Wine is an alcoholic beverage obtained by fermenting grape juice with the addition of certain substances. The oldest findings, testifying to winemaking, date back to about 7 thousand years ago. Winemaking arose after people learned to cultivate grapes; it happened in the Neolithic era. One may distinguish some differences in these two types; for example, fortified wines are added with alcohol, and the taste of aromatic wines is strengthened by adding flowers, spices, and herbs. Moreover, the taste of these wines is noticeably different: fortified wines have bright and sugary flavor, while aromatic wines are softer and with a strong aroma.
Fortified wine usually has a more bright taste, for example, port wine with its berry flavor, which is better to be served with blue cheese or berry desserts. More mature ports may have a complex and unusual taste, some of which have notes of tobacco, honey, and nuts. For such wines, foie gras, baked duck, aged Gaude cheese seem to be suitable. The most common sherry is fino, which has its notable dry style. This variant should be combined with seafood, Jamon, Spanish tapas. The sweetest version of sherry, namely Pedro Jimenez, should be combined with sweets and blue cheese.
Asti is the most popular example of aromatic wines that combine peach, apple, bergamot, and citrus aromas. Its sweet taste makes berry desserts less sugary. In addition, a good combination will be aromatic wines with cheeses, in order not to overwhelm their taste. Olives, nuts, crackers, ham are also suitable; moreover, cakes, ice cream, pastries, and other similar types of desserts are also appropriate.
As a result, one may notice that wine appetizers are quite varied. The main purpose of the snack is to help reveal the aroma of the wine, especially in the case of aromatic variants. Therefore, it is important to remember that the number of snacks should be minimal, and it should not be too bright so as not to overshadow the aroma of the wine.