An eclectic, heterogeneous line-up spanning the non-Iberian sweet fortified world was full of discovery, surprise, and originality, even if no single wine quite reached the peaks of the best of Portugal and Spain, says Andrew Jefford after a tasting shared with Simon Field MW and Richard Mayson.
This is an extract from an article first published in WFW91. For full tasting notes and scores for all the wines tasted by the panel, subscribe to The World of Fine Wine.
Sweet Iberian fortified wines: Sheer quality, thrilling
Our panel tasted a selection of the finest Iberian fortified wines on the first day of this two-day tasting; the results were detailed in the previous issue of The World of Fine Wine. Tracking the magnificence of those wines in inadequate prose made for a thrilling day’s work.
Related
The results that follow in this issue’s pages track Part 2 of the tasting. The geographical spread on this occasion was far wider: It included not only the rest of Europe but also North America (Kansas and Virginia included), South Africa’s Cape, and two of Australia’s states (Victoria and South Australia). Could these vast landmasses produce fortified wines to rival those of the Iberian pioneers for scintillation and grandeur?
The verdict of our scores was that they couldn’t—at least not yet. The Iberian pantheon, including examples of stupendous age and concentration, gave seven wines scoring 94 or more, with a further five wines at 93. The figures for this tasting were three wines of 94 or over, with two more on 93. No disappointment hovered in the tasting-room air, however. Simon Field MW spoke afterward of “inspiring alternatives,” while Richard Mayson applauded “some very original wines”; I had just as much fun in tasting this set as I did the Iberians—and learned, perhaps, a little more.
Wandering the world
Simon and Richard have succinctly identified the appeal of non-Iberian fortifieds: discovery, surprise, and originality. Most regular wine drinkers have a vague notion of what Roussillon, Marsala, and the “Victoria stickies” have to offer, but we know these wines imperfectly. Assorted Muscats (from Beaumes de Venise or Languedoc, from Samos, Pantelleria, or California’s San Joaquin Valley) swing across our bows occasionally. But fortified Tannat made in Vintage Port style from Virginia? Fortified Wetumka (an American native grape) from Kansas? Fortified Tinta Barroca, Touriga Nacional, and Sousão from Calitzdorp in the Cape’s Klein Karoo? These all sit on the wine world’s rare-breeds list. The chance to engage with them intrigues. In some cases, they’re the fruit of very long traditions dating back to Empire days when fortified wines, not table wines, dominated colonial and other European trading markets; in other cases, they suggest growers in pioneer wine regions keeping an open mind about what sort of wine their sites and soils might most memorably deliver. Muscat, meanwhile, has been wandering the Mediterranean for centuries to delicious effect and will wander the world (we hope) for many more.
Content from our partners
The top regions
If there were two winning regions in this tasting, they were Rutherglen and Roussillon. We only saw three wines from Rutherglen, but all won emphatic applause: two 94-point aggregate scores and a 93-point aggregate score. This small 781ha (1,930-acre) wine region almost 185 miles (300km) inland from Melbourne is hot, dry and dusty—perfect conditions to grow and then age (in warm, above-ground sheds) Muscat and Muscadelle wines until they attain extraordinary levels of concentration, sweetness, character, and allusive force. The Grand Muscats are aged for 11–19 years, while the Rare Topaque (Muscadelle) has a minimum age of 20 years, though these minima are not infrequently exceeded via the use of solera-style components. And all this without any loss of balance, as our notes confirm.
Roussillon’s 11 wines offered us a much more complex picture in terms of precise origin, method and aging profile, and achievement in the tasting—from the winning wine on an aggregate 95 points, to 24th place with 86 points (though remember that 86 on the WFW scale is defined as “good wine”). Six of the Roussillon wines were from the steeply sloping seaside appellations of Banyuls or Banyuls Grand Cru, grown on brown, Cambrian-era schist soils. (The grand cru variant has no internal vineyard significance but must be at least 75% Grenache, undergo at least 30 months’ oxidative aging, and have a slightly higher sweetness level than straight Banyuls.) The other five wines, meanwhile, came from the great Agly Valley appellation of Maury about 25 miles (40km) inland, grown on sloping vineyards of younger black Cretaceous Period schist but in a very different, less maritime climate. These wines, also Grenache-dominant, can be made in two styles: oxidative (Tuilé) and reductive (Grenat).
