Port and Sherry might both be fortified wines, but that's about where the similarities end. Fortification simply means a grape spirit is added during or after fermentation, boosting the alcohol and changing the style of the finished wine. What happens before and after that is completely different. Port comes from Portugal's Douro Valley and is made by stopping fermentation early, leaving plenty of the grape's natural sweetness behind. Sherry comes from southern Spain, where the wines are usually fermented dry before ageing through a unique system of barrels that slowly blends different vintages together. The result is two families of wine that couldn't taste more different.
Port is all about fruit, richness and age. Young Ruby Ports are full of dark berries, chocolate and spice, while Tawny Ports spend years in oak, gradually picking up flavours of toasted nuts, dried fruit, caramel and orange peel. Vintage Port sits somewhere else entirely. It's only made in the very best years and is designed to mature in bottle for decades, slowly developing layer after layer of complexity. Once opened, though, it's surprisingly fragile and is best enjoyed over a day or two. Tawny, on the other hand, is much happier sitting open for a few weeks, making it an easy bottle to dip into whenever the mood takes you.
Sherry covers an even wider range of styles. Fino and Manzanilla are pale, dry and incredibly fresh, with flavours that often remind people of almonds, bread dough and sea spray. They owe that character to a layer of yeast called flor, which protects the wine as it ages. Once that flor disappears, oxygen begins to shape the wine instead, producing styles like Amontillado and Oloroso. These become darker, richer and more savoury, packed with roasted nuts, dried fruit, coffee, tobacco and spice. At the sweeter end you'll find Pedro Ximénez, made from sun-dried grapes and famous for its thick texture and flavours of raisins, dates, treacle and Christmas cake.
If you've never really explored fortified wine, don't overthink it. Keep a bottle of Fino in the fridge and pour a glass alongside crisps, olives or salty snacks. Open a Tawny Port with a wedge of mature cheddar or a handful of toasted nuts. Try an Amontillado with roast chicken or mushroom dishes and you'll quickly see why chefs love cooking with it as much as drinking it. These are wines with centuries of history behind them, but they don't need a special occasion. They're some of the most interesting bottles on the shelf and they're far too good to only come out at Christmas.
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