Many often confuse sweet wines and fortified wines, assuming they’re
the same thing when they’re really not. Fortified wine falls under the sweet
wine category but is made using very different techniques. If sweet wines are
something you enjoy, then it would be great to know the difference and identity
the ones you enjoy the best.
Classic sweet
wines are made from grapes that have a high concentration of sugar and possibly
‘attacked’ by botrytis in which a certain percentage of sugar stays in the wine
through the fermentation process. The fermentation
of wine is caused by the yeast that eats away at the sugar, transforming it
into alcohol. However, if there is too much sugar, the yeast simply stops
working when the alcohol reaches about 13% in volume, leaving what is known as
residual sugar which can go from a few grams to about 400 grams of sugar in one
liter.
There are quite a variety of classic sweet wines, the common ones
include the exceptional ‘botrytised’ wines from the Bordeaux region, hailing
from the villages of Sauternes (usually
fairly expensive) or Ste Croix du Mont (great
value), made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon (Australia produces some great
ones too). Some grapes have more
potential for sugar, so Muscat, Pinot Gris or Gewürztraminer make outstanding
sweet wines. Wines labelled as Moscato are
usually semi-sweet and very light.
German Rieslings are also known for their sweet wines with a range
that goes from light and off-dry to rich and lusciously sweet. The problem here is that it is sometimes hard
to figure out if the bottle you’re looking at is too sweet. A little tip on how
to distinguish this would be to look at the alcohol percentage. Generally, 12%
is what you find in dry, white wines and 10% will be off-dry and slightly sweet
while those that go lower than 8% will be much sweeter.
On the other hand, fortified wines are made using a less natural
method. Founded in the Douro region of Portugal (renowned for their Port) where
British merchants who were based there were making ‘classic’ wines to ship back
home. Unfortunately, uncontrollable factors like the duration and condition of
shipping didn’t support the wines well during long travels. The merchants then
decided to improve the wine by fortifying’ it by simply adding spirits to the
sweet grape juice. This introduced the alcohol and kept the sugar content but
prevented the fermentation process. This little ‘trick’ then became a trademark
for the wines from the region and worked its way around the world, creating
what we now know as fortified wines.
The range of fortified
wines is fair with the most popular being Port wine. Douro in Portugal is the
birthplace of this specific wine but Australia has a great track record of
producing some pretty outstanding fortified red wines as well. These used to be
called Port as well but due to its link with the province, they had to change
it. Other common fortified wines include Madeira (Portugal), Sherry (Spain),
Marsala (Italy), Maury & Banyuls (France), but many of the latter are
pretty hard to come by in Malaysia.
To check out our range of sweet wines, click here
Stay tuned for our next post on spotting the difference when shopping for wine!
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