Fortified Wines

Buy Best Fortified Wines Online in Australia

Often referred to as dessert wine, fortified wines are instead its sub-type. Its origin dates back to the years when people would store drinks in casks. In order to prevent wine from getting oxidized, manufacturers started fortifying drinks to avoid spoilage. This also resulted in high alcohol content, making them even more popular amongst wine consumers. Eventually, fortification became a method of choice and even today, fortified dessert wines enjoy a fair share in the markets worldwide.

Flavour-Profile & Food Pairing

From medium- to full-bodied, dry to sweet, fortified wines are available in different styles. The level of sweetness depends upon the fortification process employed during winemaking. This involves the addition of a distilled spirit (Mostly, a clear grape brandy) during or after fermentation in order to increase the alcohol content in wine. If the spirit is added during fermentation, the yeast dies (Since yeast cannot survive high alcohol content) and the process of conversion of sugar into alcohol stops. The result is, thus, a sweet fortified wine. However, if done the other way (i.e., addition of spirit after fermentation), the result is a dry wine.

Dry or sweet, generally, fortified wines contain 17 to 20 percent ABV. Synonymously known as ‘stickies’ these highly viscous drinks can be enjoyed before or after a meal. One may also pair it with a variety of foods like the rich terrine pâté for a soul-satisfying experience! Sweet fortified wines are a great match for richly sauced meats or Asian cuisines. Spicy flavours of these dishes exceptionally complement the sweetness of these beauties. These drinks have been an important part of the Australian wine industry, wherein, they enjoyed an era of dominance. Even now they are widely consumed in the island country along with other table wines.

Fortified Wines in Australia

Known for some of the best fortified wines globally, Australia excels in the production of Tawny, Topaque, Vintage and Muscat. Tawny, named after its lovely tawny or darkish brown colour, is usually produced using fortified Shiraz and Grenache with Touriga and Mataro. The country is especially known for the production of world-class Muscat fortified wines. (Rutherglen fortified Shiraz and Muscat are a must-try). Vintage (Produced using grapes from single vintage) and Topaque (A white fortified wine produced using Muscadelle grape variety) are some of the other very popular Australian fortified wines.

Our collection includes some of the finest drops sourced from the best wine regions like Rutherglen, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Riverland Down Under. Perfect for celebrations and gifting alike, buy fortified wines online that are sure to please you with the reasonable prices!