Jancis writes: I know some old hands worry that younger wine drinkers will never have a chance to sample the most glamorous bordeaux and burgundy. As I argued recently in A dozen of the merriest reds, I'm not too worried about this. But I am a little concerned about how few wine lovers are likely ever to sample the unique pleasures of mature vintage port. Wines that don't show their most valuable qualities until they have spent three or four decades in bottle are not exactly in tune with our times. And you really need a rich connoisseur uncle, or friend in a venerable traditional wine company, to stand a chance of enjoying the sumptuous, jewelly quality of a fully mature vintage port. Even the French, who see themselves as great supporters of port, think that 10 years is quite an age for one. Very fortunately, as a wine professional, I have recently had a chance to try a few truly lovely mature examples. See below.
Mind you, at the other end of the port market, it's strange that it's not easier to get the (pretty thick) capsules off some bottles of port with a stopper cork. I struggled even with the mass-market brand Cockburns Special Reserve (could it not have a little rip-off thingy like most champagnes nowadays?). And I very nearly failed completely to manage to untwist the stopper corks off the Taylor's Late Bottled Vintage 2010 and Taylors 10 Year Old Tawny.
One thing I would draw to your attention in the fortified wine business is the transformation of Harveys. We all know what Harveys sherry used to mean: a supermarket ocean of very ordinary Bristol Cream. But the two Harveys bottlings described below really stood out in a recent blind tasting of strong and sweet wines. The reason is that the noble sherry house of Domecq no longer exists and Harveys recently took over all their vineyards, bodegas and some delightful old soleras responsible for these wines. Even more recently, Harveys, along with all the other brands owned by Beam Suntory, was sold to the Philippines Emperador group owned by Andrew Tan, which already owns Whyte & Mackay Scotch whisky. Let us hope he will do his bit to revive sherry's fortunes.
In another bid to keep up with the times, the Consejo Regulador (governing council) for the sherry region proudly announced yesterday that its website is the first to use the new top-level domain .wine (see www.sherry.wine – a site with a huge amount of useful information, not only on production methods and history but also on food and wine matching).
Richard's picture is of some of Roussillon's sweet wine treasure: some of Mas Amiel of Maury's vins doux naturels ageing in glass bonbonnes.
These 137 wines, many of them absolutely delicious, are divided by type and then in descending score order.
SWEETIES
What a marvel this wine is! Enjoyed with the successful bidders...
Just 350 cases of this very special bottling of Clos Ste Hune...
Deep orange colour. Coffee and marmalade on the nose, thick...
This follows the 1999 and 2005 vintages of this special bottling...
From a half bottle filled by the female magician of Rust with a...
A blend of sun dried 80% Assyrtiko, 10% Aidani and 10% Athiri...
Sun-dried Zibibbo (Muscat d'Alexandria).
Amber. Complex, layers...
A vintage commemorating Johnny Hugel (1924-2009) and a handsome...
Bought originally from La Vigneronne.
This, amazingly...
Half bottle in admirably good nick. Fresh amber colour and...
Very pale gold. Truffles, pungent, a high note of glue. Long and...
Gold. Spicy grapes, apricots, ginger tea – stunning nose...
Compact and serious on the nose. Smoky, meadow grass, summer...
100% Muscat de Frontignan.
Intensely pure apricot and bitter...
Mushroomy and rich and waves of tarte Tatin and lemon syrup...
Rosy amber. Salty smoky caramelised-pecan nose. Quite...
Blend of Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Blanc.
A...
RS 98 g/l, TA 3.4 g/l, pH 3.7. Yields 38 hl/ha; average age of...
RS 72 g/l, TA 4.7 g/l, pH 3.5. Yield 33 hl/ha, average vine age...
Late-harvest grapes from old unirrigated vineyards of Monastrell...
Deep gold. Little bit of savoury complexity. Broad and honeyed...
Dark plum colour. Packed with sweet thick damsons on the palate...
Very dark with a hint of brown at the rim. Complex aroma that is...
Green apricots and lots of cut apple. Beautiful acidity –...
Intense apricot and quince aroma. Very sweet, very pure, with...
Very pure and fresh on the nose but then extremely sweet on the...
Deep gold. Deep and tangy and ginger flavoured. Barley sugar on...
Tintilla de Rota is an ancient traditional grape – rare. 18...
Relatively reserved aromas for a dessert wine, a very light...
Alas I cannot find any stockist of this outside France but Slurp...
Gunpowder and ash to start, which does blow off slowly, leaving...
Light cherry red. Very pure and fresh. Smoky nose, light bodied...
Sémillon, Muscadelle. Pure lemon and apricot aromas with a...
Mid orangey gold. Intense orange and apricot aromas draw you in...
Very good botrytis nose. Not that much acid. Ready now. But very...
100% Ortega, botrytised grapes hand-picked in early October. 50%...
Big, rond-fruited and pungently aromatic. Not exceptionally...
Spicy bitter orange aroma. Barley-sugar sweetness on the palate...
85% Sémillon, 10% Sauvignon Blanc and some Muscadelle. Second...
Only medium sweet. Very delicate wine with a green streak from...
Deep on the nose, dark dried apricots. Very rich and caramelised...
Tropical sweet Sauvignon Blanc nose. Punching it's way out with...
An old faithful. Pale gold. Lightly sweaty nose. Not much fruit...
Odd nose, gripe water and new plastic. Very weird. Smells like a...
SHERRY
In late September one cask of the 150 of the 10-year-old Fino...
So, at least 30 years old... Bright pale orange tawny. Mild...
Tasted blind. An old amontillado with some sweetness. Pale...
This is a selection of old Amontillado (25 years plus), lying...
