Fortified Wine

A fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, ordinarily brandy, has been added. The practice first evolved as the additional alcohol content functioned as a preservative, however the distinct flavours created have seen the production of fortified wines continue despite alternative preservation methods having been developed. Aside from sherry, the most commonly recognised fortified wines include port and madeira from Portugal, marsala from Italy and vin doux naturel from France.

Historically, fortified wines were transported to markets in-cask and were particularly popular in the the UK and Ireland in the 19th century. For this reason, cask maturation in fortified wine barrels is generally better associated with whisky production than rum. Changes to bottling laws, shipping practices and declining interest in drinking fortified wines however, means the old "transport casks" are a thing of the past, and modern-day barrels have been specially seasoned with the wines for the distinct purpose of maturing spirits.

Availability of these casks is therefore no longer reliant on market interest in the original contents, and they are easier than ever for distillers across the world to acquire. Not only this, but they provide a greater variety of choice and the more commonly used port casks have been joined over the years by greater experimentation with the likes of marsala and madeira, each bringing their own unique flavours. Fortuitously, these flavours tend to compliment rum very well and the 21st century has seen a great and ever-increasing trend towards their use in the wood policies of rum producers.

Fortified wines can be aged in standard butts or barriques but can often have their own distinct barrel types as well. Usually large in size, a port pipe will normally be 500 litres in capacity for example, while a madeira puncheon will be around 400 litres.

Of course, not all rum distillers have to rely on importing such casks. Rum production is another of the key industries on the island of Madeira for example, and is also flourishing in new world winemaking countries like Australia and South Africa.