Sherry, port and co.

SHERRY, PORT & CO.

Discover the diversity of sherry and fine port wine

These types of fortified wine or liqueur wine are produced by stopping the fermentation process by adding brandy to the must. During storage, some are deliberately oxidised while others are not. This is why fortified wine is also known as fortified wine..

Sherry comes from southern Spain, more precisely from the Jerez region. Its style ranges from dry to lusciously sweet. The Palomino, Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel grape varieties are used in its production. The best-known producers are Barbadillo, Lustau and Gonzalez Byass with its famous Tio Pepe. Dry sherry is almost the only wine that goes perfectly with salads and vegetarian cuisine. With aperitifs and, depending on the degree of sweetness, also with desserts. Types of sherry are the light Fino, the slightly salty and slightly bitter Manzanilla, the full-bodied and absolutely dry Amontillado, the strong Oloroso with a fragrant nutty flavour or the sweet Pale Cream.

This fine port wine comes from the Douro Valley in Portugal and is made from various indigenous grape varieties such as Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional or Touriga Franca. Port wine is almost always an assemblage. There are white and red port wines, which can range from very dry to lusciously sweet. The elegant 10 year old, 20 year old or even 40 year old ports spend 10, 20 or 40 years in the barrel. As a general rule, a particularly good vintage also benefits greatly from longer ageing..

Port wine comes in two styles. The first is the fruit-orientated Ruby type, which is usually only stored in a tank for a few years. Crusted Port belongs to the Ruby type. It is a blend of good vintages that do not reach the quality of a real Vintage Port. It then matures in the bottle for a few more years as the flavour is not lost. Like Vintage Port, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) is a blend of grapes from one vintage. However, it is stored in barrels for around 5 years before being bottled. However, the top class is represented by the rare and high-quality Vintage Port. Only the best vintages are selected for Vintage Port..

The port wines of the second type, the Tawny type, oxidise more strongly and therefore mature more quickly, with the taste shifting towards dry fruit and nuts. Old Tawny refers to ports that have been aged in casks for 10 years, 20 years or 30 years. Very Old Tawny Port is at least 40 years old. Colheitas bear the vintage of the grape harvest on the label, so they could also be described as vintage tawnies. The year of bottling is also indicated. A Colheita from the 1950 harvest year that was bottled in 1980 has a completely different flavour to a Colheita that was bottled in 1987. The reason for this is the different length of contact between the port wine and the wood from the barrel. There are two types of white port: sweet white port and dry white port..

The most important producers are Niepoort, Fonseca, Taylor's. Dow's, Grahams and Sandemann. Depending on the degree of sweetness, port wine goes perfectly with chocolate or various pastries. However, it can also be enjoyed simply as a meditation wine without food. The outstanding ageing potential of port wine is also impressive. Some old vintages are stored for over 100 years.

In addition to sherry and port wine, we also offer vin doux naturel (VDN) from France. It is similar to port wine and offers excellent value for money. You can get old vintages at fantastic prices. The Grenache grape variety is mainly used for the production of vin doux naturel. Most of the red VDNs have the appellations Maury, Banyuls, Banyuls Rimage or Rivesaltes.

Other wines that you will discover in our range are Madeira from the island of the same name, Madeira, or Marsala from the Sicilian town of Marsala.

Buy sherry, port and co. in the Globus online shop