Sweeter Wine (all sizes)
After dinner, with the dessert, with cheese, majestically on its own; as the crowning glory after a flight of great wines, or as a stand alone treat; served to honoured guests, or poured forth for a maiden aunt with a sweet tooth; there's nothing like a really good bottle of dessert wine.
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2016 MUSCAT DE MAS AMIEL Domaine Mas Amiel
Vin Doux Naturel France
Muscat.
From the kings of Roussillon dessert wines, candied peel of orange and lemon, some floral touches, honey and barley sugar. Good acidity, lots of rich fruit, zesty, pithy, with lots of character and richness.
L&S
2011 CARMES DE RIEUSSEC Sauternes Château Rieussec
Sauternes-Barsac Bordeaux France 13.5% White
Sauvignon, Sémillon.
A very attractive vintage of this excellent value 'second wine' of Rieussec. A lighter Sauternes, but it has all the classic waxy honey and dried apricot, with a fresh edge of pineapple and mango.
L&S
MAS AMIEL Cuvée Spéciale 15 Year Old Maury Domaine Mas Amiel
Vin Doux Naturel France 16%
Macabeu, Grenache, Carignan.
Made in the classical Mas Amiel manner, 'muté sur grain', aged a year in 'bon-bons' (prodigiously large glass jars which are left out in the sun and snow on the foothills of the Pyrenees) for a year, then aged in...(read more)
L&S
2015 CHÂTEAU LES JUSTICES Sauternes
Bordeaux France 14%
Sémillon, Muscadelle, Sauvignon Blanc.
The 2015 is the current vintage, released in 2019, as while the ageing is short compared to Gilette, it still spends two years in vat and one year in bottle before making its way to market. Unoaked, from 8.5ha of vines t...(read more)
Jane Anson, Decanter
PRESS
2018 LES PINS Monbazillac Château Tirecul la Gravière
South West France 12.5%
Sémillon, Muscadelle, Sauvignon Blanc. Organic Half-litres
From the Bilancinis, but without that much nose. Nice combination of tanginess (Muscadelle?) and a light sugary syrupiness but it's not that refreshing nor that rich. Betwixt and between methinks.
Jancis Robinson OBE MW
2017 LES CARMES DE RIEUSSEC Sauternes Château Rieussec
Left Bank Bordeaux France 14% White
Sauvignon, Sémillon. Half-bottles
The 2017 Carmes de Rieussec is dazzling. Here, too, the winemaking team captured a striking balance of richness and energy. Most second wines from Sauternes these days are light and floral. The Carmes has plenty of those...(read more)
Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com
2016 MAS AMIEL Vintage Maury Domaine Mas Amiel
Vin Doux Naturel France
Grenache. Half-bottles
Mas Amiel are rightly famous for their Vin doux naturel wines, where they arrest the fermentation with the addition of some grape spirit, leaving a wine akin to young port. This has distinct prune, molasses, woodland fru...(read more)
L&S
2010 CHÂTEAU DE CÉRONS Cérons
Left Bank Bordeaux France 13.5% White
Sauvignon, Sémillon. Half-bottles
90% Semillon, 5% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Muscadelle; barrel-fermented and aged for 18 months. Cerons sits next to Sauternes and shares much in common (apart from the fame and the price tags) but this has a lighter touch,...(read more)
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2017 TOKAJI LATE HARVEST Disznókő
Tokaji Hungary 13% White
Furmint. Half-litres
Pale to golden yellow. The heady intensity of wild flowers and fresh fruits (peach, plum, citrus, honey) abound in the bouquet. Velvety and deliciously rounded, the Disznókő Tokaji Late Harvest retains its vivacit...(read more)
Winemaker's notes
PAIRING
2014 COTEAUX DU LAYON BEAULIEU L'Anclaie Château de Pierre Bise
Loire France 11%
Chenin Blanc. Half-litres
'Sélection de Grains Nobles' from Chenin Blanc harvested at the peak of botrytisation. The Papin family's vineyards are picked over several weeks and fermented long and slow to produce some of the world's great sw...(read more)
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