Fortified wines are wine-based beverages that are combined with a stronger distilled spirit. Historically this was used as a preservation technique to prevent spoilage, as it would raise the alcohol % to help it last longer, especially on lengthy travels and expeditions. Oftentimes, fortified wines are also “aromatized” with the addition of flavorful botanicals and/or bittering spices/herbs such as gentian root, wormwood, and others.
Vermouth
Vermouth is an aromatized and fortified wine that derives its name from “wermut,” the German name for the bitter plant known as wormwood. With its intense bitterness, the wormwood-infused wine was used for medicinal purposes and to stimulate the digestive system. It eventually became a popular cocktail ingredient (ranging from bone dry to intensely sweet) and is an indispensable ingredient in for any home bar!
Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth
Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth. There are two main classifications of vermouths (sweet and dry), with sweet vermouth being a key ingredient in the triad for the delicious Negroni. This is THE bottle that changed [...]
Cocchi Dopo Teatro Vermouth
Cocchi Dopo Teatro vermouth. Vermouth is one of those products that often gets a bad reputation based on people's malformed impressions with spoiled versions. Even I was a vermouth hater until I realized it had [...]
Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
Cocchi Vermouth di Torino. This product is popular, has a long name, and seems pretty fancy, eh? To sum it up, it's just a classic sweet Italian vermouth...a style often referred to as red, rouge, [...]
Dolin Vermouths
Here is the trio of Dolin vermouths. I suspect many people may have some vermouth story, the journey of how they've become acquainted with vermouth - a very interesting ingredient which can be quite polarizing [...]
Lo-Fi Sweet Vermouth
Lo-Fi Sweet Vermouth. This California sweet vermouth is the perfect drink parallel to the modern California food culture, where everything is a bit fresher, lighter, fancier, and prettier. This is a massive departure from the [...]
Yzaguirre Reserva Vermouths
Yzaguirre vermouths (pronounced eez-ah-gear-ray) are produced in the Catalonia region of Spain (where Barcelona is the largest city) according to an old secret recipe from the 1800s (aren't they all...). A popular way of enjoying [...]
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Sherry
Sherry is a Spanish wine fortified with brandy that has been around for many hundreds of years. It can range from extremely savory, briny, and dry (Fino, Manzanilla) to sweeter than syrups (Pedro Ximenez, Moscatel) and everywhere in between. Although it’s often enjoyed on its own, it is an absolutely magical ingredient in cocktails, elevating flavors to the next level with its complexity and savory notes.
Amontillado Sherry
Amontillado Sherry. Sherry is a fascinating wine. This style of wine from Spain utilizes some of the most interesting and unique production processes. Amontillado sherry straddles between Fino and Oloroso sherry. It starts out its [...]
Fino Sherry
Fino sherry. My first taste of this absolutely boggled my mind. It smelled strongly like crisp green apples covered in honey, quickly transitioning to a yeasty hearty loaf of fresh bread after some brief exposure [...]
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Other
Other than the above, there are a host of other fortified wines, such as Port, Madeira, and modern creative wine-based creations.
Jardesca White California Aperitiva
Jardesca White California Aperitiva. From Sonoma, CA, Jardesca is essentially a fortified aromatized wine similar to products like vermouth, Lillet, and the like, but with a Cali touch. So what does "fortified" and "aromatized" mean? [...]