Are you confused about the difference between port and sherry? Port is fortified during fermentation. Sherry is fortified after fermentation. Port tends to be sweeter, while sherry usually has a slightly higher alcohol content.
Now, let’s talk about port in more detail. Portugal is well-known for its wines and especially the wines of Porto (or Oporto), which are the port wines.
Porto is a town on the Atlantic shore of the mainland by the mouth of the Douro River (also known in Spain as the Duero). These wines, mostly demi-sec or sweet, became famous since the 17th Century because they were beloved by the British.
Local companies were producing and shipping these delightful tipples to London. As a result, many of the wine-producing or shipping companies dealing in ports were owned or managed by Brits.
The most usual grapes used in port vinification are Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cāo, Tempranillo, Boal, and Tinta Amarela. Boal is the only white grape, while all others are red.
In Portugal, I drink either ports or Madeira wines. I believe that local gastronomy is geared toward making great dishes to accompany these great local wines. So I order accordingly.
Most ports on the market are non-vintage wines. There is normally a “house style,” which means that the winemaker will blend wines from assorted vintages to achieve the winery’s particular look and taste. When you see 10, 20, 30, or more years-old port marked on a bottle, it just means that the oldest wine in the blend was of that age.
A few of the better wineries make “vintage ports,” and in that case, the bottle contains only wines from that particular year. It doesn’t mean that the wine is better or will last longer. In reality, it means they were able to achieve the “house style” using only a wine blend from different vineyard parcels on that particular year.
1994, 2007, 2011, and 2017 were exceptional years rated at 98 or 99 points out of 100. If you have any of those, drink the 1994 now and possibly the 2007. You can cellar the rest for a few more years or even decades.
1927 was the only 20th century year I can think of that achieved 100 out 100 points, but none are in the market any longer. Even collectors have drunk this exceptional wine.
Because of the warming caused by climate change, more vintages are achieving the high 90 points than ever before. Therefore, great ports and sherries are becoming more available and at slightly more stable pricing.
Now to sherry. In Spain, sherry has been produced for almost 30 centuries in the southern region, centered in Jerez de la Frontera.
Shakespeare mentions sherry in Henry IV, Part II, Act IV, Scene III. Another famous writer, the American Edgar Allan Poe, also wrote a well-known short story called “The Cask of Amontillado.”
The British also love a good sherry and will serve them at any occasion. There are only three grapes used for sherry production: Palomino, Moscatel, and Pedro Ximenez (PX), but 90% of sherry is made from barely ripe Palomino grapes.
Sherry can vary from very dry to very sweet, and they’re classified in three major categories:
Generosos: These are considerably dry winesmade exclusively from Palomino grapes: Fino (the driest), Amontillado, Palo Cortado, and Oloroso (an almost demisec wine).
Dulces Naturales:Theseare naturally sweet wines made exclusively from Moscatel or Pedro Ximénez and named after the respective grapes used.
Generosos de Licor:These are blended wines made from a base of dry wine that is sweetened by adding a naturally sweet wine or concentrated grape must. There are three sub-types: Pale Cream, Medium, and Cream.
Sherry has been produced for thousands of years. However, when Spain joined the European Economic Community, that alliance was beneficial in general for the Spanish economy, while a misfortune for sherry producers. This is because the generous state subsidies that were given to the sherry industry to keep the prices (and especially the export prices) very competitive suddenly disappeared, causing the prices to rise significantly.
That lack of aid also forced many smaller wine growers to uproot their vines and turn their land into other, more profitable crops. This means the prices are continuing on an upward trend.
Whenever I’m in Madrid, San Sebastian, or another part of Spain, I order a Fino or an Amontillado with my tapas. Click here to learn more about my experience in Spain with sherry.
Because many houses use the Solera method, they can’t put a vintage date on their sherry wines. There are a few, such as Gonzales Byass that do produce “anadas.” This means an individual vintage statically aged, not in a Solera. The 1964 Byass Oloroso still lives in my memory, and a 1982 bottle is peacefully aging in my cellar.
I have been currently drinking a 2021 Lustau East India Solera Cream as an aperitif and enjoying every sip. You can get bottles of that good vintage. If you try it, I’m sure you will like it as well. To your health!
Manos Angelakis is one of the founders, the former Managing Editor for 25 years, the current Managing Editor Emeritus, and Senior Food & Wine Writer of LuxuryWeb Magazine. He is an accomplished travel writer, photographer, and food and wine critic based in Hackensack, New Jersey. As a travel writer, he has written extensively about numerous cities and countries. Manos has also been certified as a Tuscan Wine Master and has traveled to wine-producing areas in order to evaluate firsthand the product of top-rated vineyards. In the past year, he has visited and written multiple articles about Morocco, Turkey, Quebec City, Switzerland, Antarctica, and most recently the South of France. Articles in other publications include Vision Times and Epoch Times.
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