What dessert wine did you drink tonight?

[Joseph Grassa]

S&B Borgogno Barolo Chinato

Not quite as good as the GD Vajra I had on Christmas Eve, but I love it. It is becoming clear that I need to stock up on Barolo Chinato.

[Tran Bronstein]

Well, I should be able to keep this thread going for.... oh, say, 37 years or more.

Nice to see a couple of Barolo Chinatos and Vin de Pailles were opened! I love Port and Sauternes but you gotta expand the horizons, you know? I just finished a bottle of Chateau Dereszla 2008 Tokaji 5 Puttonyos. As soon as I'm done my bottle of Santa Sofia 2008 Amarone -- which BTW could certainly count as a dessert wine as it can be served with one due to its richenss without any issue -- I'm opening up a bottle of either Pineau des Charentes or Tawny Port.

[mdealessi]

I don't have them very often either, but I'm a big fan of Italian dessert wines.
Look out for:
A&GN Fantino Nebbiolo Passito "Nepas"
Occhipinti "Passo Nero"
and La Stoppa Mavlasia Passito "Vigna del Volta"!

[AAgrawal]

S&B Borgogno Barolo Chinato

Not quite as good as the GD Vajra I had on Christmas Eve, but I love it. It is becoming clear that I need to stock up on Barolo Chinato.

Nice! I just bought a bottle of Vajra Chinato from K&L. I never usually see it for sale.

[Yao C]

1980 Chateau de Fargues Sauternes
Celebratory bottle for getting out of quarantine! Lovely pillowy caramel with surprisingly youthful fruit - more pineapple than apricot; a trifle flabby; sadly there was a whiff of wet cardboard that only grew with time; flawed

[andy velebil]

The past handful of nights saw these opened. All very good in their own right;

Smith Woodhouse 20 yr Tawny
Dow’s 20 yr Tawny
Graham’s 30 yr Tawny

Oh and I don’t consider Port a “dessert wine” even though most do. It’s an old stereotype that needs to change.

[AAgrawal]

The past handful of nights saw these opened. All very good in their own right;

Smith Woodhouse 20 yr Tawny
Dow’s 20 yr Tawny
Graham’s 30 yr Tawny

Oh and I don’t consider Port a “dessert wine” even though most do. It’s an old stereotype that needs to change.

Andy, do you generally drink port by itself or paired with food? And what types of courses do you recommend? I've certainly tried some classic pairings like chocolate, cheese/stilton, nuts, etc, but honestly not many savory pairings.

[H. Schultz]

Thurston Wolfe; 2005 8 year old Tawny port. Very nice QPR.
This is only made once a decade or so. Which is too bad as it is a great product.
Excellent dessert wine.

[andy velebil]

The past handful of nights saw these opened. All very good in their own right;

Smith Woodhouse 20 yr Tawny
Dow’s 20 yr Tawny
Graham’s 30 yr Tawny

Oh and I don’t consider Port a “dessert wine” even though most do. It’s an old stereotype that needs to change.

Andy, do you generally drink port by itself or paired with food? And what types of courses do you recommend? I've certainly tried some classic pairings like chocolate, cheese/stilton, nuts, etc, but honestly not many savory pairings.

With some exceptions, I am not a dessert eater. Give me red licorice, Sour Patch Kids and the like and I'm all there. Cakes and pies, rarely. So I generally prefer to enjoy Port on its own or with a meal, a young fruit driven Ruby Port with a steak or pizza is a great match. Once were able to gather again, I will host another Pizza Port night. They've always been a big hit with people.

If I am having cheese with Port, I prefer a less pungent one. Stilton is a horrible pairing and should be avoided, even though it is considered a classic pairing. From what my UK friends have told me, Stilton a 100+ years ago was a very mild cheese and not like it is now. So perhaps that is where it evolved from? The exception is an old VP or tawny with a soft gooey Serra da Estrela cheese wheel

[Gabe Berk]

2015 Martinelli Jackass Hill Muscat. 100+ year old vines. This particular vintage has botrytis which adds a little extra complexity. Killer stuff!!!

[Eric Ifune]

1982 Joseph Phelps Special Select Late Harvest Riesling. Californian version of TBA.

[Vince T]

2019 Max Ferd Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese*** Fass 42

Opened from a 375 mL. Somewhat mute nose of mostly yellow peach and pineapple. The palate, on the other hand, is a glorious cornucopia of pineapple, starfruit, orange peel, yellow peach, fig, almond paste, and lilac. Almost BA-like. Silky in texture with great dry extract, leaving pleasant tropical and dried fruits on the finish with ripples of acidity. Super excited to see how it shows tomorrow.

