It's true that sweet wines are usually drunk by people on either end of the wine-learning curve. Very often, a beginner's introduction to wine will be a sweet one. At the other end, we have experienced wine drinkers who twitch uncontrollably with delight at the mere thought of having aged Sauternes with some Roquefort. Unfortunately, most folks in the middle of the curve are unlikely to order, or even have to opportunity to try dessert wine. Fortified wines Fortified wines are made stronger with the addition of alcohol, the alcohol being added before fermentation has been completed so that some sugar will remain.
Port comes in two distinct styles, tawny and ruby.
Named for its color, tawny has been aged in wood, and has a slightly nutty quality. Ruby ports can be vintage, or vintage-character. They are aged in the bottle or in stainless-steel tanks and tend to have a cleaner, brighter fruit quality. This also means that vintage port is usually much more expensive than the others. Usually the least expensive is a vintage character, like Graham's Six Grapes or Fonseca Bin 27, both of which are very good.