Roussillon is France’s most significant museum-vintage region, with old family farms in Rivesaltes, for example, nurturing large casks of wine in their cellars for a century or more. The samples we saw from the two prestige appellations of Banyuls and Maury spanned 54 years—from one vintage 1969, through to a young 2023 wine, both from Maury. The winning wine was a 1994 from Banyuls, and our notes indicate the extraordinary delicacy, layering, and complexity that it offers, the legacy of both vineyard origin and élevage. No Banyuls will ever deliver the almost overwhelming sensual download offered by the winners in Part 1 (notably Graham’s 80-year-old Tawny, González Byass’s Matusalem Oloroso, or Quinta do Noval’s 50-year-old Tawny or 2022 Nacional Vintage Port)—but those are, in the main, hugely expensive, special-occasion wines, perfectly calibrated for winter drinking. Our Part 2 winners are more accessibly priced and make refreshing year-round drinking, summer included. The winning Clos St Sebastian, for example, costs €100 from the producer compared to £1,675 for the Graham’s 80-year-old (from London’s Hedonism) or $995+ for Noval’s 2022 Nacional (from JJ Buckley) plus sales tax.
Context is all
What of the rest of the field? It was a mixed showing from Marsala, with the best-performing wine being the least typical: Marco de Bartoli’s small-producer gauntlet tossed down to larger local peers. The multivariety Project Z from Kleine Zalze in Stellenbosch and the Tannat-based Imperialis from Stinson in Monticello impressed our tasters, and we also acclaimed the excitement that comes from early bottling of red fortifieds, Vintage Port-style; the best of these was Mas Amiel’s 2022 Charles Dupuy Maury Grenat. Our younger Muscat contenders had a quiet day—but perhaps the context made it hard for their perfumed silkiness to shine.
Global fortified wine beyond Iberia: The top five
Clos St Sebastien Le Coeur Banyuls Grand Cru France 1994 (16% ABV) | 95
SF | Dense, rich, Jacobean mahogany at its core, the fade to the rim hardly discernible after all these years; only the faintest hint of amber-green on the rim; the beacon from The Great Gatsby. A magnificent nose of jasmine, aloe, seaweed, incense, and plum; behind that, woodsmoke, juniper, and licorice. Good wines such as this always inspire an ill-disciplined encyclopedic outpouring—please forgive me. But it is good, for sure. Only just entering its fourth decade, therefore young, with the damson and plum clarion call still vital and fresh, little by way of recourse to secondary elements, let alone tertiary. One for the long and longer game. Subtle and allusive in a way that many from this privileged enclave are not. Drink to 2050. | 94
AJ | Dark, dense ebony paling to a brown meniscus. The fruit notes still have the upper hand over the rancio here, and the result is quite fruitcake-like; indeed, there are more notes from the casks themselves balancing out the aroma than actual rancio. Nonetheless, it still contrives to smell fully its age and clearly historical—tertiary rather than secondary. It expands and opens with time in the glass, and its constituents are so rich that I feel certain that more time with this wine would pay dividends. Fifteen minutes in, and you find a wonderful repertoire of vanilla-honeyed sweetness with Havana-leaf finesse. The longer you give it, the better it gets. Very ample on the palate; textured, too, with a fine depth charge of plum, sloe, apple, pomegranate, muscovado, and rosehip: super-fruited excitement here. The acidity remains fruit-saturated and vivacious, and there are some fine tannins to provide the counterbalancing bass. This is a hugely impressive wine that shows every one of its 31 years yet seems to want to double them (though I wouldn’t push my luck that far). Glorious Banyuls in a very fine flight, and this is really the biggest of all (though [the Terres des Templiers L’Absolu Banyuls 2003] has even better tannins, push, and penetration). To 2038. | 94
RM | Lovely, deep, dark mahogany and a narrow amber-green rim. Complex, slightly lifted, candied aromas of vanilla, malt, and milk chocolate are replicated on the palate with dates, cocoa, and spice. There’s complexity combined with quiet sophistication and finesse here; considerable freshness, expressed on the long, lithe, elegant finish. Outstanding. | 97
Stanton & Killeen Grand Muscat Rutherglen Victoria Australia NV (18.5% ABV) | 94
SF | Deeply saturated raven cedes gradually to a hint of green and amber. An intensity that flows down the palate; molasses and fig, date and prunes, plums and peat. A dense and richly structured example, capturing the inherent Rutherglen paradox, which equates, somehow: an excess of indulgence with a rich elegance. The wine is long, aromatic, and exceptionally promising. Drink to 2050. | 94
