Wine Type: Fortified

(2024) If you have tried Noval's LBV before you are in for a treat: unflitered and aged five years in casks, the fruit (Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Sousão) comes from their own vineyard and is trodden by foot in traditional lagares. It has a heavenly nose, spices and intense floral and dried fruit notes combine with juicier blueberry and a hint of dark cocoa. The palate is powerful and structured, framed by powdery tannins but abundantly sweet with 90g/l of residual sugar it seems endlessly long. This will also cellar for a decade or more. Watch the video for more information.

(2024) Not Sherry, but a solera-aged Pedro Ximénez from a family that produced its first fortified PX wine in the 1940s. Perhaps slightly lighter in colour than a typical Spanish version - nut brown rather than mahogany brown - it pours with engine oil thickness and gloriously sweet and luscious aromas of fig, raisin and walnut, a delicate rancio character adding a layer of intrigue. In the mouth super-sweet and mouth-filling, really all about the sweet and unctuous flavour rather than massive complexity, but utterly delicious.

(2024) From  the coastal town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, this is made in a traditional solera, seeing eight years of ageing minimum. 'En Rama' indicates that it is bottled without fining or filtration, and ‘Pasada’ indicates a longer ageing than is usual for Manzanilla. I have to say it is utterly delicious. It is a burnished yellow/gold colour and has the ozone and salty tang of Manzanilla, but a wonderfully creamy hazelnut and almond sheen too. Complex yeasty notes from the long ageing under flor add pungent layers of chamomile, bruised fruit and intrigue. Full, textured, more nuttiness and a certain meaty, umami character in the mouth, it has fabulous length and sparkling acidity. The £15.99 price for a full 75cl bottle at Carrington Wines at time of review is very good - half bottles are selling for £11 - £13 quite widely.

(2024) There are tasting notes on just over 20,000 wines in wine-pages database. This wine is only the second to score a maximum 100 points. Why? The wine does not come from a solera, but is believed to be a single vintage wine. It was generously poured by a friend at a fine wine dinner who told me its story. The private cellar in Funchal of the late Gil Borges Acciaioly was inherited by his sons. This wine, finally bottled some time in the 1940s or 50s, is believed to have been stored in sealed glass demi-johns after its long barrel ageing, which will have helped preserve it. It is made from Terrantez and, dating from 223 years ago, becomes the oldest wine I have tasted by some 80 years. The colour is nut brown, and the impression is of such soulful, dark and polished aromas, followed by a palate that sparks into vibrant life, plenty of pin-sharp acidity to complement the aged richness, with literally perfect balance and length. I did not write formal notes - I decided just to enjoy the moment in this surely once in a lifetime experience. The last bottle I can find that was sold at auction fetched £2,600, but that was in 2017. I believe if a bottle appears on the market today, a price of around $20,000 is expected. An extraordinary experience and such a generous sharing of a wine.

(2024) A Christmas gift idea with a difference, or just a chance to indulge in miniatures of four fine Ports along with four matching chocolate bars. Vinte Vinte Chocolate is owned by leading Port producer, The Fladgate partnership, and produced in Vila Nova de Gaia. Master Chocolate Maker, Pedro Martins Araújo, has crafted chocolates intended to perfectly harmonise with each of the Port styles in the selection. The Port and chocolate pairings are the fruity Fonseca Bin 27 with a classic, 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate, the more full-bodied Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage with a 58% dark chocolate and the mellow Taylor’s 10-Year-Old Tawny with a milk chocolate of 35% cocoa solids. Also in the selection, Taylor’s Chip Dry White Port, matched to a white chocolate. A fold-out guide to the tasting is included, but in a nice touch, a QR code also leads to an online video guide, led by Pedro Martins Araújo. It's available from the stockists below and many independent wine merchants. Watch my video review for more information.

(2024) Manzanilla Sherry, from the salt-licked seaside vineyards of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, is one of the world's greatest, and most consistent wine styles. Aged for many years under a protective layer of 'flor', the combination of rich nuttiness and saline intensity is as gastronomic as it gets. Barbadillo's inexpensive example is top stuff: aromatics are concentrated with chamomile and almond, then the lightly oily palate is bone-dry, saline, and yet has an orange and lemon zestiness to the fruit too. It's 15% abv, so not much higher in alcohol than many table wines too. Watch the video for more information. Price given for a half bottle, but note Waitrose has full bottles reduced from £12.99 to £9.99 until 20th August 2024.

(2024) Another fabulous slice of Australian heritage, this is a fortified wine of unknown age – possibly 1970s? Note of hessian or new laid carpet, caramel and walnut, but is there a hint of Sauvignon zip? There's a streak of espresso bittersweetness that acts to cleanse and propel this. An intriguing wine and holding up really well. Enjoyed this rarity. No alcohol level was stated on the label, so a guess at 15% has been entered by me. It's also difficult to say with this great age whether the wine was lightly fortified or naturally sweet.

(2024) Dry, gentle aromatics, becomes quite smoky and nutty, a peppery quality. Fruit is about prunes and fresher glimpses of blackcurrant. It is moving into a faded, slightly rancio character but really enjoyable. Possibly a blend of Shiraz and Touriga Nacional.

(2024) A blend of the two vintages 1934 (around 30%) and 1952 (around 60%), probably bottled in the 1980s. Fabulous, mature toffee and toast, walnuts and beautiful palate sweetness. Some lovely leaf tea notes. Possibly made from Semillon, commonly known as Madeira at the time. Just beautifully luscious and sweet, but with still thrilling acidity. What a treat.

(2024) From Rutherglen, this was bottled in 1975 but the label states the age of the wine as 'unkown'. Made from 'brown muscat'. The nose moves from grilled meats, to nuttiness, to cedar, to espresso to toffee. All the rancio characters are there, but so is luscious, ripe nectarine, the Muscovado sugar weight and richness is absolutely stunning. Super sweet, long, a bittersweet serious nuance to add to the fresh cut of the acidity. An amazing bit of Australian history drinking so beautifully.