Fortification

I went out and had dinner with some old friends last night.   It was nice.   It had been a while since we had seen them outside of a large group, so we were able to catch up a bit.   After dinner we went back to their house for a night cap.

My friend is a big fan of port wine.   When looking at the options of things to drink at his house, he was able to offer me a large sampling of fortified wines to try.  As a matter of fact, he offered me 10 different options.   I’m not one to let a good tasting opportunity pass, so I tried them all.   Some were true Ports, some port style.   There was also Muscat and some that were hard to classify.   He even had an oak barrel that he had filled with some tawny port that he had purchased hoping to add more complexity and oak character;  we sampled that one direct from the barrel.   By the time we had run the whole gamut of wines, I could certainly feel the fortification.

His barrel game me an idea.  Could I make my own port style wine by purchasing some slightly sweeter bulk wine, mixing with brandy, and then aging for a year or two in my own oak barrel?   I don’t see any reason why not.   As a matter of fact, it sounds far easier than many of the homemade drinks I have put together over the years.   I’m not sure why I had never considered making my own fortified wine before.   Does anyone have a good source for oak barrels?