Port

The name port was originally the English term for any Portuguese wine. The addition of brandy was introduced in the 18th century as a way of guaranteeing that the wines would get to England in drinkable condition, and it resulted in the development of an unusual group of sweet red wines. Port is made by stopping the fermentation of the base red wine while about half the grape sugar is left, and fortifying it with distilled spirits to give an alcohol content around 20%. The wine is then aged in barrel and finally in bottle for anywhere from two to 50 years. Older ports are characterized by the maple-like compound sotolon and other sweetly aromatic compounds, likely products of browning reactions, which are also found in botrytized wines and sherries.