(Wine-Searcher) - With available wines dating back to George Washington's time, it's no surprise that fortified wines carry hefty price tags.

It may not surprise you to hear that most of the world's most expensive fortified wines come from the countries of the Iberian Peninsula.

Port, Madeira and Sherry (and a couple of young pretenders from Australia) have long sated the appetite of those seeking suitable-looking bottles to gather dust in an appealing manner in their cellar. Fortified wines are actually really accomplished at gathering dust. Oxidative aging – as many of these wines have had – increases the longevity of a wine, which increases the amount a merchant might charge for it. Throw in a special crystal decanter and a fancy box, and you've got yourself a list of the most expensive fortified wines in the world.

In our other "Most Expensive" lists we only allowed wines that had been made in the last 10 years, but we've had to throw that rule out the window here as many of these wines have only been bottled in the last couple of years and are still classed as "current releases". The wines must have at least five offers to be included in the list.

1. Compania Vinicola da Madeira CVM Terrantez 1795 Vintage, Madeira, Portugal

Are you sitting down? Good. The most expensive fortified wine we have on Wine-Searcher is a Madeira with a truly eye-watering average price of $10,557, which, if we were including fortified wines on the list of the World's Most Expensive Wines, would bring it in at #2. This wine hails from Portugal, but isn't Port – rather, it comes from the island of Madeira.

This wine's ridiculous price tag is probably due at least in part to its age. For some reason, the 1795 vintage in Madeira was a doozy, and a number of bottles have made their way unsullied into the 21st Century. And just think, if you were to get your hands on a bottle of this wine, you'd be drinking something that was made just a few short years after America became an independent country.

2. Barbadillo Versos 1891 Amontillado Sherry, Andalucia, Spain

Another outrageously elderly wine takes the number two spot on the list, but it was only released in 2016. The Versos 1891 comes from a single cask of 125-year-old Sherry, which was given to the company proprietor Manuel Barbadillo on the occasion of his christening. This cask filled just 100 bottles, which came to have an average price of $8663 on Wine-Searcher.

If you – perhaps quite fairly – think to yourself that you wouldn't even spend $100 on a bottle of Sherry, you may be persuaded by the handblown crystal decanter, which is really quite natty and will look lovely among your various bottles of single malt.

3. W & J Graham's Ne Oublie Port, Portugal

Finally, a Port! The world's most famous fortified wine gets its first look in on the Most Expensive list with a Port whose grapes were picked in 1882. This year marked a rather auspicious occasion in the history of Port – it was the year that Andrew James Symington arrived in Portugal and set about building an empire that endures today, much like this wine.

Three barrels of this port remain, but just one has been bottled – the other two have been left in the cellar to be reassessed by the next generation of winemakers in 2025. The name Ne Oublie is the motto of Clan Graham, and rather aptly means "Do Not Forget" – a motto you're likely to take to heart after shelling out $6360 on a bottle.