Fruit Port From Puree

Dessert wine paired with a sweet pie, savory cheese, or fine cigar is one of the best ways to finish off an excellent meal. Home winemakers have a variety of dessert wine styles to choose from when venturing down this path, ranging from low-alcohol sweet options such as Muscat wines, to naturally enriched icewines to fortified Ports.  Port wines, which are traditionally produced in the Douro Valley in Portugal, are made by arresting the fermentation of juice through the addition of a high-alcohol fortifying agent to produce a final wine that has an alcohol content of approximately 20% and a residual sugar content of approximately 8%. (Note that when made outside of Portugal, these wines are referred to as “Port-style” wines.) While Ports are traditionally made from grapes, it is possible to use other fruit juices as the basis of this process, giving home winemakers a large palette of flavors to work with in the production of unique fortified dessert wines. Planning Your Fruit Port-Style Wine One of the first decisions that will need to be made when planning your fruit