All the medallists from The Global Fortified Masters 2025

Fortified wine offers a diverse array of styles, flavours and winemaking techniques, majoring on quality and value for money. Patricia Stefanowicz MW reports.

FORTIFIED WINES come in a wide range of styles: dry, medium or sweet; white, tawny or red; lightly fortified or quite highly fortified; aged biologically or oxidatively; unoaked or oaked. Though made using traditional techniques, the wines themselves are not old-fashioned. We were impressed by the Sherries that we judged this year. Valdespino’s pure Manzanilla Deliciosa and Barbadillo’s Criadera Selection Amontillado en Rama, concentrated and lingering, were both awarded Golds. Our one Palo Cortado, González Byass Leonor 12-year-old, earned a coveted Master. These wines are dry, pungent and exceptionally delicious – and not really very expensive, given their unbelievable quality.

Henriques & Henriques always performs well, and the 15-Year-Old Verdelho took away a Gold for a superb, ridiculously inexpensive wine, redolent of everything one looks for in fine-quality Madeira. The judges were suitably excited by the range of Marsala from Cantine Florio. Each was identified by an individual batch number and produced from the Grillo grape. These wines thrilled the judges with their richness and concentration, balanced with fresh acidity and ageing in wood. The Dolce Superiore Riserva from 1994 garnered our Grand Master.

Australia weighed in with a selection from De Bortoli’s Rutherglen winery. The Show Liqueur Muscat from Riverina continues to demonstrate why this style of wine is so beloved and was joined by the Rutherglen Estate Muscat in earning Gold medals. In a not dissimilar style, Adega de Palmela Moscatel Roxo de Setúbal 15 Years from Portugal also wowed the judges to win a Master.

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Sherry

Madeira

Marsala

Romanian Fortified Wine

Semillon

The selection we tasted from the Douro Valley was of very high quality. Late-bottled vintage and crusted Ports are a significant step up from standard ruby, and our examples showed more intensity and toasty oak. At around £25–£30, they are excellent value and have the structure and flavour to hold for years after bottling. Vintage Ports are delectable. Alves de Sousa 2023, although very youthful, and Quinta do Crasto 2018, slightly more mature, both took home Golds, and Alves de Sousa Quinta da Oliveirinha 2020 was awarded a Master.

We gave out a Gold medal to Cockburn’s 10-Year-Old Tawny and a Master to the ‘gatecrasher’ from Australia, De Bortoli’s Old Boys Tawny. Colheita Ports exhibit lovely integration, layers of flavour and complexity – and Quinta do Crasto’s Colheita 2005, a field blend of old vines with more than 20 varieties, came away with a Master.

As ever, this Global Fortified Masters was a great prelude to the holiday season. The judges hope that connoisseurs, family and friends enjoy these wines as much as we have.

Muscat

Port

Tawny Blend

About the competition

With high-quality judges and a unique sampling process, The Global Fortified Masters provides a chance for your wines to shine. The 2025 competition was judged on 16 October at Belvedere in London, employing experienced judges. The top wines were awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze medals according to their result, and those expressions that stood out as being outstanding received the ultimate accolades – the titles of Fortified Master or Grand Master. This report features medal winners only. Please visit the Global Masters website for more information or, to enter future competitions, with a chance to appear in print and online, call: +44 (0) 20 7803 2420 or email Sophie Aston at: sophie@thedrinksbusiness.com