Port vs Sherry: How the Two Fortified Wines Differ

The short answer: Port is a usually sweet wine made mostly from red grapes in Portugal’s Douro Valley, while most Sherry is a dry wine made from the white Palomino grape around Jerez in southern Spain. Both are fortified with grape spirit, but at different moments: Port during fermentation, which keeps it sweet, and Sherry after fermentation, which is why its classic styles are dry. Port is also usually stronger, at 19% to 22% alcohol. If you want a sweet after-dinner glass, start with Port; if you want something savory with olives, ham or seafood, start with a Fino or Manzanilla Sherry.

Port vs Sherry at a glance

	Port	Sherry
Where from	Douro Demarcated Region, northern Portugal	Jerez area, southern Spain (DOs Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda)
Main grapes	Red: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Amarela	White: Palomino; Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel for sweet styles
When fortified	During fermentation	After fermentation (except naturally sweet PX and Moscatel)
Spirit added	Grape spirit, about 1 part to 4 parts wine	Wine alcohol, to 15% or at least 17%
Sweetness	Keeps natural grape sugar; White Port runs from extra dry to very sweet	Five dry styles (max 5 g/L sugar); PX, Moscatel and Cream sweet
Alcohol	19–22%	About 15–22%, by style
How it ages	Ruby: keeps young color and fruit, Vintage ages in bottle; Tawny: aged in casks or vats	Under flor (biological) or in contact with air (oxidative), in a solera
Vintage on label	Vintage, LBV and Colheita Port	Rarely, because of solera blending
Keeps after opening	1–2 days (Vintage) to 1–4 months (aged Tawny)	About a week (Fino) to 3 months (VOS/VORS), in the fridge

The Port facts come from the IVDP, Portugal’s official Port and Douro Wines Institute; the Sherry facts from the Consejo Regulador, the official body for Sherry.

Where they come from and what grapes they use

Port can only come from the Douro Demarcated Region, in northern Portugal. Young wines age either in the Douro or in the lodges of Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from the city of Porto. The IVDP names Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão and Tinta Amarela as the most noteworthy red grapes; White Port uses white varieties such as Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Donzelinho and Gouveio. Our guide to Portuguese wine covers the Douro’s table wines too.

Sherry comes from the area around Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain, where ten towns have DO vineyards, including El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. The Consejo says the base wines for the dry styles are usually made from Palomino; Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel go into the naturally sweet wines.

When the spirit goes in

This is the difference that explains almost everything else.

Port is fortified during fermentation. The IVDP explains that grape spirit is added to the fermenting wine, usually one part spirit to four parts wine. The extra alcohol stops the yeast, so natural grape sugar stays in the wine, and the winemaker sets the sweetness by choosing when to stop.

Sherry is fortified after fermentation. The wine ferments dry first. Then, according to the Consejo, it is fortified either to 15%, where a film of yeast called flor can grow and protect it from oxygen (the path to Fino and Manzanilla), or to at least 17%, where flor can’t survive and the wine ages in contact with air (the path to Oloroso).

The exception is Pedro Ximénez: the grapes are dried in the sun until they shrivel, and wine spirit is added to halt fermentation, much like Port, leaving more than 212 grams of sugar per liter.

Sweetness and strength

Port. Because fermentation is stopped early, every Port keeps some natural grape sugar, and the IVDP says how sweet a Port ends up is a choice made during production. Port can be very sweet, sweet, semi-dry or extra dry; White Port comes in the whole range, from extra dry to very sweet and Lágrima. The IVDP gives Port 19% to 22% alcohol, with a lower 16.5% minimum for Light Dry White Port.

Sherry. The Consejo’s five dry styles, Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso and Palo Cortado, carry at most 5 grams of sugar per liter. The sweet ones are Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel (naturally sweet) and the blends Pale Cream, Medium and Cream; Cream holds 115 to 140 grams per liter. Alcohol runs from about 15% for Fino and Manzanilla to 22% for Oloroso and PX.

Note: A dark color doesn’t mean sweet. Oloroso Sherry is dark brown and dry, while a pale White Port can be very sweet. Read the style name, not the color.

Both are far stronger than table wine, so pour small glasses.

How each one ages

Port has two families. For Ruby styles, the IVDP says the aim is to hold back the change of the deep red color and keep the fruit and strength of a young wine, and the finest, especially Vintage Port, age well in bottle. Tawny styles are blends of wines aged for different lengths of time in casks or vats, so the color slowly turns tawny and the wine picks up dried-fruit and wood aromas. Tawnies come as Reserve, age-indicated (10 to 40 Years Old) or single-harvest Colheita, explained in our Tawny Port guide.

Sherry ages in the criaderas y solera system: a stack of casks in which the oldest wine, in the solera, is drawn off for bottling and topped up from younger casks above. The Consejo requires at least two years of ageing. Wines under flor age biologically, the yeast consuming alcohol and glycerine and giving the wine its sharp aroma; wines without flor age oxidatively, slowly darkening as air passes through the wood. Amontillado and Palo Cortado combine both.

Tawny Port and Oloroso Sherry have something in common: both spend years in wood in contact with air, and both keep for weeks once opened. In our view, if you like one you’re likely to enjoy the other.

How long each keeps once opened

Style	Keeps after opening	Source
Vintage Port	1–2 days	IVDP
LBV and Crusted Port	4–5 days	IVDP
Ruby and Ruby Reserve Port	8–10 days	IVDP
Tawny and Tawny Reserve Port	3–4 weeks	IVDP
10–40 Year Old Tawny, Colheita	1–4 months	IVDP
Fino and Manzanilla Sherry	Up to about a week, in the fridge	Consejo Regulador
Other Sherries	Up to about 2 months, in the fridge	Consejo Regulador
VOS and VORS Sherry	About 3 months	Consejo Regulador

The Consejo says to keep opened Sherry tightly corked in the fridge, and to store unopened bottles upright. For Port, recork the bottle and keep it cool and dark. More styles are in our guide to how long wine lasts after opening.

How to serve them

	Serving temperature
Ruby Port	12–16°C (54–61°F)
Tawny Port	10–14°C (50–57°F)
White Port	6–10°C (43–50°F)
Fino and Manzanilla Sherry	Always chilled: 5–7°C (41–45°F) on the Consejo’s serving page, 6–8°C (43–46°F) on its style pages
Amontillado, Oloroso, PX	12–14°C (54–57°F)
Cream and Pale Cream	Cream 10–12°C (50–54°F) on its style page; Pale Cream 7–9°C (45–48°F)

The IVDP suggests large glasses for old Tawnies, and the Consejo recommends an ordinary white wine glass with a generous bowl rather than the small, narrow copita.

Which should you choose?

Our picks, by occasion:

• After dinner, with chocolate or blue cheese: a Ruby Reserve or LBV Port.
• With nuts, dried fruit or hard cheese: a 10 Year Old Tawny Port or an Oloroso Sherry.
• Before dinner, with olives, almonds, ham or fried seafood: a well-chilled Fino or Manzanilla Sherry.
• As dessert in a glass: a Pedro Ximénez Sherry, poured over vanilla ice cream if you like.

For the whole family, including Madeira, Marsala and vermouth, see our guide to fortified wine.

Wine is for adults of legal drinking age (21 in the US). Please drink responsibly.