Fortified wine da Fonseca, the founder of the oldest table wine company in Portugal dating back to 1834. Port wine (also known simply as Port) is a fortified wine from the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal. It is typically a sweet red wine, but also comes in dry, semi-dry and white varieties. Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez, Spain. The word "sherry" itself is an anglicisation of Jerez. In earlier times, sherry was known as "sack" (from the Spanish "saca", meaning "a removal from the solera"). In the
Sweetness of wine Aszú dessert wines: In Spain, the rules applicable to the sweet and fortified Denominations of Origen Montilla-Moriles and Jerez-Xérès-Sherry In the United States, the wine industry measures the sweetness of must and wine in degrees Brix. Sweetness of wine The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness; acids (sourness) and bitter tannins counteract it. These principles are outlined in the 1987 work by Émile Peynaud, "The Taste of Wine".