Wine By Nine

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Chambers Rosewood from Victoria, Australia. Sourced from material aged between six and ten years old, this wine is the foundation of the style; displaying the fresh raisin aromas, rich fruit, clean spirit and great length of flavor on the palate which are the mark of all the Muscats of Rutherglen. While these wines are seen as after dinner drinks, try serving them as an aperitif, particularly in winter. A small glass goes a very long way, warming the mind as well as the stomach. And remember that a bottle, once opened, will keep for some months without deteriorating, providing it is recorked after each serving.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Chambers Rosewood from Victoria, Australia. In the warm fall climate the grapes ripen and shrivel on the vines producing natural sugar levels in the range of 16.7 - 20 degrees Baume. The raisined grapes are then picked, crushed and partially fermented before being fortified and then subjected to a wood aging program loosely resembling a solera system that lasts (in some cases) for over 100 years. A blend of six to ten-year-old Muscadelle. This is a rich, viscous wine displaying characters of honeyed spice, marmalade and tealeaf. Although luscious, the palate is not cloying. It finishes with a tight acidity and lingering nuttiness. While these wines are seen as after dinner drinks, try serving them as an aperitif. And a bottle, once opened, will keep for some months without deteriorating, providing it is recorked after each serving.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Peter Lehmann from Barossa Valley, Australia. Color: Brightly polished gold with green tints on the rim. Bouquet: The lifted nose shows classic botrytis marmalade characters and deep honey notes. Palate: A wine of remarkable intensity with superb weight of luscious honeyed fruit on the middle palate. This richness is beautifully counter-balanced by natural acidity and it finishes with a delightfully clean complexity. Enjoy: Botrytis Semillon is a very versatile wine style and is naturally thought of as a dessert wine. It is an excellent complement to cheese, particularly soft, ripe cheeses and good blue cheese accompanied by fresh fruit. It is also the perfect wine for a scrambled egg and smoked salmon Sunday brunch.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Campbells from Victoria, Australia. Bright amber gold with copper hints. The nose reveals fresh raisin fruit backed by a hint of fortifying spirit and aged oak characters while the palate is luscious and mouthfilling with raisin fruit followed by a long finish.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Campbells from Victoria, Australia. Deep brilliant, burnished gold with a nose displaying toffee, honey and cold tea characters. The toffee and tea leaf characters predominate in the front palate with a bracing hint of spirit and mellowed oak on the finish.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Broadbent from Portugal. Aged in oak casks for at least 3 years. Esteemed for its concentrated aroma and subtle flavor, it can be served as an apéritif or as an after dinner drink. Madeira, warm and luscious in both its dry and sweet variations, makes an excellent wine for winter and the holiday season. Clear dark reddish-copper in color, it breathes classic and very appealing Madeira scents of dried dates and figs and mixed nuts. Smooth and gently sweet, it's not a sticky dessert wine but shows good fresh-fruit sweetness built on Madeira's sturdy core of tart, lemony acidity.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by RL Buller from Victoria, Australia. The medium dark amber-colored Premium Fine Muscat (100% Muscat) reveals terrific aromas of toffee, melted caramel, molasses, brown sugar, hazelnuts, and smoke. - Wine Advocate Since the first grapes were harvested at Rutherglen in the 1850's, connoisseurs of fine fortified wines in Australia and the United Kingdom have recognized the Muscats of the region as wines of unsurpassed richness. Today, wine merchants, writers and consumers around the globe acclaim the fortified Muscats of Rutherglen as truly the world's richest wines. Extracting the syrupy juice from the fully ripened Brown Muscat grapes is a painstaking and extremely sticky task - taking patience to press all the rich liquid from the raisined berries. The real art of the Rutherglen Muscat makers is their extraordinary ability to assemble parcels of Muscat from a range of wines of varying vintage, richness and complexity, to consistently blend each of their products year after year. Rutherglen Muscat is a wonderful and versatile accompaniment to food, and the many styles of Muscat produced in the region allow innovative combinations of wine and food. The lighter Rutherglen Muscats are superb aperitifs - a perfect way to prepare for a hearty meal. In the warmer months they can be chilled without loss of flavor. ? ?

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Quady from California. Black Muscat, another underappreciated Muscat variety, is known in Europe as a table grape variety, Muscat Hamburg, one of the very few black skinned Muscats. If ripened to about 25 brix, it attains a rose-like aroma and litchi like flavor. This rose-like aroma led Quady to name the wine Elysium, Greek for heaven. Drinking this, you can almost feel you have fallen into a rose garden and been transported to heaven. Elysium is meant to either accompany or replace dessert. One favorite is to pour the wine onto vanilla ice cream. Serve this Elysium Sundae with a glass of Elysium. Great with vanilla, dark chocolate, blue cheeses, and candlelight.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Hidalgo from Spain. Number 47 on the Wine.com 100 of 2007! The standard of type and leader both in Spain and abroad. Manzanilla is the rarest of all authentic sherries, being uniquely site-specific in origin. Matured beneath a constant veil of yeast (called flor) as only occurs in beachfront and protected cliffside bodegas of sanlucar, giving Manzanilla a dry, haunting delicacy analogous to fine Champagne. Very rich, almost painfully intense wine pungent freshness and great subtlety. Incredibly long aftertaste features a hint of almond skin, an intense fruitiness and the tang of the sea. Perhaps the perfect apertif. -International Wine Cellar

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Cockburn from Portugal. Cockburn's Fine Ruby port is a blend of young wines from various years, aged for three to five years and bottled after filtration. It retains the red color and fruit flavor of youth, and is ready to drink when bottled, offering a rich, fruity, sweet taste.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Dow's from Portugal. Dow's Ruby offers a great entry level Port for the shopper looking for value. It's bright raspberry and cherry flavors marry well with cocoa power and mineral notes with the drier finish characteristic of Dow's Ports. Serving and pairing suggestions Dow's Ruby is bottled ready to drink after an average three years of cask aging. It has a t-cap closure, which means that you don't need a corkscrew to open it and that it will stay fresh for four to six months if stored in a cool, dark place or refrigerator. Serve it in a glass with at least a six ounce capacity so that you may appreciate the wine's aromas. Dow's Ruby is delicious with creamy blue cheeses or dark chocolate.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Dow's from Portugal. Dow's Tawny offers a great entry level Port for the shopper looking for value. It has bright citrus, caramel and almond flavors and the drier finish characteristic of Dow's Ports. Serving and pairing suggestions Dow's Tawny is bottled ready to drink after an average of three years of cask aging. It has a t-cap closure, which means that you don't need a corkscrew to open it and that it will stay fresh for four to six months if stored in a cool, dark place or refrigerator. Serve it in a glass with at least a six ounce capacity so that you may appreciate the wine's aromas. Dow's Tawny is delicious with soft ripened cheeses, flan or fruit tarts. In warmer months, try it chilled for a refreshing dessert in a glass.