Below is evidence of just how lamentably difficult it is to sell Sauternes today. These are such special wines and all of those I recommend are bargains. Some merchants virtually ignore sweet wines of any sort.
I make no apology for recommending so many wines from Waitrose. Of all UK supermarkets, they are the only one that takes such an interest in fortified wines, and their range of own-label bottlings of ports and sherries is unrivalled.
Wines are listed in ascending order of price per cl.
Sweet
Royal Tokaji, Late Harvest 2021 Tokaji 11%
Beautifully tangy, and ready. Not as intense, nor as complex, as the usual Aszu Tokaj but the bruised-apricot flavour is there as well as sweetness counterbalanced by razor-sharp acidity.
£12 per 50 cl Sainsbury’s
Ulysse Cazabonne NV Sauternes 14.5%
From an unnamed but ‘brilliant’ producer. Quite extraordinary value. Buy, buy!
£11.50 per half The Wine Society
Château Suduiraut, Lions de Suduiraut 2021 Sauternes 14%
2021 was a glorious Sauternes vintage. Château Suduiraut is a star of the appellation. This is from younger (20-year-old) vines and another no-brainer.
£13.59 per half reduced from £16.99 De Burgh Wine
Joostenberg, Noble Late Harvest Chenin Blanc 2022 Paarl 13.5%
Tense ginger and lemongrass flavours from South Africa. Great sugar/acid balance. Exciting, racy and persistent.
£15.95 a half Corney & Barrow
Feiler-Artinger Traminer Beerenauslese 2022 Burgenland 12%
From two of the Feilers’ biodynamically farmed vineyards in Rust, Austria’s sweet-wine heartland. Luscious with noble rot in abundance and much cheaper than any German counterpart.
£15.99 per half Waitrose
Château Raymond Lafon 2015 Sauternes 13.5%
Quite ridiculously inexpensive for a nine-year-old, top-quality wine made in extremely difficult circumstances. Creamy barley-sugar essence. Gorgeous!
£33.21 from a Lay & Wheeler client
Château Rieussec 2017 Sauternes 14%
Creamy butterscotch. Very fine and pure, like elixir of pear juice.
£52.20 Justerini & Brooks
Strong and dry
Lustau, Waitrose Blueprint Fino 15%
Three year-old example from Lustau of the intense-but-featherlight pale, dry style of the wine that is the essence of Andalucía. The perfect appetite stimulant. (I’m deliberately not using the S-word because it puts some people off.)
£9.99 Waitrose
Sanchez Romate, Maribel, A Blend of Amontillado Medium Dry 19%
Pale orange-tawny. Dryish, layered and rich and what only Jerez can deliver. Quite ridiculously inexpensive for a wine with such structure and nutty delivery.
£11.50 The Wine Society
Lustau, Waitrose No 1, Torre del Oro, Palo Cortado 19%
Mid orangey tawny shading to a greenish rim. Fresh, treacly, nutty nose then a bone-dry finish. This would make a pungent, lively aperitif on a cold day.
£11.49 reduced from £13.99 in December Waitrose
Emilio Lustau, Dry Oloroso 20%
Pure, bright greenish tawny suggesting quite a long time in cask! Rich and layered – really nuanced with good body and gentle subtlety. The most interesting and appetising of Waitrose's own-label sherries, with real energy and drive.
£11.49 reduced from £13.99 in December Waitrose
Lustau, Waitrose No 1, Don Gaspar Dry Amontillado 18.5%
Very pale amber with a slight green tinge which suggests quite a bit of age. Delightfully nutty. Bone dry and super-tangy. Convincingly persistent.
£13.49 Waitrose
González Byass, Viña AB 12 Year Old Amontillado 16.5%
Pale gold. Gorgeous for sherry fans and not that expensive. Salty nuts and bring on the salted nuts and tapas! (JR)
£18.99 Majestic
Barbadillo, Pastora Pasada En Rama Manzanilla 15%
Manzanilla is typically even lighter and fresher than Fino but this is an unusually mature example, eight years old. There is so much flavour here – as though the sea had been boiled down in a petri dish.
