biological and oxidative maturation compounds that complexity. Read more >>
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Fino Sherry
It's hard to find a wine that stimulates the appetite like Fino Sherry. It's light, ethereal, and filigree. Read more >>
Where to Start
If you're new to fortified wine, start with a 20-year-old Tawny Port. It is rich, silky, nutty, complex, ready to drink when you buy it, and does not need decanting. It is probably the easiest wine on this list to love — and one of the safest ways to spend serious-wine money without getting serious-wine disappointment.
Next, try Madeira. If you normally prefer dry wine, begin with Sercial or Verdelho. If you want something richer and sweeter, look for Bual or Malvasia — often labelled Malmsey. Commandaria is another welcoming option if you enjoy sweet wine: amber-coloured, full of dried-fruit and caramel flavours, and carrying a rather ridiculous amount of history in every glass.
Then branch out. Drink a properly chilled Fino Sherry with olives, almonds, seafood or jamón. Save a mature Vintage Port for a long dinner with good company. Finish with a VORS Amontillado: dry, intense, nutty, savoury, and old enough to have accumulated a few stories of its own.
This is a bucket list, not a drinking schedule. Take your time — but not too much time.
Why These Six Fortified Wines?
Because together they show just how broad the fortified-wine universe can be. Fino Sherry is pale, bone dry, delicate and shaped by a living veil of yeast called flor. VORS Amontillado begins under that same veil before continuing its life exposed to oxygen, becoming darker, nuttier and vastly more intense. Tawny Port develops its silky, mellow complexity through long ageing in wood, while Vintage Port is bottled relatively young and left to evolve slowly in glass. Madeira adds heat, acidity and near-indestructibility. Commandaria brings sun-dried grapes, sweetness and medieval history to the party.
Commandaria is the slight rebel on the list: under its PDO rules, it can be produced either as a fortified liqueur wine or as an unfortified wine from sun-dried grapes. It stays because fortified examples are common and because, either way, it belongs naturally in this company.
These wines also offer something increasingly rare in the wine world: age, complexity and history without necessarily requiring a lottery win. Fino Sherry remains almost embarrassingly inexpensive. A 20-year-old Tawny arrives with the ageing already done for you. Madeira can survive an open bottle for far longer than most wines. Fortified wine may have fallen out of fashion with the masses, but that is their loss — and our opportunity.
Best Fortified Wines FAQ
What Is Considered a Fortified Wine?
A fortified wine is a wine to which distilled alcohol — usually a neutral grape spirit or grape brandy — has been added. The spirit may be added during fermentation, as it is for Port, or after fermentation, as it usually is for dry Sherry. Fortified wines commonly contain about 15% to 22% alcohol by volume. They are sometimes called liqueur wines, particularly in European regulations, but “dessert wine” is not an accurate synonym: Fino Sherry and Sercial Madeira are fortified and decidedly dry.
What Are the Four Main Types of Fortified Wine?
The four classic fortified-wine families most often named are Port, Sherry, Madeira and Marsala. They are not the only ones. Other important examples include Moscatel de Setúbal, France's Vins Doux Naturels, Rutherglen Muscat and fortified versions of Commandaria. Even within the famous four, the styles range from the feather-light dryness of Fino Sherry to the dark sweetness of Vintage Port.
What's the Difference Between Port and Fortified Wine?
Fortified wine is the broad category; Port is one protected type within it. Genuine Port comes from Portugal's Douro region. Grape spirit is normally added while the wine is still fermenting, stopping the yeast and leaving natural grape sugar behind. That is why most familiar Ports are both sweet and relatively high in alcohol. Sherry, Madeira and Marsala are fortified wines too, but they come from different places and are made in different ways.
Is Sherry the Same as Fortified Wine?
Sherry is a fortified wine, but fortified wine is not necessarily Sherry. Sherry comes from the protected region around Jerez in southern Spain. Most traditional Sherries — including Fino, Amontillado and Oloroso — are dry. Sweet styles also exist, including Pedro Ximénez and blended Cream Sherry. If your only experience is the dusty sweet bottle from Grandma's cupboard, the dry styles may come as quite a shock.
What Is the Best Fortified Wine?
The best fortified wine depends on what you want from it. For effortless richness and value, start with a 20-year-old Tawny Port. For freshness and food, choose Fino Sherry. For immense complexity, try VORS Amontillado. For power and bottle ageing, choose Vintage Port. For durability and sheer range, Madeira is very difficult to beat.
How Do I Know If My Wine Is Fortified?
Start with the name on the label. Port, Sherry, Madeira and Marsala are the clearest clues, although the word “fortified” may not appear prominently. The alcohol level is another hint: most fortified wines sit between roughly 15% and 22% ABV, compared with about 11% to 15% for most table wines. Alcohol alone is not proof, though — some unfortified wines naturally reach 15%, while some Commandaria can be made without fortification.
Why Is Port Drunk After Dinner?
Port became an after-dinner tradition because its sweetness, richness and warming alcohol work beautifully with cheese, nuts, chocolate and many desserts. But there is no rule saying it must wait until the meal is over. White Port can make a superb aperitif, while chilled Tawny Port can accompany pâté, mature cheese and nut-based dishes. Port is more versatile than its old-fashioned after-dinner reputation suggests.
Why Did People Stop Drinking Sherry?
People did not stop drinking Sherry altogether, but consumption fell sharply in many traditional markets. Tastes shifted towards dry table wines, beer and later cocktails, while Sherry became associated with inexpensive sweet blends and an older generation of drinkers. The bewildering terminology did not help. That reputation hides the reality: good dry Sherry is one of the most distinctive, food-friendly and undervalued wines in the world. Its loss of fashion is precisely why bottles of astonishing quality can still be bought for comparatively sensible money.
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