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I tasted this alongside the Morris Grand Muscat as a point of reference. Same same, but different. This, if you can have such a thing with Muscat, is more nervy and much brighter - all raisin, spice and peel to the Morris’ rich coffee liqueur. I couldn’t really tell you which one I preferred because I tippled through a glass of each with equal enjoyment, and after the serious analysis was over (about 34 seconds worth) I ate a piece of 75% dark chocolate and called it a night. Happy days (or nights).

Opens with a bit of VA which lifts complex and delightful Christmas time smells of raisin, nutty plum pudding, toffee and rancio up the nose. On the palate intense and focussed with great acid cut and shape through the mouth offering flavours of chocolate, raisin, mixed peel and spice. Intense and sweet but fresh with no cloying or heaviness and a superb long finish. Grand by name, Grand by nature.

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Another fortified with plenty yet to come. This is a brilliant wine and it’s also a bit tricky to describe because I really have little choice but to rely on the tasting term “rancio” to relay quite how it tastes. And it’s heavy rancio here, so if you are unfamiliar with the taste, then best you try some of this to get better acquainted.

Delightfully nutty with almond, dark chocolate, old peel, vanilla, extreme rancio characters and a bit of VA lift. On the palate it’s fresh, clean and tangy with almond, butter toffee, wood, spice and rancio flavours. It really fills the mouth with flavour and has no sweet or sickly characters whatsoever. Enormous length of flavour and it’s also equally enormously satisfying. Magnificent.

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Confusingly, Morris seem to use their own nomenclature on their labels. This is falls under the Grand classification in the Rutherglen hierarchy, and as previously advised, I do believe it’s where the action starts when drinking Rutherglen fortifieds.

Complex and layered with walnut, coffee, toffee, Old Jamaica chocolate, spice and old woody rancio characters with just enough VA to lift rather than interfere. On the palate rich, thick and intense with acidity that cuts and freshens the complex flavours of nuts, peel, chocolate, Kopiko coffee candy, spice, toffee and delicious savoury rancio characters. Enormous length of flavour with a long sweet spicy finish that encourages the next exploratory sip. A top wine and a bargain for sure.

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Rutherglen. Classic. Grand. Rare. These are the stops that punctuate Australia’s other great contribution to the world of wine, namely Rutherglen Tokay and Muscat, and I think that if your want to get off, passengers on the pleasure train need to alight at Grand Central station to ensure a satisfactory ride. That being said, this is an especially good example of Rutherglen, and comes in a most fetching bottle complete with a popping glass stopper.

Lifted, light and fresh with raisin, spiced mixed peel, flowers, coffee and a touch of rancio complexity. On the palate a mix of toffee, raisin, coffee creams and bright mixed peel flavours. It’s light, sweet and fresh with a slightly cloying texture pulled back into shape by clean acidity and finishes long and sweet with an aftertaste of chocolate coffee creams. It delivers a bit more complexity than it needs to and drinks beautifully. Like revenge, serve cool for best results.

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Now one of the things that most puts me off many Australian VP styles is the horrid spirit they use in the fortification process. I think it quite often smells like rotting vegetable peelings or something equally ghastly. Then again I’m no expert…but then again I know what I like. And I like this wine. It smells clean and much like a proper Port style wine.

It smells of crushed blackberry, violet, liquorice, chocolate and earth with a clean spirit whisking it up the nose. On the palate warm and earthy with sweet black fruit, violet and dark chocolate flavours. Not too sweet but not too dry. It has good grippy tannin and a clean fresh wholesome aspect that makes it entirely chuggable now (dangerous) or many years later (equally dangerous but you will also be older and wiser..) A cute squat bottle holding a distinguished lengthy wine.

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I’m no expert at all on Australian Tawnies and VP styles, it’s not that I don’t like them, but rather because I tend to avoid them due to the fact that they invariably seem to precede a throbbing leviathan of a hangover. Now I know that correlation does not imply causation (or if you fancy a bit of Latin - cum hoc ergo propter hoc) but once bitten and all that….Anyway, I’m digging deep and doing a few fortifieds over the next couple of weeks so bear with my ignorance. Apparently it’s bliss anyway…

Splendid aromatics of violet, nutty rancio characters, vanilla, spice, toffee and coffee bean. On the palate it strikes a fine balance between the sweet toffee/caramel and vanilla bean and more savoury nutty rancio flavours. Good depth too. It is viscous and slippery but still fresh and lively with sour edged acidity and a long spicy walnut and vanilla bean finish. Splendid stuff..but do mind the head as you go through.