AJ | Certainly the most densely colored of its flight of four: ebony through and through. Rich, sweet, powerful scents, and not just Muscat either; there’s the scent of oily medicinal leaves in here, too, plus a trembling sugarloaf sweetness. Almost overwhelming on the palate: a grand lava of sweetness run through with perfume and bitterness and supported by acidity, too. No tannins, but the weight of fruit in the mouth means that you don’t miss them. Salty edges balance further. Magnificent, once-in-a-lifetime wine. And if you like it, why not once a week, too? Drink to 2035. | 93
RM | Almost opaque ebony and mahogany color with a hint of olive green on the rim. Deep, intense, with a black hole of toffee and molasses concentration at its core. Gloriously intense treacle-toffee richness just about offset by the fruity acidity that rises mid-palate and on to the finish, where the balance in this wine shows through. This wine is very easy to admire but might be quite hard to drink. To 2060. | 95
Stanton & Killeen Rare Topaque Rutherglen Victoria Australia NV (18.5% ABV) | 94
AJ | Ebony at the core; meat jus at the rim. Almost meaty on the nose, too, and perhaps just a little less forthcoming than its flight peers. A deep, vegetative sweetness. Great volume of fruit in the mouth and a hugely impressive wine in its own right. It doesn’t quite have the drive and perfume of the Muscats but is an overwhelming, almost daunting experience, nonetheless. Great sweetness; great acidity; significant rancio; and the texture from weight of fruit. To 2035. | 90
RM | Lovely, deep mahogany brown, with a glint of olive green on the rim. Slightly lifted and aromatic, with a lovely, gentle, caramelized fruit character on the nose, not as intense in style as the Rutherglen Muscats. Smooth, sweet, and caramelized, with lovely textural richness combined with considerable freshness; just a hint of molasses, but then a lovely streak of acidity comes back to offset the richness on the toffee-like finish. Beautifully poised on the finish. Drink to 2060. | 97
Marco de Bartoli Marsala Superiore Oro Riserva Sicily Italy 2009 (18% ABV) | 93
SF | Dense hessian color, with a marked watery rim. The nose recalls white chocolate, gingerbread, and dried fruit. Persuasive and elegant, both themes captured on the palate. Firm and commanding acidity provides an eloquent foil for the sweetness, and gently honeyed notes are complemented by walnuts and spice. Impressive length and a youthful vigor that defies its seniority in years. Upstanding and assertive on the finish. Drink to 2045. | 92
AJ | Deep, translucent amber. Meaty, rich, almost mushroomy scents—very much the scents of aging rather than of fruit itself (though there is some subdued date and fig behind). However, in the context of its flight, this is an impressive aroma, glass-filling and reverie-inducing, as fine sweet fortified wine should be. Mouth-filling and vital here, with a soft, understated sweetness lent charge, voltage, and interest by splendid cask/rancio notes and vital acidity. Excellent, inspiring Marsala, well worth seeking out. To 2030. | 93
RM | Lovely, copper-toned, mid-amber color. Gently pungent on the nose, with an aroma akin to an amontillado. Similar amontillado tension on the palate, with a tang of thick-cut marmalade, the finish tending toward dryness. Beautiful balance and poise overall. Drink to 2030. | 93
Chambers Rosewood Vineyards Grand Muscat Rutherglen Victoria Australia (18% ABV) | 93
SF | Dense, dark, and unforgiving; just the faintest of rims, itself more green than yellow or, long ago, purple. A classic Rutherglen nose of plum, raisins, and Christmas cake; spice and licorice behind it, with angelica root and pine essence also evidenced. Toffee, plum, and spice; beautifully balanced acidity and a finely tapered finish in defiance of the initial intimations of excess. Drink to 2050. | 94
AJ | Dark, dense black-red with walnut glints; a little denser than [Penfolds 50-year-old Rare Aged Tawny Series No.06]. That wonderful basso profondo churn of oily grapiness that you get from grand Rutherglen Muscats is much in evidence here: inspiring. Terrific; a liquid rendering of dates and figs, with lingering Muscat perfumes, lent complexity by softly bitter tar. A shame we don’t have the PXs alongside to compare, but this is (of course) a world original and an unforgettable presence in the mouth. Although overwhelmingly sweet, it retains balance and not just from acidity; the perfumed bitter grind counts for more. Drink to 2035. | 92
RM | Deep mahogany color, with a thin, nut-brown rim and visible viscosity. Open, rich, and heady on the nose, with wonderful butterscotch and treacle toffee intensity both on the nose and on the palate. Glorious textural richness and intensity, with that sublime treacle-toffee intensity lingering on the finish, which just stops short of cloying. Hard to drink but easy to appreciate. Now to 2060. | 94
