Wine By Nine

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Dow's from Portugal. Dow's 2000 Late Bottled Vintage Port is a fine value and marries delicious red fruit flavors with dark cocoa power and a slightly spicy, vibrant finish. It is made from a single year's harvest (in this case, 2000) and then aged for four years in oak casks. (The term late bottled vintage is because Vintage Port is aged for two years and then bottled with the intention of further bottle aging.) The extra aging helps it develop more quickly. Serving and pairing suggestions Given its extra aging, the Dow's LBV is bottled ready to drink. 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 up to two 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. It is delicious with dark chocolate or blue cheeses such as Point Reyes Original Blue.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Ramos Pinto from Portugal. This ruby port has a vibrant youthful color, with a red-brown rim that is the only visual concession to maturity. It has full aromas unveiling dry plum, fig and berry scents with a touch of pepper. On the palate, the attack is soft and succulent. This is a rich, subtle wine with a fine, generous structure and remarkable persistence. The Collector is an excellent accompaniment to mild cheeses and sweet dark chocolate. An unfiltered vintage character port is a blend of several excellent vintages aged in wood for about six years. The wine retains its delicate fruity aromas while gaining the patina and roundness of age. The Collector gives wine drinkers the opportunity to experience a vintage quality wine without laying it down for years

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Croft from Portugal. This is a Vintage Character Port which is a blend of Ports which have been aged in wood for four to five years to produce wines of greater complexity than their younger counterparts. A port with attractive, intense fresh fruit aromas and flavours. Premium reserve port of superior age and quality. Vigorous but silky taste. Very consistent bottle to bottle. Decanting is not required. Enjoy for many months.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Yalumba from Barossa Valley, Australia. Four decades ago my father Wyndham initiated the practice of putting aside a few barrels of each years production of our deluxe tawny ports. Known in the cellar as Antique Tawny, these wines are left to quietly mature in various corners of our marble cellars. During this ageing process, evaporation (known as the Angels Share) occurs at between 2.5% and 4.5% each and every year. Our master port blender, David Doc Zimmermann, then painstakingly assembles a wine with an average age of over 15 years - rich and concentrated, it is an important part of Australias wine heritage. COLOUR: Deep tawny with green tinges around the edges indicating prolonged aging in wood. BOUQUET: Intense wood aged rancio featuring dried fruits, chocolate and caramel. Elegant brandy spirit adds sweet vanillin and oak complexity. PALATE: Rich and soft in the middle. Complex rancio flavours with persistent nutty caramel aftertaste. Fine spirit characters balance the sweetness producing an elegant drying finish.

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 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.

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.