Fortified wines, like sparkling wines, are the result of a process beyond simple vinification.
Fortified wines are manipulated through the addition of neutral grape spirit, in order to strengthen the base wines for the purpose of added body, warmth, durability or ageworthiness. Through centuries of effort, the world’s premier fortified wine regions have developed unique regimes of production and aging; these methodologies—or manipulations of the base material—have become inextricably linked to the terroir of the wines. Port, Madeira, and Sherry represent the three great archetypes of fortified wine, yet each is utterly distinct. Sicily’s Marsala; France’s vin doux naturel; many of Greece’s PDO wines; Portugal’s Setúbal, Carcavelos, and Pico; Sherry’s close cousins Málaga, Montilla-Moriles, and Condado de Huelva; the many fading traditional styles of the Iberian peninsula—Tarragona Clásico, Rueda Dorado, etc.—and a myriad number of New World adaptations constitute the remaining stratum of fortified wine styles. Vermouth and quinquinas, fortified wines flavored by maceration with additional herbs and spices (cinchona bark is essential to the flavor of quinquinas) are properly considered aromatized wines.
There are three general methods of fortification. A wine’s fermentation may be arrested through the addition of spirit while sugars remain (as in the case of Port) or the wine may be fortified after the fermentation has concluded (as in the case of Sherry). The latter method produces a dry fortified wine, although the winemaker may restore sweetness by the addition of sweetened wine or grape syrup. The third method, in which grape must is fortified prior to fermentation, produces a mistelle rather than a fortified wine. This category was once exclusively known as vins de liq
Christopher, sorry to see your post so late, but in response: Tarragona Clásico is something we see mentions of but it no longer appears in any DO regulations. I can only assume it is a historical style at this point, perhaps made by someone locally but not commercialized and not legally authorized as a DO product.
Other news: We had Tinta Negra listed as Pinot Noir x Grenache on this site, as that is claimed by Noel Cossart (Madeira the Island Vineyard, 2nd Edition, p. 100), but in Wine Grapes Jancis reports that it is instead an Andalucian variety identical to Negramoll and Mollar.
Matt (or anyone of course),
I am searching for info on Tarragona Clásico (via vimblanc) and can not find any info other than the mention here on guild somm. I found it on Wikipedia (I know) but can not find any other info on it anywhere. My notes (I think it came from old Dilman notes) have it as 100% Grenache, but wiki has it as 100% tempranillo. Any insight? Stevenson mentions it but does not define it and Jancis has nothing on it. I am inclined to stick with my notes, but thought I would ask. Also, how does it differ from vimblanc? ageing?
Thank you Matt.
Ryland, the EU defines "liqueur wine" as any grape must, partially fermented grape must, or wine to which spirit (either wine spirit or grape marc) has been added. So, technically both mistelles and VDN are considered a liqueur wines. "Mistelle" does not really have a legal definition, as far as I can tell, but we use that term to denote fortified must, like Pineau des Charentes or Floc de Gascogne.
So now a vin de liqueur is now any fortified wine no matter when the fortification occurs in the winemaking process which would include vin doux naturels? And a mistelle is exclusively those fortified before fermentation?