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This was originally packaged in 750ml cork sealed bottles and about 40 dozen were held back for museum stock. It was re-bottled and re-corked again in 1992 to ensure the integrity of the seal and it finally found a safe home after being carefully transferred into screwcapped half bottles a couple of months ago. It’s made from Cabernet Sauvignon. I am not going to rate this for a couple of reasons. The first being that it’s an old soldier and I usually don’t like to rate them, and the second and more important point is that I know 3/5 of stuff all about bottle aged ‘Vintage Port’ style wines, so don’t feel qualified to do so. Anyway, it’s a nice wine and would make a fine birth year present, perhaps as a follow on from a bottle of 1976 Grange or St Henri.

It smells of liquefied raisins, chocolate, old nutty woody things and perhaps some violet perfume with lifted spirit hovering above. On the palate rich and sweet with raisin, chocolate and nutty flavours and some warming spirit that intrudes just a little. Nice and smooth with light tannin that wakes up and offers a gentle farewell grip on the finish.

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When guests pop round offering a glass of ‘Sherry’ is always the polite thing to do and it’s a pity that practically no one ever takes me up on the offer. They tend to just look at me sideways. So I just drink it myself. Poor fools.

Intense and punchy aromatics offering salted almond, flowers, tangy orange and star anise. On the palate plenty of flavour with almond, salty licorice, chamomile and a light honeyed orange overtone. Fairly bursts with flavour, feels fresh and clean, and closes long and briny with a slightly aniseedy aftertaste. Fabulous Fino. It is what all the people with good hair are drinking this summer.

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We hadn’t tried a fortified for some time and on a cold night this seemed to levitate itself from the cellar to the house. As soon as it was opened it had the classic Mc Laren Vale blackberry, spirit aromas that I love. The palate has the same intense blackberry fruit with superb spirit, very heady stuff. The level of sugar seems perfect so all up a great wine. This may be the first review from the Winoramas new host. If so, it’s just not any port in a storm.

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I love Fino and Manzanilla. It is the perfect drink (and possibly best) to have of a warm summers night. I have tested this theory in Sevilla and also obtained equally good results in Sydney. A few of these, a quick beer, a few more cooling sherries, a cheeky beer, another sherry. Magic. This stock is bottled Aug07, and as with all Fino and Manzanilla, freshness is of paramount importance.

Aromas of sea spray, yeast, almonds and chamomile. So tangy and invigorating that the mouth starts to water in anticipation. Clean and fresh on the palate with briny salted almond and yeasty flavours and again with that lovely mouth perfume of chamomile. Finishes dry and salty leaving the mouth refreshed and ready for action. One of the best things you can drink.

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I know I have reviewed this before but I am doing so again, without looking at the previous note. Just because I like to self-calibrate, and as this wine is a blend I do wonder if the blend is changing, for better or worse (and I have heard some gumblings that it is the latter).

An unctuous nose, pretty florals, liquefied sultanas, wood spices, prunes in Armagnac and a bit of rancio. The palate is impressive, showing a depth of flavour, with rounded raisins and Christmas cake, a bit of peel, viscous, thoughtful and contemplative, creamy, and though the sweetness dominates the palate, some underlying liquour characters are also evident. A powerful finish, with a taste that just lingers, much like I imagined a kiss from Isabelle Adjani would have 20 years ago.

Other tastings: Here

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Wendy and I like Muscat, especially of the style made around Rutherglen. On a visit to Kays in Mc Laren Vale we saw this and couldn’t resist. It is bang on style for the sweet, luscious and raisiny muscats that we love. Just a little rancio/nutty character with intense muscat flavour, nice length and great finish. It was in a 375ml bottle unfortunately, 2L would be more appropriate to muscat lovers! Yes, it does have that wax dip stuff over the cork.

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The most striking thing about this wine is that it is one of the most consistent wines that I have ever had. It always shows similar characteristics, just that they age. I remember buying a couple of dozen in the early 70’s but alas rarely see it these days. However, there are still a few special friends that one can share a classic such as this with. Dark red with a hint of brown in the edge. The nose has heaps of blackberry and clove type spice. The palate shows lovely weight of spirit, drying tanins and a nice dollop of rich blackberry and spice. It goes on for some time and unfortunately is rather moreish but be warned, this is great at producing hangovers!

