For The Love Of Port

So obviously we all know about Port and Madeira (thanks to Roy, Stewart and Mario). Being from Canada, I am quite familiar with ice wines, many good examples of which are from neighboring provinces to me.

Are there other types of sweet dessert wines that folks around here drink besides Port and Madeira? The selections don't necessarily have to be fortified, but sweet is kind of my thing. I never used to drink wine at all because I really did not enjoy the dry reds or whites. I think having tried so many Ports though, my mind is being opened up and I am starting to try more and more dry reds and like quite a few of them. (Hey rookies gotta start SOMEWHERE, right??? )

This recent thread got me inspired to try Tokaji, a product I have seen on a couple of store shelves around here, but have never tried. Although the example I tried was likely a cheap and therefore, not great, example of the style of wine, I would have never tried it if not inspired by some of the positive comments about Tokaji from Fred, Moses, et al.

So I'll put it to 'the experts' on this forum for any suggestions!

Todd

There is so many sweet wines to try on this planet!

To name a few that comes to my mind :

Samos from Greece, made from muscat, white.
Maury and Banyuls, fortified red sweet wine from France <-- I'm not a fan.
Sauternes, white sweet wine from France, BOrdeaux, Can be amazing if you pay the price!
Vinho do Santo, some very fine sweet white wine here too, some lacking freshness but still good.
Late Harvest, anywhere in wine producing country they do late harvest. Chile and USA have some interesting ones for cheap prices. Germany and Alsace too are producing great stuff.
Vouvray, Bonnezeau, Quart de Chaume are very good sweet wine from France region or Loire.

More to discover, but you have some good suggestions here to start with.

Holy smokes Fred... I had no idea there was so much out there. Sadly, I now have homework for the next couple of months. Gladly, I will take on this assignment with great relish! :)

Thanks!
Todd

Check Fortified & Sweet Wines by Radford and Brook. Used copies are available cheaply on Amazon. It has a lot of information.

Todd,

South Africa also makes some good dessert wines, in addition to their version on port which can be quite good, there is Constancia (if I spelled it right?)

Tokay and Muscat from Australia, fortified from California, Vin Santo and Muscats from Italy. Also from Italy Verduzzo and Picolit from Friuli.

I am a Sauternes fan, as for what deals and choices... I do not know. I know you can buy decent 375's for $30, so you can try without going broke. Generally, a 375 will suite two people.

Moses Botbol wrote:I am a Sauternes fan, as for what deals and choices... I do not know. I know you can buy decent 375's for $30, so you can try without going broke. Generally, a 375 will suite two people.

Just to add a bit more on sauternes :

Chateau Guiraud is one of my favourite and is not very expenive in half. Bastor Lamontagne too is good for an introduction. For sauternes, don't try the 2nd wine of a house, they are dilluted. If you can dig some 2001, go for it, great vintage.

Obviously I like dessert wine, so it should shock no one that in my cellar, I have dessert wines from MANY countries. As I am not home to list them all, I can do some of them by memory. However, I will list some dessert wine types from the countries that come to mind, most of which I have at least a bottle or two of in my humble collection:

Australia: Muscats from Rutherglen, tawny ports, Para port, Late Harvest Semillon, Shiraz and Riesling, Tokay and Verdelho.

Italy: Vin Santo, Recioto style of Amarone, Moscato d'Asti, Picolit, LH Orvietto, Brachetto,

France: Sauternes/Barsac, Loire's LH beauties that Fred mentioned, Banyuls (great with chocolate and the best come from Dr. Parce, imo), Vin Doux Naturelles ... Rivesaltes and Muscadet etc., Alsatian Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc -- but more so Riesling from Vendages Tardives (LH) to SGN levels, Maury.

Austria: Trockenbeerenauslese Riesling, Welschriesling and Chardonnay; Gruner

Spain: Malaga, Cream Sherry and Oloroso/Manzanilla/Amontillado/(PX)Pedro Ximenez Sherry

Germany: Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, Eiswein Riesling

So. Africa: Late Harvest Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc, vintage and tawny port, Vin de Constance, LH Muscadel

Russia: Massandra port and muscat

Uruguay: Late Harvest Tannat

Portugal: Various Port and Madeira styles, Setubal's Moscatels, Aged Aguardentes (isn't Brandy really wine? )

USA: LH Zinfandel, Riesling, Muller Thurgau, Gewurztraminer, Niagra, Concord, Vidal Blanc, Viognier, Muscat Alexandria, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Marechel Foch, Semillon, Norton etc. Additionally there are many styles and grapes used for port as obscure as Petite Sirah, madeira, ice wine, botrytised wines. And some lesser knowns like Muscadelle, Muscadine, Framboise,

Hungary: Tokaji (Tokay)

Canada: Ice Wine from Riesling, Vidal and Cabernet Franc

Israel: LH Concord

Greece/Cyprus: Samos, Commandaria

I am sure I will think of some more while at dinner tonight ... but this should at least provide a few more to add to the list

Frederick Blais wrote: Just to add a bit more on sauternes :

Chateau Guiraud is one of my favourite and is not very expensive in half.

