A fortified wine is a wine to which additional alcohol has been added, most commonly in the form of brandy (a spirit distilled from wine). Jump to: navigation, search A glass of red wine Wine is an alcoholic beverage that is made by fermenting grapes or grape juice. ... Jump to: navigation, search Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol, is an inflammable, colorless chemical compound, one of the alcohols that is most often found in alcoholic beverages. ... Jump to: navigation, search Brandy pot stills at the Van Ryn Brandy Cellar near Stellenbosch, South Africa For the singer and actress, see Brandy Norwood. ...

The original reason for fortification was to preserve wines, as the higher alcohol level and additional sweetness (if the alcohol is added before fermentation finishes, killing the yeast and leaving residual sugar) help to preserve the wine. However now that these types of wine have been established people have developed a taste for them, even though other preservation methods exist. Yeasts constitute a group of single-celled (unicellular) fungi, a few species of which are commonly used to leaven bread and ferment alcoholic beverages. ... After fermentation has ended in the process of wine making, the residual sugar (or RS) is the measure of the amount of sugars that remain unfermented in the resulting wine. ...

Common fortified wines include sherry, port, vermouth, and Marsala. Madeira is typically also fortified. A fortified wine called Muscat is made in Australia. Jump to: navigation, search Sherry solera Sherry is a type of wine originally produced in and around the town of Jerez, Spain. ... Jump to: navigation, search A glass of tawny port. ... Jump to: navigation, search Vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with aromatic herbs and spices (aromatized in the trade) in recipes that are closely-guarded trade secrets. ... Marsala is a wine produced in the Italian city of Marsala, in Sicily. ... Jump to: navigation, search Madeira is a fortified wine made in the Madeira Islands of Portugal, which is prized equally for drinking and cooking; the latter use including the dessert plum in madeira. ... The muscat family of grapes of the species Vitis vinifera are widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. ...

Fortified wines must be distinguished from spirits made from wine. While both have increased alcohol content, spirits are the result of a process of distillation; while fortified wines have spirits added to them. Fortified wines generally have an alcohol content between that of wines and spirits. Spirits redirects here. ... Strathisla whisky distillery in Keith, Scotland Distillation is a means of separating liquids through differences in their vapor pressures. ...

Fortified wines are legally called dessert wines in the U.S. but are called liqueur wines in Europe. Dessert wines are those wines which are typically served with dessert, although they are also drunk on their own, i. ...