Sherry Wine

[fmw]

Sherry is a fortified wine. It is wine with some distilled spirits added to it. It is the Spanish fortified wine. Port is the Portuguese version, Marsala is the Italian version and so on. Most fortified wines are sweet and the recipe will call for it rather than dry wine to provide a touch of sweetness. I'm sure you can find fortified wine in any liquor store. Our local supermarket has all the versions.

 

[jennyema]

When I make Asian food in many cases it calls for Sherry. All I can find in stores is sherry wine vinegar. I cannot find sherry wine even in liquor stores.
What's up with this?
I do see it online. But when searching sherry wine most results are for sherry wine vinegar.
TIA

Sherry is used as a substitute for the traditional/authentic ingredient: shaoxing wine.

Shaoxing wine is much better to use than sherry.

you can find it at Asian markets and on Amazon

Shaoxing Wine: Chinese Ingredients - The Woks of Life

Shaoxing wine is one of the most commonly used, key ingredients in Chinese cooking. Find out more about what it is, how it's used, where to buy it and more.

thewoksoflife.com

 

[taxlady]

One of the beauties of fortified wines, is that they last a long time, assuming they don't get used up quickly. The extra alcohol puts it at too alcohol percentage for microbes to survive.

 

[ishie1013]

I've never had much trouble finding sherry, and as noted, it's usually near the fortified wines. Some liquor stores don't have super knowledgeable staff or some know craft beers but not cooking wine. Easier to find than port. Ten dollar bottle and lasts for a long time. If you can't find it, grab Shaoxing wine off amazon (it's inexpensive) or sub a cheap dry white wine.

 

[Silversage]

Sherry is a fortified wine. It is wine with some distilled spirits added to it. It is the Spanish fortified wine. Port is the Portuguese version, Marsala is the Italian version and so on. Most fortified wines are sweet and the recipe will call for it rather than dry wine to provide a touch of sweetness. I'm sure you can find fortified wine in any liquor store. Our local supermarket has all the versions.

Sherry, Port, and Marsala are NOT versions of the same thing. They are made from completely different grapes, and with different processes. Each of them is highly restricted by their respective countries. The only thing they have in common is that they are all fortified wines. They are not necessarily sweet - especially sherry.

If you order sherry, you will usually get a dry wine - unless you ask for a cream sherry (an intentionally sweetened oloroso) or a Pedro Ximenez (a dessert wine). Marsala comes in both sweet and dry varieties. Port tends to be sweeter, but the degree of sweetness varies depending on whether you have white, tawny, or ruby port.