£19.95 Corks and Cru, from £11.99 per half from good independents
Strong and sweet
Lustau, Waitrose Blueprint, Medium Dry Amontillado 18.5%
From the ancient Sánchez Romate bodega, source of many a fine wine. Real excitement for the money. Great with cheese.
£9.99 Waitrose
Symington, Waitrose No 1, Reserve Tawny Port 20%
From the Symington family. Quite an intense, nutty nose. Really exciting dry finish with some walnut and sultana character on the way there. Impressive structure for the money. Too cheap for the future of the Douro Valley!
£15.99 Waitrose
Martinez, Garibaldi Dolce Superiore Marsala 18%
From western Sicily. Bright orange. Seems overwhelmingly sweet at first, but then the freshness kicks in to convince you this is the best sweet wine ever.
£9.99 per half Majestic
Domaine Fontanel, No 66 Ambré 2015 Rivesaltes 16%
Pale-skinned Grenache grapes aged so long in old casks in the Roussillon sunshine that it has taken on a lovely almondy tang and a glorious reddish amber colour.
£19.99 reduced from £24.99 De Burgh Wine, £23.95 Stone Vine & Sun
A A Badenhorst, Caperitif Kaapse Dief Vermouth Lot 10 NV South Africa 16.5%
Gorgeously floral, fun, lightly sweet and bitter at the same time. Who needs a cocktail?
£20 Lay & Wheeler
Taylor’s, Quinta de Vargellas 2015 Port 20%
Youthful, complex port for ageing that curls up over the palate like a cat on your knees. Not the sweetest but very fine. Quite a bargain this month.
£26.99 reduced from £33.99 in December Waitrose
Croft, Quinta da Roeda 2004 Port 20.5%
Heady, luscious with herbal notes and a firm finish. Quite a bargain for a 20-year-old wine.
£29.99 Majestic
Cockburn, Quinta dos Canais 2014 Port 20%
Tastes of liquefied nuts and raisins. But still lots of tannin as well as the sweetness.
£30 Tesco
Kopke, 10 Year Old White Port 20%
Pale, lively orange blend. Smooth and fresh with a hint of mahogany – maybe not quite as complex as the 2010 but I would never turn down a glass.
£32.99 reduced from £37.99 in December Waitrose
Graham’s, Quinta dos Malvedos 2012 Port 20%
Single-quinta ports, with so many of the attributes of vintage port, can’t go on being as inexpensive as this so take advantage! A little simpler than the Vargellas 2015 above but still a bargain.
£33.99 Waitrose
Warre’s, Quinta da Cavadinha 2006 Port 20%
Complex and gorgeous. A pleasure to find a fully mature port that’s affordable – and still has a slightly treacly way to go! Freshness, too.
£36.99 Waitrose
Kopke, Colheita 2010 White Port 20%
All grapes in this utterly gorgeous, heady pale amber wine were grown exactly 14 years ago. A floral note. Quite sweet but with just the right amount of acidity and light bitterness to counterbalance this. Peach liqueur of the highest order.
£42.99 Waitrose
Barbeito, Reserva Velha Sercial 10 Year Old Madeira 20%
Pale glowing orange. Powerful wood-aged nose, medium-sweet palate that ends so ethereally crisp and dry. Strong whiff of cordite. Orange peel and, despite the alcohol, it tastes dangerously feather-light. Great for sipping on a cold night by itself or with all manner of foods. Long and comforting.
£44.95 Lea & Sandeman
Chambers Rosewood, Old Vine Muscat Rutherglen 19%
Australia’s unique, pale ruby gift to the world of strong, (very) sweet wines. Long aged in cask. Unique and worth exploring. Really exciting.
£25.99 per half Cambridge Wine Merchants
H M Borges, Malvasia 20 Year Old Madeira 20%
Super-rich, tangy and smoky and gorgeous with great revivifying acidity. Just the job!
£70.50 Lay & Wheeler
For full tasting notes, scores and suggested drinking dates see our tasting notes database. For international stockists, see Wine-Searcher.com. Apologies for the unusual number of own-label wines this week but the bargains were just too good to miss.
