What is the difference between Port and Sherry?

They are both wines.

Port is known as a "digestive" as it helps you digest meals and is generally served after dinner with or as dessert. I had some blueberry port Thursday night.

True Sherry comes from white grapes grown in Spain

True Port is a sweet red wine that comes from Portugal even though there are dry, semi-dry, and white varieties.

Apart from the obvious that one comes from Portugal and the other from Jerez in Spain.

The way they are made is totally different. Really I could go on for ever but let's see if you need more information.

Sherry is made by fermenting the wine to dryness and then it is introduced into the solera such that as wine is taken out from the bottom cask, that is topped up from the one above it, that is topped up from the one above that and so on. This gives the sherry a consistent blend and taste over many years. Some solera go back well over 100 years. If a sweet sherry is wanted then a blend of grape juice and brandy is added prior to a batch being bottled.

Port is traditionally fermented in large open vats containing the juice and all the grape skins and everything that went into the press or trodden. The cap is pushed under and stirred several times/day which gives a very powerful, high tannin wine. During fermentation brandy is added to kill the fermentation. This leaves a very intense, sweet wine which is left to settle then bottled. I won't go into all the different stages of bottling, it would take ages, but ask if you need to know more.

Thus there are no vintage sherrys and many ports are declared a vintage (in general).

The main difference between Port and Sherry can be defined by location.

Port (noun) A sweet dark red fortified wine from Portugal

Sherry (noun) A fortified wine originally and mainly from southern Spain

Similarities - both are fortified wines from Europe.

Differences - vast !

Lets start with Port.

Port is a fortified wine originating from the Douro Valley in Portugal it takes its name from the city of 'Oporto'. Port style wines are now made around the world including Australia and California but in order to be a true 'Port' it must come from Portugal.

Over 80 grape varieties are authorized for the production of Port but the 5 considered the best are :

Touriga Nacional; the backbone of most vintage Ports, renowned for its colour, intense blackcurrant nose and powerful tannins.

Touriga Francesca; a much more delicate variety brings a certain softness to the blend.

Tinta Roriz; also known as Tempranillo, brings firmness, structure and length

Tinta Borocca; an early ripening variety with a much higher sugar content than the other grapes a more flowery aroma and softening properties.

Tinta Cao; noted for backbone and structure contributes to the long finish on the palate.

Much of the harvesting in the Douro Valley is still done by hand due to the steep slopes and inaccessibility for machine harvesters, sadly the tradition of stomping the vintage bare foot has in the main given over to machinery now however a few of the Port houses maintain the tradition for at least a part of the blend. And the festivals after the 'crush' are amazing to attend, even if you have purple feet!

Once the fruit has been crushed the juice (known as 'must')is stored in stainless steel tanks and allowed to ferment relying on natural yeasts. When around half the sugars have fermented into alcohol grape spirit is added to the wine at a ratio of around 1 part spirit to 4 parts wine to halt fermentation, this is where the Port wine is 'fortified'. The wine remains sweet and the alcohol level is raised.

Once the fortification has been completed the resulting wine is then moved to one of the 'shippers lodges' where it is stored in wooden casks to begin maturation. The wines can be stored for years before the master blender believes they are ready to become part of a blend.

The blending of the wines is a very specialised art with sometimes up to 12 / 15 batches of wine being brought together to make that perfect blend.

The majority of Port wines that can be purchased are Non Vintage wines - a blend of wines from

Having read the other answers...well some of most of them are true, some of some are downright misinformation. Yes, Port comes from Portugal, Yes, Sherry comes from Jerez, Spain.

No, Sherry is not "cooked" that would be Madeira wine (as in maderised)

No, sherry is not all sweet or all dry, there are many styles of sherry, Fino, Sac, Sweet, Amontillado Oloroso, etc

No, not all Ports are red some are white.but there are no Vintage white Ports

Sherry is matured in a "Solera", Port`s are matured either in large barrels, or in bottle, being "Vintage", "Late bottled" "Crusted" etc.

Sweet Sherry is made by stopping fermentation with brandy while there is plenty sweetness in the must..if allowed to ferment out (all the sugar being converted to alcohol by the yeasts) then the producer needs to put less brandy in to bring the alcohol level up to the usual strength.

Port.(the red variety).the must is "Stunned" early, by the addition of brandy (which, as in sherries, must be made from the same grape varieties as the original wines) which is why (Red) Port is sweet, but they get better as they get older, as the brandy and the wine "marry" and mature

It`s a complex subject. If you really want to know more..read up on the subject...it`s also very interesting getting to taste them as well

Port and sherry are both 'fortified' wines, meaning that alcohol is added to stop fermentation, so they are sweeter than regular wine because not all the sugar is converted to alcohol, and also they have a higher alcohol content.

But port is made in Portugal and sherry is made in Spain, Sherry is 'cooked' in hot rooms to make it oxidize slightly, which gives it that characteristic nutty flavor.

They are similar in that they are each fortified wines. However, Port is a red while while Sherry is a white wine.

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Both are fortified wines

Port is made mainly with red grapes and Sherry with white.

When Sherry is made, the fermentation process is allowed to run its course before brandy is added, but when Port is made, brandy is added during fermentation

Portofino and Jerez.

Plus Port is red and Sherry is white

You can park your boat in a Port lol

about 5 percent