Port, Madeira, sherry, Muscat … dessert wines to sup with Christmas pudding, cheese or chocs
Sivipa Moscatel de Setubal, Portugal 2015. £14.94, Weavers; Theatre of Wine; Vinoteca Port deserves more than being just for Christmas. Whether it’s being sipped with Stilton, with a single-estate, 90% cocoa chocolate bar or an outsize box of Quality Street, I’d defy anyone not to enjoy the sumptuous, dark, silky sweetness of Warre’s Bottle-Aged Late Bottled Vintage, Douro, Portugal 2014 (from £24.99, Waitrose). But port isn’t the only Portuguese festive fortified in town. There’s a dried fig and nutty richness and subtle sweetness, coupled with a zesty zing in Barbeito Rainwater Reserva Madeira NV (£13.95, Buon Vino) that is superb with a hunk of Lincolnshire Poacher and some Christmas cake, while back on the Portuguese mainland, Sivipa’s amber moscatel is tangy but luscious with citrus peel, honey and plump juicy raisins.
Campbells Rutherglen Muscat, Victoria, Australia NV. £12.49, Rodney Fletcher Vintners; Lea & SandemanThe Sivipa has sufficient character to stand up to Christmas pudding. Another candidate for the end of the festive dinner also hails from the Iberian peninsula. PX, the viscous, molasses-like style of sweet sherry made from Pedro Ximénez grapes that have been dried in the Andalusian sun, can sometimes taste and feel like liquidised Christmas pud. An example like Morrisons Pedro Ximénez (£8, 37.5cl, Morrisons) will sit alongside or in lieu of this festive finale or poured over vanilla ice cream. Equally effective as a style with flavours and textures that rhyme with pudding is an Australian classic: Rutherglen Muscat from Victoria, which, in the case of Campbells’ reliable example, blends late-harvested wines from vintages up to 30 years old to produce its fruitcakey elixir.
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