De-fortifying Wine — Wed, November 4th

This tasting will take place on Wednesday, November 4th, from 7 to 8:15pm.

Fortify: to make something stronger, more secure. In the wine world, it means adding extra alcohol to wine.

Some of the most iconic wines in history were made this way. Sherry, Port, Marsala, Madeira. Wines that were born out of necessity, out of trade routes and long voyages, out of the simple need to keep wine from spoiling on ships crossing oceans. But what happens when you take that extra alcohol away? What happens when you look at the grape, the terroir, the winemaking, and remove the safety net? In this session, we're putting a mirror up to fortified wines. We'll taste side by side a fortified version and a non-fortified version of three iconic regions. We'll talk about why these wines were made in the first place, how they became what they are, and what happens when you strip them down to their essence. It's a history lesson, a geography lesson, and a tasting all in one.

This guided tasting includes 6 wines, with 2oz pours of each. Enough to taste, explore, and get a real sense of each bottle. 

Art by Ayo Tsalithaba.