Fortifying your cooking

After yesterday's screed against recipes that don't sufficiently specify fortified wines in their lists of ingredients, today I'll be more helpful and offer some general guidelines.

Sherry: Usually Fino or Amontillado. Fino (including Manzanilla, which is simply a Fino aged in the town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda) is the lightest, driest style of Sherry, and works in almost any recipe. Amontillado (a Fino that's aged longer in barrel) has a more assertive, nuttier flavor. I reserve it for recipes with mushrooms, game birds, and other hearty flavors.

Port: Usually Ruby, but a younger, simpler Tawny can work. Ruby is the most wine-like of Port styles - i.e., it's still sweet and rich, but it has more fresh, red-fruit flavors. Tawny Port is aged a long time in barrel, which gives it the tawny color and more nutty, caramel-y flavors. One practical issue: Tawny keeps for a long time after you open the bottle, so it's a good choice for occasional cooking and occasional drinking. Ruby Port usually loses its freshness within a week or two. If you have some Vintage or LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) in an open bottle, those will work, too, but don't buy these for cooking. Chowhound has a recent discussion about Ruby versus Tawny in cooking.

Madeira: Sercial or Verdelho if you can find and afford them; otherwise Rainwater. Sercial is the lightest and driest style. Verdelho is a little fruitier and rounder. Rainwater is similar to Verdelho in character, but a lot simpler and cheaper. Bual and Malmsey are too rich and sweet for most savory dishes; save them for drinking! This page includes a detailed guide to Madeira grape varieties and styles.

Marsala: Dry for savory dishes (especially fowl; for example, Chicken alla Marsala and some versions of Chicken alla Marengo; also veal scaloppini). Sweet for sweet dishes (zabaglione, tiramisù, etc.)

Chowhound has a useful discussion of using Port versus Madeira in cooking.

Two caveats:

(1) As usual, don't use any wine for cooking that you wouldn't drink. In particular, avoid "cooking Sherry" and other, similar travesties. They're usually of terrible quality and often are adulterated with salt and/or additives.

(2) Sherry, Port, Madeira, and Marsala are among the world's great wine styles, so don't limit them to cooking!