Fortified - Sweet

Butler, Nephew & Cº. was founded in Oporto in 1730. The Finest Reserve is the youngest of its tawny port family, but represents a perfect combination of youthful fruitiness and an average of seven years’ maturity.

Lively tawny colour, with rich aromas of ripe plums, cherries and some chocolate notes. Smooth, well-balanced and gently sweet, with a lingering, aromatic finish.

Fragrant and rich, with concentrated notes of raisin, dates, prunes and apricots. Velvety and full in the mouth, with a dry, moreish finish.

Enjoy as an aperitif, digestif - or use as a cooking ingredient.

Marsala is one of the world's great fortified wines, made exclusively in and around the town of that name, in the west of Sicily.

It is thought to have been created by English wine merchant John Woodhouse, who came to Marsala in 1770. His new style quickly gained traction in the British market, and great volumes were produced, a large proportion of which was sold to the expanding British navy of the time - 500 barrels a year was Admiral Nelson's famously-large order.

In 1969 Marsala was granted DOC status. Its modern incarnations can be made from any combination of ten grapes, including the traditional Grillo and Inzolia and the modern, mass-planted Catarratto. Others include Sicilian specialties Pignatello, Nerello Mascalese and Damaschino.

There are five ageing-related categories for the wines: fine (one year), superiore (two years), superiore riserva (four years), vergine/soleras (five years), and finally vergine/solera stravecchio (ten years).

These are complemented by categorisations of the colour and sweetness of the wines: oro, ambra and rubino describe the gold, amber and ruby hue of the wines; secco (dry, at 40g/l), semisecco (semi-sweet, at 40-100g/l) and dolce (sweet, at more than 100g/l) indicate the residual sugar in the end wine.

Butler, Nephew & Cº. was founded in Oporto in 1730. Vintage Port is a special category port produced from a single outstanding year.

White port is often requested but rarely found. This example is a blend of several white vintages with an average age of more than ten years. Yellow-amber in colour, it has a complex and intense aroma of dried fruits and honey, complemented by the influence of its aging in wooden casks. On the palate it’s smooth and sweet, with a rich, fresh and elegant finish. Serve slightly chilled.

Crème de Cassis de Dijon is made from the extract of macerating blackcurrant berries in alcohol without preservatives or colouring, with a limited addition of sugar dissolved directly into the alcoholic juice of the blackcurrant berries at cold temperature.

This is a really good quality crème de cassis, and will make a superb Kir or Kir Royale.

This wine has intense honeyed aromas with mint and orange blossom overtones. The taste is ripe and rich with a sweet, long, clean finish.
Serve it chilled with foie gras; after dinner enjoy it on its own, or with (non-chocolate) desserts or fresh fruit.

Beaumes-de-Venise is a Rhône appellation (estd. 1945) for sweet white wines, located just south of Gigondas.
Its best vineyards face S/SE on slopes of the jagged Dentelles de Montmirail mountains and benefit from great light exposure, which encourages maximum ripeness in the grapes.

The wines made under the AOC Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise appellation are created through the traditional process of arrested fermentation, to produce what is known in French as a vin doux naturel (naturally sweet wine). This technique is based around the addition of grape spirit to the semi-fermented grape must, killing the yeasts and thus ending fermentation. The result is a sweet, high-alcohol wine.

Beaumes-de-Venise is also home to two other appellations: Beaumes-de-Venise (estd. 2005, for red wines) and Côtes du Rhône Villages Beaumes-de-Venise (for white and rosé).

‘Oh, decadence! This rich sweet red from Languedoc is fruity enough to be a perfect match for berries, whether red or black.’
Mary Dowey, Irish Times

‘The most chocolate friendly wine…’
Wine Ireland

‘Very smooth and delightfully fruity - creamy blackberries and elderberries, with a slightly raisined finish. Perfect with chocolate desserts.’
Wine Guide 2005

Dark crimson with a big cassis and spice nose, this is a full-bodied dessert wine with silky tannins and rich, indulgent flavours of overripe berries, cocoa, fig and sultana. There are occasional glimpses of the garrigue too, to remind you of its origins looking up at the Pyrenees. It's very complex and generous, with huge length.

Try it with dishes that mix sweet and spicy or sweet and sour; with good-quality chocolate, chocolate-based desserts, or just on its own after dinner. To get the very best of its riches, decant it an hour before use.