I do recall trying that brand a few years ago with positive results.

Wow, thanks all... get busy for a few days and come back to a monster list that my wife would SHUDDER to think that I would want to attempt to try them all!

Thanks Roy for your extensive list. I guess a guy in your position might have a couple or so good sweets in the cellar. I seem to recall a post from you a LONG time ago stating that your cellar was (shockingly) less than 50% Port and I wondered why. Now, I suppose I know - with so much great stuff out there, how do you become both a connoisseur AND a collector

Of course, I will likely have to look high, low, and wide to find even a quarter of the listed selections, but hey, it's coming up on winter here. A good project!

Todd

for my taste I find that I like:

Sauterne (asides from D'Yquem can be had fairly cheap), good years are 2003, 2001, 90, 89, 86, 83, others for specific wines. 89 can still be had for $40-80 US for 750 mL. Mature is better than young, you get a lot of tertiary flavors and complexity. Young or old, all are sweet and excellent dessert wines or apertifs, especially with Duck, nuts, and creme brule.

German Reisling: Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, aand Eiswein. Great as an apertif, with seafood, and one of the best matches with Aisian food. Of course for dessert as well. The older the better, and can go through a "dumb" phase.

Pedro Ximenez Sherry: Not sure if there is any perfect pairing for this, I would usually have it by itself. Sometimes sickly sweet.

Tokaji

Muscat

Jay

As far as German Riesling which I love, we had a '79 and an '83 the other night when I arrived here in London. The former, from a lesser producer and vintage ... showed fantastically, while the better year ('83) was a disappointing bottle. You never know with the oldies.

Todd,

With just over 2k bottles, I only have about 730 of Port, so not even 40% is Port, with about 130 total bottles of all other dessert wines. The vast majority of my cellar (over 50%) is "other" red wines from all over the globe with a very few whites (a case or so from CA) and a handful of cases of white Burg most of which are fine Chablis and a few cases of Alsace and German whites too.

Todd-

The Late Harvest Select Muscat that Navarro (Mendocino, CA) makes is absolutely fantastic. My dad has been faithfully consuming it for as long as I can remember. For his 74th birthday, he pulled out a 375ml from 1982. My TN was simple, "Liquid raisins." .....and I don't mean that in a bad way. It was absolutely wonderful. I have started my own collection which stands at a meager 4x375ml since they don't make it too often.

They do some other Late Harvest style Gewurz as well as Riesling that are great, too. Plenty of places for you to go exploring in this category....

Yummy stuff!! (can actually say that about most of their wines....)

Rich

Hi,
I am a new arrival to this Forum possessing a very modest collection of VP. In these faraway isles the range of ports stocked by local merchants is mostly limited to the well known brands and Houses. But its not about port that I write but a bottle of Madeira which I have had for close to 20 years. In a few words I would like to know what an approximate date of bottling is for this wine. There is obviously no indication on the label or capsule. And, I am loathe to do what was it Michael Broadbent? did - remove the capsule and with a strong torchlight see if the cork provides a clue.
Is there anyone who can shine a(nother) light on this for me. Many thanks...

Tokaji is a great bet when it comes to dessert wines, combine it with an awesome, professionally made (and, thus, expensive) cake and you'll feel fancier than with any champagne.
Speaking of French wines, Sauternes is great as a dessert wine, but I think it's a better match for foie gras.

If you like briny and olive flavors along with the sweet then there are several sweet Chenin Blanc wines from the Loire Valley you can try....Domaine Huet Moelleux is fantastic, Domaine Baumard Quarts de Chaume is another one to try.

If you are looking for sweet wines from Muscat then the Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise from the Southern Rhone is also a wine to try.

In terms of value, I'd like to second a few wines that have already been mentioned on this thread:
-Tokaji
-Vin Santo
-Vin de Constance
-Sherry....There are still some amazing values to be had in Sherry. If you like the Sweet styles, then buy some aged PX Sherry