The Oxford Wine Club were delighted to welcome Stephen Brook back after his excellent talk on Bordeaux last year. On this, his second visit to the OWC, Stephen came to talk about sweet wines.
Stephen loves sweet wines. In fact, he loves them so much that he has written three books about them! The first of these – Liquid Gold – Dessert Wines of the World – is probably one of the first books ever written on the subject.
Stephen brought with him a selection of eight sweet wines for us to try, and, to accompany the wines, the OWC had laid out a selection of yummy Christmassy foods, including duck pate, Stilton cheese, Christmas cake, mince pies, stollen and chocolate brownies! Stephen later confessed that he detests mince pies! You might think this would make Christmas a difficult time of year for him. However, as we all know, Christmas is not just about mince pies… it’s also about drinking fantastic sweet wines…
1. JJ Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese, 2007 (£28 for 750ml)
A sweet Riesling from the Mosel region of Germany. The Sonnenuhr vineyard is above the Mosel opposite the village of Wehlen. Light as a feather, apply in flavour, with a mineral note and crisp acidity. At only 7.5% alcohol, you could have a glass with your breakfast on Christmas Day. Stephen mentioned that it could be cellared for many years.
2. Montes Late Harvest Gewurztraminer, 2011. (£9.99 for 375ml)
From the Central Valley of Chile, only made in years when they get noble rot, and is made from 70% botrytized grapes. On the nose it is expressive and aromatic, showing honeysuckle and ripe mango. On the palate, it has an opulent texture, with tropical fruit flavours and a sweet spiciness – ginger and nutmeg. Structurally, it is flabby and lacks complexity. However, the finish is long and pleasant.
3. 2008 Chateau Raymond Lafon (£10.95 for 375ml)
Although Chateau Raymond Lafon is an unclassified Sauternes producer, it is located right next to Chateau d’Yquem. Furthermore, Stephen explained that in 1972 Chateau d’Yquem’s technical director, Pierre Meslier, bought Raymond Lafon while he was working at Yquem, and brought with him the techniques of Yquem. Rich and very sweet, tropical fruit flavours, apricots, mangos, along with a spicy, white pepper note. This wine is great value for money.
4. 2008 Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos (£22 for 500ml)
Sweet Tokaji is made from a dry base wine, to which a paste from individually picked nobly rotted grapes is added causing a second fermentation. Marmalade, apricots, dried fruit, sweet spice – ginger and cloves. Very sweet, but with a racy acidity keeping the wine in balance. It has terrific length. Delightful stuff! Stephen explained that historically many Tokaji producers had made a heavily oxidised style of the wine, but these days the more common approach was to take a more gentle approach, with this being an example of the latter.
5. 2010 Domaine de La Motte Coteaux du Layon (£10 for 750ml)
The Coteaux du Layon (a tributary of the Loire) is the Loire’s answer to Sauternes. Here they produce sweet wines from the Chenin Blanc grape which gives a lively acidity that ensures these wines are not cloying. With age the wines become more complex, yet retain Chenin Blanc’s fruit character. Apply, racy acidity, lovely persistence in the mouth. Not bad for a young example, and a bargain for £10.
6. 2011 Chateau Bouscasse Pacherenc du Vic Bilk (£12.95 for 500ml)
Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh is the appellation for white wines made in the Madiran region of south-west France. This wine was made by Alain Brumont, who is responsible for the re-emergence of the region as a respected wine producing area. Made from 100% Petit Manseng, very late harvested, expressive on the nose with floral notes of honeysuckle and chamomile. No botrytis. On the palate, fairly full bodied, with a rich texture, showing flavours of tinned tropical fruit and lychees.
7. Henriques & Henriques 10-Year Malvasia (£17 for 500ml)
Stephen asked how many of us drank Madeira, and was surprised when a significant proportion of the audience put up their hands to indicate they did. What he was getting at is that Madeira, a fortified style of wine made on the island of Madeira, is not (outside of the OWC at least) a particularly popular drink, which is bewildering because it is an amazing style of wine. Dried fruits, caramel, coffee, treacle, Christmas cake, sweet spice, great concentration, searing acidity, and a long finish. Really nice, it went well with the Christmas cake, and it has the advantage that you can leave open for months without doing it any harm. Madeira can be aged in cask for centuries, so this is just a baby. Stephen suggested that it was worth spending that bit extra to try some of this producer’s older wines.
8. Campbells Rutherglen Muscat (£11.99 for 375ml)
This is an oxidatively aged fortified wine from north-east Victoria in Australia. Sticky-sweet, with flavours of caramel, apricots, dried fruit, figs, and toffee. Very sweet and intense, and with a long finish. However, “Rutherglen” Muscat is the lowest level in a four category system of classifying these wines based on how long the wine has been aged. The next levels are Classic (5 to 10 years of ageing), Grand (10 to 15 years of ageing) and Rare (at least 20 years of ageing, and possibly much more). The older examples show greater complexity, and are even richer and more intense.
Many thanks to Peter and Geraldine Coggins and Chris and Brigitte Blakey, for arranging the Christmassy food, and many thanks indeed to Stephen for his well-presented and informative talk on sweet wines. The OWC hopes to welcome him back for a third visit!
JJW, 4 Dec 2013