‘The most chocolate-friendly wine in Ireland ... Very smooth and delightfully fruity - creamy blackberries and elderberries, with a slightly raisined finish ... Just perfect with chocolate desserts.’
Mary Dowey, Irish wine writer

Maury is an appellation in the Pyrenees foothills, specializing in vins doux naturels (fortified, sweet wine), produced mostly from the various Grenache grapes: Noir, Blanc and Gris. The area also also makes quirky dry reds and whites under the Côtes du Roussillon and Côtes du Roussillon Villages appellations and the IGP Côtes Catalanes.

This wine is made by a process known as mutage, in which fermentation is arrested part way through by the addition of grape spirit. Because much of the grape sugar remains unfermented, the result is a sweet wine high in alcohol. Mas Amiel Vintage is aged in low-oxygen conditions for a year in tank before bottling.

A delicate medium-sweet sherry with rounded, nutty flavours. There's just a little more softness than in the Oloroso rather than any perceptible sweet character, so even if your taste is for the drier styles it's still one to try.

This bottle is a speciality of the bodega, and its medium style comes from the days when workers on their way home used to stop at the bodega’s shop.

The men would choose the wine they wanted for themselves and also ask for a large bottle of Oloroso with a touch of Pedro Ximénez, for their wives. The addition of the sweeter wine gave a blend whose style was more “amoroso”, and so the name is used for this lovable and prestigious, gently sweet, sherry.

Typical intense aromas and flavours of dried fruits make this a smooth and seductive glassful. This is the fine grade of Marsala, ideal in the kitchen and also very acceptable as an aperitif or accompaniment to nuts, Madeira cake or crisp biscuits.

Marsala is made exclusively in and around the town of that name in the west of Sicily; and, although the number of producers is dwindling as fashions change, and there is no longer a need to 'fortify' wines against long sea voyages, there is still nothing quite like its unique blend of flavours.

Since the award of DOC status in 1969, Marsala's contemporary incarnations can be made from any combination of ten grapes, including the traditional Grillo and Inzolia as well as the plentiful Catarratto and scarcer Sicilian specialties such as Pignatello, Nerello Mascalese and Damaschino.

Fine wines are aged for a minimum of a year, while superiore (two years), superiore riserva (four years), vergine/soleras (five years), and finally vergine/solera stravecchio (ten years) represent the upper tiers of the Marsala hierarchy.

The colour and degree of sweetness also vary, and have their own classifications: oro, ambra and rubino differentiate the golden wines from those with tawny and reddish colours in the glass, while wines marked secco are dry, at 40g/l of residual sugar, with semisecco at 40-100g/l and dolce at more than 100g/l indicating the sweeter styles.

Butler, Nephew & Cº. was founded in Oporto in 1730. The company’s traditional crusted port mimics the style and quality of a vintage port, with powerful aromas and complex, intense notes of plum, raisins, spice and hints of eucalyptus notes over ripe berry fruit.

Unlike Vintage Port, which has to be made from grapes from a single harvest, Crusted Port gives the company port blender the opportunity to use the best quality characteristics of different vintages.

Crusted Port is bottled unfiltered, and as the name indicates it will form a “crust”, a sediment in the bottle. Decant this unfiltered, multi-vintage bargain just like a vintage, and savour its finesse along with its moreish price—all the more tasty considering this wine was bottled in 2004.

The 2015 bottling of this fortified treat is the first crusted port ever to win a Decanter gold medal, achieving a score of 96/100

“Deep and youthful in colour; very elegant on the nose with expressive floral fruit; similarly elegant and supple on the palate with some maturity evident, succulent berry fruit backed by firm tannins. A really lovely wine, well over half-way to a good vintage Port.”
Decanter Wine Awards 2017 Gold Medal

Exquisite wine with notes of fresh and sweet lemon marmalade, peach jam, layers of tangerine and ripe guava. Fermented at cool temperatures to retain fruit concentration, the palate offers luxurious flavors of sweet honey, ripe bartlett pears and candied lemon peel

Pairs very well with fruit desserts, creme caramel and soft cheeses.

*Aged in French oak barrels for 4 months.
*This wine has 185 grams of residual sugar per litre.

Attractive red-mocha hue with an intense bouquet of dark chocolate, baked fig and peppermint. Bold, powerful palate showcasing striking freshness, tender

90% Grenache, 5% Maccabeu, 5% Carignan

Dolce represents the sweeter style of Marsala Superiore, with dried fruit and vanilla aromas and warm, restorative almond, raisin and fig flavours. Perfect with (and in) all kinds of cakes and desserts, as well as an excellent accompaniment to quiet contemplation - if you can find the time!

