Penfolds has a long tradition of fortified wine production, dating back to 1844. It began with Dr Christopher and Mary Penfold, pioneers who dreamt big, inventing tonics, brandies, and fortified wines made from grapes and Australian sunshine. It continued with Alf Vesey, a stalwart of 69 vintages, who worked directly for Mary Penfold and trained Max Schubert as his understudy during the 1930s. Generations of Penfolds winemakers have been custodians of our rich fortified winemaking tradition and continue to push the development to new heights.
Many of our beautifully concentrated and complex wines are now living history, with some components in barrel dating as far back as 1915.
What is fortified wine?
Fortified wine is created by the addition of grape spirit to fermenting grape juice, thus fortifying it and increasing the alcohol by volume (ABV) - most fortified wines sit at between 17.5% to 20.0% ABV. The history of fortified wine production is believed to date as far back as the 16th century when winemakers added spirits like brandy to wine to mitigate spoilage during long voyages.
What are the types of fortified wine?
Fortified wine can be very sweet, completely dry or somewhere in between. Typically, sweet styles undergo partial fermentation, resulting in residual sugar after fortification. While dry styles are fortified after fermentation.