Sounds like Macvin from Jura, although to be fair, Macvin is made from the final pressing of the must and fortified by distilling what is left after that, so it is pretty much a way to monetize leftovers. Those I have had taste OK as a sort of dessert wine, I have one open in my fridge right now for guests who do not really like wine. At least Trump’s is competitively priced…
There are quite a few fortified Chardonnays from Australia. I remember Burge Wilsford made some nice wines. Don’t remember if I had a fortified Chardonnay though.
More parallel to Floc de Gascogne or Pommeau du Normandie (done with apples). Was an original product from when it was Kluge owned. Know several people that have worked at the tasting room, and it has always been one of the most heavily consumed wines by the bottle with people on the grounds despite the abv.
I tried it. Not sure how to phrase this properly. I guess the best I can do is It’s nothing I want to drink but there is a lot worse in Virginia and this winery.
There are much better wines in Virginia than these. I found them rather strange much like I do the namesake. Delaplane, Linden and RDV all much better.
About 10 years ago, Pat Kluge invited my girlfriend and I to spend Thanksgiving weekend at Albemarle with she and her husband. She was especially proud of this wine and use of bourbon barrels. As a dessert wine, I have tasted worse. It kind of fit with the $800000 entry table owned by Napoleon and the papier mache sculpture gallery. I completely forgot about it after seeing the 400 bottles of Yquem 750mL in the closet off the laundry room.