Marsala is one of the world's great fortified wines, made exclusively in and around the town of that name in western Sicily.

It is thought to have been created by English wine merchant John Woodhouse, who came to Marsala in 1770. His new style quickly gained traction in the British market, and great volumes were produced, a large proportion of which was sold to the expanding British navy of the time—five hundred barrels a year was Admiral Nelson's famously-large order.

In 1969 Marsala was granted DOC status. Its modern incarnations can be made from any combination of ten grapes, including the traditional Grillo and Inzolia and the modern, mass-planted Catarratto. Others include Sicilian specialties Pignatello, Nerello Mascalese and Damaschino.

There are five ageing-related categories for the wines: fine (one year), superiore (two years), superiore riserva (four years), vergine/soleras (five years), and finally vergine/solera stravecchio (ten years).

These are complemented by categorisations of the colour and sweetness of the wines: oro, ambra and rubino describe the gold, amber and ruby hue of the wines; secco (dry, at 40g/l), semisecco (semi-sweet, at 40-100g/l) and dolce (sweet, at more than 100g/l) indicate the residual sugar in the end wine.

The smooth sweetness and depth of good port, in a pink variety achieved by limiting the period of contact between the grapes and their juice in the cellar.

This is an attractive and novel addition to the Butler Nephew range: fruity and supple and ideal for showing off fine stemware. Thanks to its intensity of flavour and port strength, you could even pour it over ice for a longer drink.

Pale gold in colour, the 2017 offers aromas of lime, lemon and peach, with hints of ginger and white flowers.

The energetic freshness of the palate is characterized by lively citrus notes before a rich mid-palate that is sustained into a long finish where generosity and zest are kept in perfect balance.

This is something of a triumph from a vintage where the weather was only very occasionally on the vignerons' side.

This attractive and unusual dessert wine is made from pure Grenache gris, and has a complex bouquet with distinct aromas of orange flower, mandarin zest and grapefruit. On the palate it's clean, bright and minerally—chilled, it would certainly surprise and delight as an aperitif or with foie gras, tuna sashimi or creme brûlée.

Maury is an appellation in the Pyrenees foothills specialising in vins doux naturels (fortified, sweet wine), produced mostly from the various varieties of the Grenache grape: noir, blanc and the under-utilized gris. The area also also makes quirky dry reds and whites under the IGP Côtes Catalanes or the appellations Côtes du Roussillon and Côtes du Roussillon Villages.

As with the winery's Muscat, a process called mutage delivers the potent sweetness of the style. Fermentation of the wine is stopped by the addition of grape spirit, raising the degree of alcohol and retaining a proportion of the natural fruit sugars.

A pure ‘pleasure wine’, brimming with exotic, opulent notes of mango, baked pear, summer blossom and overripe peach. Luscious honey and caramel flavours from six years‘ bottle age add to its delicious complexity.

Enjoy it as an aperitif, post-prandial treat, or with fruit-based desserts.

Muscat de Rivesaltes is an appellation for vins doux naturels (sweet, fortified wines) in France's Roussillon region. It is the largest single sweet-wine appellation in France (along with Rivesaltes, which covers the same area).

The wines are made from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains and Muscat d'Alexandrie, in varying proportions, by a technique known as mutage, a process of arresting fermentation by the addition of grape spirit while unfermented grape sugars remain. The result is a sweet wine with relatively high alcohol: a delicious digestive.

An ideal complement to all kinds of desserts, cakes and cheeses, this versatile and inexpensive fortified wine is made by a method known locally as rancio.

Some of the Grenache fruit is pressed and vinified exactly like a rosé, and some is de-stalked and fermented like a red wine before the process is stopped with the fortifying alcohol to keep some of the sweetness of the fruit sugars. The two wines are then blended and aged in tanks for five years before a further two years in oak casks, where they are allowed to oxidize and give the wine its distinctive aromas. These oak casks are never completely emptied, so that each new vintage contains about twenty per cent of the previous one.

The rich tawny colour of the final wine is matched by characteristic aromas of walnuts and dried fruit with earthy, herbaceous undertones. It's a rich, lingering, indulgent assembly of flavours including caramel, coffee, chocolate, raisins and preserved fruit, and perfect on its own as well as in partnership with strong cheeses, fruit tarts and puddings, and chocolate desserts.

With 90/100 from the Guia Peñín and 91/100 from James Suckling, this rich, herby red vermouth from our Rioja suppliers Bodegas Altanza is definitely worth investigating.