Menthol, herbal scent floating above the dense dry fruit and...
On the back label, in tiny letters, this is described as a Cream...
Tasted blind. Blackish dark brown. Nervy nose that promises...
Very intense palate with muscovado and Christmas spice – clove...
Bright, shining fruit with amazing intensity and conviction...
Tasted blind. Deep thick brown with blackish notes. Quite a...
Dark orangey gold. Two casks selected out of 150 of the eight...
I'm pretty sure this used to be sold as a Palo Cortado but in...
There’s a modern vanilla scent here which is slightly...
Golden brown and very expressive on the nose with hazelnut...
Spirity and grapey. Dark brown colour but doesn’t really have...
Muscovado and dark treacle with dark chocolate and preserved...
Salty and nutty with dry, chewy fruit – raisined and savoury...
Three casks out of 142 of the six-year Fino solera were selected...
Dark brown with a fox red rim. Treacle and age on the nose of...
Tasted blind. Mid blackish brown. Cabbagey prune juice on the...
Greenish pale tawny suggests some extended ageing in wood...
Melted dark sugar and molasses. Gorgeously thick and rich, dark...
Tasted blind. Virtually black! Coats the inside of the glass...
An usual style of fino, with wines 7-8 years old. It does not...
Strong Demerara scent. Spirity and spicy. Raisined and very...
Sugary and spirity on the nose, but not crude. There’s a fresh...
Less forthright and outgoing than their Amontillado, though the...
One cask from the mere six that constitute the Very Old...
Very pale tawny indeed. Smells a little sweet and rank and then...
Pale brown. Unusual to find a PX this potent. Presumably it has...
Mid gold. Nutty and medium bodied. Lacking a bit of fruit...
Rather stronger than the usual Manzanilla. Very pale. A little...
Pale lustrous brown. A bit unappetisingly raisiny on the nose...
Pale gold hue – as befits en rama. Quite dilute, but there is...
Straightforward dried apple and fresh tobacco flavour. Charming...
Tasted blind. Dark brown. Very very sweet indeed, with melted...
Fairly dilute and easy. Drinkable but doesn’t excite.
Light, gently fragrant and slightly nutty. Easy and...
PORT
Bottled by Berry Bros & Rudd, who bottled their last wines in...
One of the first single-harvest tawnies made by Peter Symington...
Transparent ruby. Fully evolved with beautiful round satin...
Still dark crimson. Just a little spirity on the nose but...
Mid to dark crimson. Very light nose – so much so that I almost...
Bottled in 2015. Mid rosy tawny colour with a pale rim. Note the...
Unusually, this is the produce of a single quinta. Extremey dark...
Dark crimson. Mild, well-mannered nose. Very smooth and...
The backbone for Graham comes from Quinta dos Malvedos where...
Presumably matured by Wiese & Krohn, fairly recently acquired by...
From a notably small harvest. Very deep ruby with a shaded...
Very distinctive smell of tobacco leaves while they are still...
Mid ruby. The nose is still a little unformed but there is most...
Virtually black at the core with a rim the colour of...
Mid bright tawny colour. Light nose. Raisiny fruit but not that...
Very pale rose-coloured tawny colour. Not that aromatic but very...
This is made from Quinta do Noval's younger vines. The back...
Dark crimson, even if not as dark as the Quinta do Noval version...
This looks pale ruby rather than tawny! Chocolatey nose, sweet...
Bottled in 2007. On the label it says it's made by Quinta and...
Very low-key rancio nose. Sweet and a little nutty, some...
Burnt plum jam with a green streak. Pungent and fiery with broad...
New owners (since 2010) Symingtons have been trying hard to beef...
From certified organic vineyards. Mid crimson. Relatively light...
Dark purple. Very spicy and dark, notes of dried and stewed...
Pale rose red with a ruby rim. Not much nose. Very sweet start...
Rosé port. Bright loud pink! Smells a bit like raspberry-ripple...
Deep crimson. Very fancy packaging but not much on the nose...
OTHER FORTIFIEDS
Hooray for Blandy's under Chris Blandy, who is working so hard...
Blend of Champagne grapes. Colour of Victoria plum skins, ie...
Grenache Blanc and Gris. Deep orangey gold. Wonderful aroma of...
Tasted blind. Dark tawny. Rancio edge and some almonds and...
Grenache Noir, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris. Aged in wood for...
In oak barrels for five years.
A wonderful rich earthy fresh...
90% Grenache Noir, 10% Carignan.
Deep brick colour. Ripe plum...
Bottled in 2014.
Tasted blind. A little stale and occluded on the...
Tasted blind. Pale orange. A hint of vomit on the nose. But...
Bottled in 2014.
Tasted blind. Dark pale transparent orange tawny...
Nutty, intense, cooked fruit and a good deal of figgy intensity...
This blend of Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris and Macabeu has...
Dark, chewy and porty. Very youthful fruit character – bright...
Pale bright, almost greenish tawny. Smells of caramel – not the...
Tasted blind. Dark crimson. Sweet clarety nose is rather...
Biodynamic. Percussion-bright mandarin-liqueur notes on the nose...
Tasted blind. Very dark crimson with some glow. Sweet, treacley...
Tasted blind. Blackish crimson. Intense, almost Zinfandel berry...
Tasted blind. Pale orange tawny. A bit tarty orange flower water...
Tasted blind. Mid orangey brown. Not much nose. A little tart...
Huge impact on the nose, seems to loud-hail its way out the...
Tasted blind. Very pale orange. Excessively rancio! Bone dry and...
Tasted blind. Very deep blackish crimson. Char and liquorice on...
Tasted blind. Sweet chocolatey rather artificial aromas. Then...
