Commonly available wines have up to several percent alcohol

However, wines with an alcohol content of approx 17-21%. They are fortified wines. The general principle of making them is simple: natural fermentation is interrupted by adding strong alcohol - noble wine yeast is killed when concentrated 10-11%, wild yeast at concentration 6-10%, only the still / distillery yeast can withstand higher concentrations.

Fortified wine was produced, because traditional liquor is not very durable

The short shelf life of wines was already a serious obstacle, if you want to transport them to the other end of the world, which in addition turned out to be much further, than expected. Among the many types of fortified wines, several of them gained more recognition: sherry, porto, madeira i marsala. These species differ from each other mainly in their residual sugar content. When fermentation is stopped by adding stronger alcohol (for example brandy), some of the sugar in the must is not yet fermented - it gives the drink a sweeter taste. Similar sweetness, but of course other taste qualities, you can get, if a must is added to wine retained later in fermentation.

Of course fortified wine is not simply a mixture of wine and brandy or vodka. Such a product also needs to mature, and also other treatments are often used, for example as in the case of sherry, mixing alcoholic beverages from different vintages.

Now a special assignment: go to the store and find the fortified wines on the shelf. It won't be easy, unless you are looking for UK. Although the recipe of the drink is several hundred years old, someone was embarrassed by the name, so the trade names are dessert wine (this is what this type of alcohol is called in the States) or a liqueur wine (is a name in the EU, which also disgraces guilt at the same time, and liqueurs). Of course, such labels are also found in Poland. And although the password on the label has changed, the popularity of the product has been.