Wine By Nine

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 Trevor Jones from Barossa Valley, Australia. Number 70 on the Wine.com 100 of 2007! What a sensational value! Made by Trevor Jones in partnership with importer Dan Philips, this is a blend averaging 46 years in age. Its light to medium ruby hue is accompanied by an extraordinary bouquet of sweet candied fruit intermixed with notions of maple syrup, earth, and hazelnuts. This gorgeous tawny delivers plenty of pleasure. --Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, October 2004.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Penfolds from South Australia, Australia. Australia's most popular fortified wine is a tawny noted for it's mellowness and consistency. A blend of vintages oak matured at Penfolds' Kalimna cellars, in the Barrossa Valley.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Achaia Clauss from Greece. This thick, purple mavrodaphne reserve has gone the way of a tawny Port, age simultaneously lightening and deepening its flavors. Now the fruit is more baked apple and apricot, while the freshness has turned to truffle, spice and deep caramel. Most remarkedly, the sweetness has mellowed considerably, giving plenty of ripe flavors while finishing light and clean. -Wines & Spirits