- Your Hunter Valley Magazine
Sweet Escapes: Top Picks
Following on from our Sweet Escapes: Dessert & Fortified Wines article (find it here), here are our top picks!
Three Ponds
Holman Tawny
This Tawny is only produced in small quantities in select years. It is made from Chambourcin fruit grown at Three Ponds' Broke vineyard here in the Hunter Valley.
TASTING This delicious Red Fortified displays luscious raspberry and ripe cherry notes with hints of liquorice on the back palate.
FOOD MATCH Perfect with cheese and desserts.
PRICE $30/ bottle.
CELLARING 10–15 years.
Savannah Estate
NV Limited Release Muscat
This Limited Release Muscat is made in the Solera style and blended with a Brandy Spirit. Bottled in imported Italian Vin du Vie glass, it is the perfect centrepiece on your shelf.
TASTING This Muscat is “Christmas pudding in a glass” with lifted hints of orange blossom, caramelised fig, and honey on the nose. It also has balanced flavours of rum, raisin and golden syrup on the palate.
FOOD MATCH Delicious over vanilla bean ice cream, sticky date pudding, on your pancakes in the morning and with a hard cheddar.
PRICE $55/ bottle – and Savannah will refill for $35!
CELLARING Up to 12 months once open.
Mistletoe Wines
2020 Petite Muscat
This dessert wine is made from the white Muscat grape, Muscat Blanc á Petit Grains grown on the Mistletoe Vineyard.
TASTING Pure grape juice fortified with neutral grape spirit allows the fragrance and delicacy of the Muscat grape to show to its full advantage. Rose petals, orange blossom and musk perfumes abound on the nose with a fresh, clean, beautifully weighted palate to finish.
FOOD MATCH Excellent with fruit-based desserts and full-bodied cheeses. Serve chilled.
PRICE $20/ bottle.
CELLARING As this is a fortified wine sealed with a screwcap it can be drunk now or cellared for up to 10 years.
Drayton's Family Wines
Heritage Vines Liqueur Verdhelo
This wine is from superior pedigree, having won 11 trophies at the Hunter Valley Wine Show between 2006 and 2018.
TASTING Tawny in colour with an aged green tinge, this wine has primary aromas of coffee, chocolate and toffee with citrus peel offering great intensity. There are great textures and layers of spice, rancio and citrus acid – all complimenting the aged spirit warmth at the finish.
FOOD MATCH A wine to be savoured on its own or with a cheese selection.
PRICE $90/ bottle.
CELLARING While awesome now this wine will maintain the fruit intensity and desirability for many decades,
best before 2081.
Tempus Two
2015 Pewter Botrytis Semillon
Pewter is Tempus Two's regal wine series, delivering a premium experience that embodies all Tempus Two has to offer.
TASTING A powerful and rich botrytis wine showing the classical hallmarks. Lifted citrus fruit flavours balanced with restrained acidity, the wine finishes with elegance and finesse.
FOOD MATCH Pair this wine with a variety of desserts including lemon tart or soft, blue cheese.
PRICE $30/ bottle.
CELLARING 20+ years.
Emma's Cottage Vineyard
2019 Pheobe
Though not strictly a dessert wine, Phoebe is a little sweet with a lovely light blush – a bit like her namesake, a pale strawberry blonde, a sweet young lady who has an answer for everything.
TASTING Made with Semillon and Verdelho with just a hint of Shiraz there is a taste of sweet guava, ripe lime and a touch of delicious apple.
FOOD MATCH Perfect with a seafood laksa or Sri Lankan chicken curry or with a sweet date and walnut log.
PRICE $36/ bottle.
CELLARING Enjoy now.