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I don’t drink much Sherry, and this has been sitting on the bench for while now. Not that it is any worse for the experience; it has been quietly chuffing along. It made from Palomino Fino grapes and was aged for over thirty years in the traditional fashion; so when I was in school it started its vinous journey - I knew one day we’d meet and so we have. A tawny brown in colour. The nose shows a peculiar sweetness, but not in a traditional fortified or dessert way; more of a nutty sweetness, with almonds, flor characters and wood spices. The palate is very drying, nutty, almond skins, fruity, but in a reserved backward kind of way. It also possesses a delicious length, nutty (again), very smooth and very refreshing. Just a glass and I feel invigorated.

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I drank a bottle of this over a period of about a week. Initially it was bursting from the bottle with enthusiasm of 6 year old on the Christmas bicycle, painfully primary, red leather and spices and such concentrated fruits that I just couldn’t stomach more than a glass. So back goes the cork and it’s in the fridge. After a couple of days, it had settled, with sweaty leather, sweet liquorice, cardamom, brown spices, blackcurrants, sarsaparilla, aniseed and gallano, sweet orange peel and also a savoury dryness. But for all the richness and diversity of the palate, the finish was a bit disappointing, with some bitterness and a strange greenness. A bad bottle or just too young or not up to scratch? I am not sure.

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As you might know, I always like to have a bottle of dessert wine or fortified open in the fridge for a nightcap. This one has been open for over 2 weeks now and when I checked it last night it was on its last legs. A promising nose: crème caramel, raisins and sultanas, malt, orange peel and some woody spices. The palate was underwhelming, sweet and non descript, with some sweet warm spices, but the sweetness was too sickly and syrupy, and there was no complexity. Pretty ordinary for the money.

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At a special meal with some great wine people this wine was decanted and served blind, with a cheese course. It had a soft nose with some jam and lovely heady spirit. The palate had the same lovely spirit but the flavour had sufficient raisin aspects as to suggest a tokay. Eventually I decided it had the characteristics of an older VP but it seemed fresher. Lovely companion with the cheese and when it was revealed the confusing messages of age yet freshness became clear, it was from a magnum. I used to buy a lot of VP especially Rutherglen but as I get older it seems to push me over the edge so it is not a style consumed very often. A pity as this showed why it is rewarding to cellar such wines.

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The ’sherry style’ theme continues and we now move up-market. Amontillado is about as sweet as I really like to get with fortified wines. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Unlike Lincoln who seems to be into all sorts of Ports and sticky things..

Lovely burnt orange colour. Aromas of chocolate biscuit, leather, rancio, orange peel and vanilla. Lovely smelling wine. On the palate just off dry with rancio, nuts, vanilla, bitter orange and chocolate flavours. It has a nice sea salt tang and yeast character too. It does have a bit of sweetness but beautifully balanced by those savoury leathery flavours. Dry tangy saltry finish with a faint suggestion of golden syrup to close. Marvellous stuff.

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Well I like to mix it up a bit on Winorama and what could be more quirky than a $12 Rutherglenn Fino? Anyway, I got back from Spain and saw this and thought that I would like to try a few more local styles. Dry sherry is beautiful wine and I think you can substitute it for Champagne as it has a similar flavour profile (to my mind) and similar utility. The problem with Australian Fino is that fresh is best and stock just does not move fast enough to keep it ticking over. This is a cellar door only wine so if you are passing through one day you might just want to do your bit to help…

Thick with flor and sweet brazil nut aromas, hints of orange oil and a slight briny tang. It has a touch of volatility too. On the palate sweeter nutty flor-sherry flavours. Not bone dry but it does have an attractive tangerine like fruit quality that compensates somewhat. Alcohol sticks out a little. Finishes just off dry. A good wine but does not have the refreshing mouth-watering quality of a top fino.

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This was another 2 week Port experiment, and again shows the robustness of this wine style. And I fee lucky that I did open this bottle because the cork was crap, soaked and spongy and likely to fail at any moment. The wine itself was initially quite varnishy, like a French polish, with red plums, sweet cherries and glacé cherries. The palate showed big and beautiful sweet fruits, lifted notes with zingy spices, a plumpness, brandy, black spices and black plums, truly memorable fruits and some woody spices. The wine was as solid as a rock for the next 14 days, losing most of the VA but none of the fruit intensity. One for the long term methinks.

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