Thanks for the note Brian. How was it on day 2? I saw this but passed, even though I picked up a ton of the kabi and spät. It’s still available in 750 and was thinking of picking up a couple.

[Brian S t o t t e r]

2019 Max Ferd Richter Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese*** Fass 42

Opened from a 375 mL. Somewhat mute nose of mostly yellow peach and pineapple. The palate, on the other hand, is a glorious cornucopia of pineapple, starfruit, orange peel, yellow peach, fig, almond paste, and lilac. Almost BA-like. Silky in texture with great dry extract, leaving pleasant tropical and dried fruits on the finish with ripples of acidity. Super excited to see how it shows tomorrow.

Thanks for the note Brian. How was it on day 2? I saw this but passed, even though I picked up a ton of the kabi and spät. It’s still available in 750 and was thinking of picking up a couple.

It was a pretty similar showing, maybe some more dried fruit character.

[Greg Gardner]

1999 Schloss Saarstein Serriger Saarsteiner Riesling Auslese Lange Goldkapsel Auction: 375ml. I think I got this as a Dee Vine closeout back when you could just walk into the warehouse on Pier 19. They had so much crazy stuff for even crazier prices. I'm pretty sure I got a mag of 2001 Erben von Beulwitz Kaseler Nies'chen Spätlese Alte Reben for under $30, for example. This Saarstein had a price tag of $7.99.

Anyway, though this has a medium gold color appropriate for its age, the overall impression on the nose and palate is that this is still young. That Saar acidity is there in spades, and the honeyed apricot nose comes through on the palate. There's a lime note on the nose that translates to a key lime pie suggestion on the palate. As with so many of these wonderful MSR bottles, you can just smell it and contemplate for quite a while. I was sipping my pour very slowly and it just kept evolving over an hour or so. Two of us left over half of the bottle, and I look forward to following it through the weekend.

[Jim Stewart]

2017 Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes
From a 375 ml bottle. This wine offered a cornucopia of yumminess in a fairly light package for little money. Tropical and candied fruit, caramel and toffee, slight hint of botrytis and warm oak. Very enjoyable by itself and with a couple of cheeses (especially Cambozola Black Label), but overwhelmed by a slice of meyer lemon tart. I have generally had good experiences with unpretentious second labels like this and other Sauternes.

carmes de rieussec.jpg

P.S. Did I actually use the word "cornucopia" ?

[Eric Ifune]

1997 Dorigo Verduzzo.

[Eric Ifune]

2002 Barbeito Bual Campanario Colheita

[Andrew Bair]

A little late,but last weekend I opened a 1983 Friedrich Heinrich Waldeck Niersteiner Kranzberg Silvaner Beerenauslese.

Not familiar with the producer at all. I'd say this was good, but not special: I enjoyed the aromas and flavors, but the alcohol seemed a touch too high.

[Herwig Janssen]

Guiraud 2009 . A nice drink but not as good as the reviews from the pro’s .

[M.Kaplan]

1982 Barbeito Frasqueira Boal. I'd like to find more.

[Eric Ifune]

1982 Barbeito Frasqueira Boal. I'd like to find more

A fantastic wine! It was released once, then Ricardo Freitas, the managing director and winemaker, decided he's like more cask aging, so he emptied all the bottled wine back into cask for a few more years then released a second time.

[Theodore Anderson]

1982 Joseph Phelps Special Select Late Harvest Riesling. Californian version of TBA.

I love these.

[andy velebil]

1998 Cockburn’s Quinta dos Canais Vintage Port.

[Yao C]

2010 Didier Dagueneau Jurançon 'Les Jardins de Babylone'
Bright and forward with its fruit and floral character, this is then sweet and caressing and easy on the palate - perhaps even a little bit too easy - but has got a corset of acidity around it to keep things under control; Adrian's note on CellarTracker is spot-on, in that the individual elements of the wine have failed to meld into a cohesive whole, and the result is less than inspiring; it's still satisfying enough; good minus

[P. D e r d e y n]

2005 Chateau de Fargues "Lur Saluces" Sauternes. It was an absolute stunner as the finishing touch on a dinner celebrating the first time our wine group was able to get back together since the pandemic. I wasn't aware, but read today that this estate is owned by the former owners of D'yquem, which explains quite a bit.