It's made from a blend of Palomino and Pedro Ximénez grapes mellowed in oak and enhanced with more than thirty different botanical ingredients.

The intense mahogany colour and full, spicy aromas lead to complex, sumptuous herbal flavours that linger on the palate, and like all drinks of this kind it's enormously versatile as an aperitif, base of a long drink, cocktail ingredient or to add panache to a sauce.

Herbs and spices from around the world are combined with a base wine from France and fortified with alcohol to a final 18% to give one of the classic vermouths, Noilly Prat Original Dry.

Considered an essential element—even if it's just a splash—in the dry Martini cocktail, this rich, aromatic cousin of the wine family makes a stimulating aperitif served on ice with a twist of lemon, and the intense flavours brought by chamomile, coriander, orris root and the other dozen or so exotic ingredients mean that a shake or two can enliven all kinds of cookery where you might otherwise use white wine.

Being left outside for a year doesn't improve every wine—but the fresh air turns the juice of fine hand-picked fruit into something really marvellous on the Maury estate of Mas Amiel.

After oxidizing in glass demijohns, the blend of red Grenache, Maccabeu and Carignan is aged in oak barrels to complete its transformation into a truly luxurious dessert wine, released for sale at twenty years old.

Despite the lengthy maturation process and the rich amber colour of the finished wine, there is a delicious vivacity about its aromas and flavours that impresses the senses with the quality of the original fresh fruit, even while the spices, liquorice and concentrated dried fruit character of this exquisite antique weave their charm.

This is very, very good vin santo. Its rich, lacquered intensity reveals concentrated aromas of fruitcake, cinnamon and preserved citrus, with flavours to match of lemon, toffee and fresh baking. It's a real joy and positively demands you take your time to savour it slowly.

Yes, it's very expensive—but this is a fine and a rare thing from a a prestigious winery, with a unique character given by a century-old indigenous yeast, the madre.

Its rich honey colour and generous caramel and herb aromas evolve and expand into suggestions of flowers, warm citrus and fresh baking as the wine opens up. On the palate there's a similar unfolding of wonders with flavours of dried fruit and nuts illuminated by hints of lemon here and toasty coffee there.

While this is unmistakably a sweet wine, its lusciousness is balanced by clean, sustaining acidity that keeps each sip fresh and expressive right through to the full and satisfying finish.

The Sauternes wines of Château d'Yquem are often considered the greatest sweet wines in the world.

2008 was a difficult year in Sauternes, but warm, humid weather at the end of the growing season was ideal for the development of botrytis. The best estates were able to make impressive wines, though yields were significantly reduced in many areas. Château d’Yquem created a wine with luscious tropical fruit quality and complexity as well as the typical freshness of the vintage.

‘Tasted single blind against its peers. The Yquem 2008 is easy to spot in a blind line-up: it is (to quote Tina Turner) simply the best. It has a subtle, delicate but very pretty bouquet with fine definition and astounding minerality. The palate is beautifully poised, tense and tightly coiled on the entry and then it just explodes in the mouth with pure, unbridled, joyous botrytized fruit struck through with a silver thread of acidity. It displays exemplary tension and freshness, along with great persistency in the mouth. This is an outstanding Sauternes 2008 and another impressive Yquem.’
Neal Martin, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, February 2012 96/100

‘ Bright light gold. Ripe cling peach, fresh apricot, spices, coconut, minerals and white flowers on the nose, with a note of vanillin oak emerging with air; subdued but wonderfully pure and precise. At once thick and light on its feet, showing an utterly seamless texture and compelling sweetness but also lovely inner-mouth tension thanks to its suave acidity and underlying minerality. The new oak element is in harmony with the wine's fruit already. Really dusts the palate on the back end and builds inexorably. The explosive finish leaves behind a perfumed spice character. The clear star in my 2008 tasting.’
Stephen Tanzer, Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, May 2012 95/100

‘Coming in with 139 degrees residual sugar and a pH of 4.75, this is an Yquem that is unequivocally top of the pile in 2008. A light straw color with green tints in the glass. The bouquet is just wonderful, very perfumed with aromas of apricot, acacia honey and white flowers. A degree less clarity than the 2007, but perhaps more nuanced, more honeyed. The palate is a little more viscous than the 2007, lacquers the mouth with honey, apricot and orange zest. Very harmonious, the finish vibrant and edgy, real tension and energy in this Yquem. Very focused on the finish – not the ‘peacock's tail’ of flavors that one finds on truly great vintages. But there is a surreal level of elegance and poise – an understated Yquem that should age effortlessly and returning to the glass it graces you with hints of almond and a dash of spice. In 2008, the king is king. P.S. RMP rated this blend of 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon (94-96)’
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, April 2009 95–97/100

