A Sunday Festival of (Mostly) Fortified Sweet Wines!

Join us on Sunday, September 17, for the chance to taste 10 terrifically complex and delicious sweet wines you’ll love sharing to open an evening, pair with cheese and sweets, and simply sip to close out a lovely autumn day. Together they’ll give you a tasty tour of “fortified wines” – wines made sweet by the addition of brandy to stop fermentation while sugar still remains. Plus one non-fortified wine from Tuscany (just because it was too delicious to leave out!).

This is a free, walk-around, tasting that begins at 1pm and runs through 4pm and features 10 great wines at two tables. With some treats from the cheese case out to sample with the wines, it’s a great opportunity to remind yourself how delicious classics like tawny port and Madeira can be.  And also explore some less well-trod paths to regions like Banyuls, Rivesaltes, Carcavelos and more.  Here’s the line-up:

Cocchi Barolo Chinato NV - A blend of real Barolo spiked with an alcohol infusion of herbs and spices created as a post-dinner digestive in the 1800s. The perfect balance of bitter, sweet, and refreshing.

Dom du Mas Blanc Banyuls Colloque Le Hors d’Age NV - A vins doux naturels (wine with fermentation stopped by the addition of alcohol) from red Grenache grown on the coast in Rousillon, this is from wines averaging 8 years of barrel age to give a lightly nutty character to the deep red fruit.

Dom du Mas Blanc Banyuls Collection 1986 - Each year the domaine holds back a single barrel of Banyuls from its oldest vines and allowed to age in cask until ready to sell. Gloriously complex.

Chateau de Sau Rivesaltes Rancio 2001 – From just north of Banyuls, Rivesaltes focuses on Grenache Gris (instead of Noir) to create oxidized sweet wines of brilliant acidity and outstanding freshness.

Henriques & Henriques Madeira 5 Years Old Doce Generoso NV - 100% Tinta Negra fortified "full rich" ("Generosso") and allowed to develop traditional tang and nuttiness through aging in heat and for years in cask.

Henriques & Henriques Malvasia Madeira 15 Yers Old NV - The grape formerly known as "Malmsey" gives exceptionally rich, dense, Madeira but still plenty of vibrancy and lift. A full 15 years in cask adds exceptional complexity.

Quinta dos Pesos Carcavelos 1997 - The estate from the once famous fortified wine region near Lisbon is no more, but a few casks of this gloriously nutty, zippy, wine remain. Like a cross between tawny port and Madeira.

Butler & Nephew Tawny Port 10 Year - Created by H. Burmester and John Nash in 1730, B&N has an exceptional touch with tawny port - port from multiple vintages aged for around 10 years in cask. The blend of red port fruit and tawny nuttiness is captivating.

Butler & Nephew Tawny Port 20 Year - Double the time in cask means even more salted caramel, toasted nut, complexity to match the refined dried fig fruit. Lovely.

Pietro Beconcini Vin Santo del Chianti Caratello 2010 - The only non-fortified wine in our tasting is just too good to leave out! From a 60-40 blend of Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia Bianca dried on mats and allowed to oxidize during long aging in cask, this is nutty, sweet, and captivating.

Crisp autumn nights outside and chilly winter evenings in front of a big fire are great times to enjoy the sweet/tart/nutty magic of fortified wines like these. And because most will last from 10 days to pretty much forever after first opening, they are wines you can come back to again and again.

The wines will be presented by our good friends Jake Parrot from importer Haus Alpenz and Liz Van Wazer from Williams Corner Wines.  All will be available to order at special savings, too:  10% off bottles and 15% off any order of six bottles or more (mix/match across the tasting).

It’s an outstandingly delicious sweet and savory kick-off for fall. Round up a group of wine-loving friends and join us from 1-4pm on Sunday, September 17.