[Yao C]

2005 Chateau de Fargues "Lur Saluces" Sauternes. It was an absolute stunner as the finishing touch on a dinner celebrating the first time our wine group was able to get back together since the pandemic. I wasn't aware, but read today that this estate is owned by the former owners of D'yquem, which explains quite a bit.

Yes indeed, that's the "Lur Saluces" on the bottle

[Michael Schriefer]

2016 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Auslese #11

Gorgeous nose of yellow stone fruits and ripe apple, with just a hint of honey. On the palate, the wine delivered candied tangerine, lime, and some ginger, all balanced by zesty acidity, with some tropical fruit on the pure and lingering finish.

[Arjan Stavast]

Rey Fernando de Castilla PX
Excellent old sherry! Of course it’s rich and sweet, but the years have integrated the sugar well and it’s not cloying at all. Tastes of walnut, raisins, coffee, chocolate and what the missus described as “engine oil in a good way”. There was indeed something vaguely petrochemical in there but it worked very well.
Excellent producer and their “antique” line is worth the extra €€€

[J. Rock]

It's arguably not a true dessert wine, but I had 2019 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel last night. It's really enjoyable now, and has some great acidity, but I think it will be significantly better once it sheds its baby fat. I think this will be a stunning wine down the road.

I opened this half-bottle about 8 hours before tasting and I have some left to taste as the week progresses.

The only other 2019 Auslese I've had so far is the 2019 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Auslese #14 and I think the Donnhoff is currently in a better place.

[Tran Bronstein]

I opened two dessert wines last weekend with friends in my social bubble, only one of them wasn't supposed to be: Colaneri 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Recioto from Niagara, Ontario and the Marcel Deiss 2011 Huebuhl. Upon tasting the latter before I did, fellow board member Mike Grammer immediately declared out loud, "This is a dessert wine!" I took a sip and completely agreed and to be honest it was quite a shock. I've had the Huebuhl before which has always been an off-dry Alsacian but this beyond off-dry and all the way into late harvest territory. It was still super delicious, but so completely not the table wine we were expecting!

20210407_152722.jpg

[lleichtman]

Figured I would try to get another chain going but with dessert wines specifically.

We actually had a dessert Sake called Hanahato Kinjoshou from Hiroshima. Tasted and smelled much like a sweeter Sherry very nutty.

[lleichtman]

Rieussec 1999 yesterday : I loved it . Fully ready , golden color , deliciously long and creamy .

Good to know! I have a half bottle that I was going to drink soon.

I opened a 2007 Climens half last night. Too young, but I'll try it again today and tomorrow and see if it improves.

The 1996 Climens seems to hit a "sweet" spot.

[Herwig Janssen]

1959 Gilette creme de tete : sweet and creamy with some saltiness that makes it very interesting . Some caramel showing the age of the wine . Still some power left , by no means too old . A nice wine .

[Andrew Bair]

2015 Martinelli Jackass Hill Muscat. 100+ year old vines. This particular vintage has botrytis which adds a little extra complexity. Killer stuff!!!

Thank you for the note. I enjoy sweet Muscats - both late harvested and VDNs - and have been tempted by the Martinelli Muscat in the past - this one sounds impressive!

My experience with Martinelli thus far has been that their Syrahs and Chardonnays are much more to my liking than their Zins and Pinots - curious what you think of their other wines?

[Andrew Bair]

This weekend, I opened was a 1967 Friedrich Baumann Oppenheimer Schloss-Goldberg Trockenbeerenauslese to celebrate being fully vaccinated. Although no grape is mentioned on the label, given the incredible balance, purity, smoothness, and complexity, it's hard to imagine that anything other than Riesling could have been responsible. Perhaps there were smaller amounts of other grapes - who knows?

My note: Lightish copper color. Immediately after opening, this is an incredibly smooth highly complex sweet Riesling, with a perfect balance between acids, sugar, botrytis, and minerals, Full of aromas/flavors of Grand Marnier, anisette, candied fruits, maraschino cherries, pecans, marzipan, spice drops, cocoa powder, and lilacs. Just the scent of the empty glass was incredible.

Oppenheimer Schloss isn't exactly regarded as a top site, as it's west of the Rheinterrasse, while Goldberg seems to have been a victim of the mu h-maligned 1971 law (feel free to weigh in if this is incorrect - I'm unable to find any evidence of wines since 1971 labeled with the Oppenheimer Goldberg site, but maybe KPK or someone else close to there can provide other info).