Wine Advocate : 95 - 97/100
The minerality and stoniness really comes through on the nose of this Rieussec, more than the 2007. The palate is very well balanced with superb acidity, real tension, steely with great precision with notes of apricot, white peach and honey on the beautifully defined finish. Probably the best Rieussec since the astounding 2001. (Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - April 2010)

Jancis Robinson : 18.5/20
Yellow gold. Interesting depth and complexity. Springs out of the glass. Very big and round and yet refreshing. Great satin texture. How I'd imagine Climens. Rather nice saltiness on the finish. (Jancis Robinson MW - jancisrobinson.com - January 2013)
Heavy and rich and wonderfully sumptuous. Great richness. Density and breadth. Still very chewy but there is lots here. Very rewarding. (Jancis Robinson MW - jancisrobinson.com - April 2010)

Wine Spectator : 92 - 95/100
Lemon peel and pear tart on the nose. Full-bodied and medium sweet, with good acidity, lemon meringue flavors and a spicy finish. (James Suckling - Wine Spectator - April 2010)

BBR : 16.5/20
Warm, rich, honeyed crème brûlée topping on the nose with a lush, decadent and plump mouthfeel, attractive freshness and impressive length. Ch. Rieussec rivals Ch. d'Yquem ...

Tim Atkin MW : 93/100
Punters who want to secure a rare case of Château Lafite are often required to purchase one or more cases of Rieussec, too. This won’t be a hardship in 2009, because the wine is very stylish, with flavours of pears and cinnamon, good acidity and plenty of sweetness (160 grams per litre). Not quite a superstar Sauternes, but certainly an impressive wine. 10+ years.

Château Rieussec
1st Cru Classé in 1855. The vineyard is located in Fargues on a gravel crest close to Yquem. Domaines Rothschild (Lafite) have really succeeded in developping it. Rieussec is naturally powerful, with a liqueur-like intensity that sometimes disconcerts. This wine must be kept more than 10 years to express its complexity. For several generations, Château Rieussec has been a leading name in Sauternes wines. As early as 1868, Charles Cocks remarked that - Beyond any of the others, Rieussec produces wines that are very similar to Yquem wines. In the 18th century, the Rieussec estate belonged to the Carmes de Langon monks. The confiscation of the estate during the revolution led to its public sale around 1790 as an - object of national heritage - to Mr. Marheilhac, the period’s owner of Château La Louvière at Léognan. For the 1855 classification, M. Mayne was the owner of the estate. The quality of the Rieussec soil earned its ranking as a first growth Sauternes and Barsac. After that date, Rieussec’s history involves many changes of owners: Charles Crepin (around 1870), Paul Defolie (1892), Mr. Bannil (1907), then the Gasqueton family (owner of Château Calon-Ségur at Saint Estèphe), P.F. Berry during the war (an American citizen and brother-in-law of the Vicomte de Bouzet), Mr. Balaresque (1957) and lastly, Albert Vuillier (1971), who was passionate about Sauternes - sweet wines. Château Rieussec was acquired by Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) in 1984. The estate then included 110 hectares, including 68 hectares of vineyards. To enhance Château Rieussec’s potential, stern measures were implemented, including meticulous sorting of berries and fermenting in barrels, which provides a superior selection for blending fine wines. A new cellar was built in 1989 to extend ageing in barrels. In 2000, renovations to the ageing cellar, construction of a fermenting cellar, and the technological modification of the receiving and pressuring rooms also represented strides forward in a quality policy undertaken since 1985.

Owner: Domaines Barons de Rothschild
Manager: Charles Chevallier
Cellar master: Serge Lagardère
Vineyard manager: Frédéric Magniez
Oenologist: Edouard Mamé
Blend of the 2011 vintage: 3% Muscadelle, 2% Sauvignon Blanc, 95% Sémillon
Ageing: 55% in new barrels
Soil: gravel interspersed with lime
Area: 92 hectares

A 37.5ml half bottle of rich amber coloured wine with an extremely intense and persistent bouquet. Layers of dried fruit, rose petals, tea leaves, exotic spices and vanilla blend together creating a full-bodied, sweet, and thoroughly unique taste.

"The 1998 vintage is surprisingly dry on the palate, featuring good acidity to balance the sweetness for a refined, even delicate, sensory drinking experience."

The Avignonesi winemaking team's assessment