One of the great vinous treats is a bit of an undiscovered trifle if you’ll pardon the pun. I know from personal experience that we often get to the end of a meal just about to start a delicious dessert and I think why didn’t I organise a pudding wine? Whenever I am prepared with a bottle guests are always tempted to match a glass of sweet wine with either pud or cheese.
With Easter upon us with its myriad of sweet offerings it seemed like an opportunity to look at a selection of naturally sweet wines.
We asked our three quality retailers for their best value dessert wine suggestions and coincidentally all three came up with wines made from the Moscatel grape. This is one of the few grapes that actually smells of grapes! Think muscat table grapes.
Moscatel de Valencia 2014 10% vol Marks and Spencer £7, 75cl bottle
With its attractive frosted bottle this is an old M&S favourite. From grapes grown around Valencia, the citrus capital of Spain.
Pale in colour, it has a luscious grapey and lemon aroma. It’s fresh, lively and brisk across the palate. This is a well-balanced sweet wine with lemony characteristics that would be the perfect partner to all citrus based desserts like lemon cheesecake or orange and grapefruit soufflé.
Late Harvest Vistamar Moscatel Limari Valley Chile 2015 12% £6.99, Majestic 37.5cl half-bottle
This is a late-picked Moscatel from the trendy beautiful cool-climate Limari Valley in Chile.
An absolute cracker. Very powerful honey and marmalade aromas which follow through to the palate. Concentrated and very long-lingering, the perfect foil to a rich dark chocolate pudding.
Moscatel de Chiponia Las Cruses Vineyard Jerez 15%vol £6.49 Waitrose 50cl half bottle
This is actually a Sherry made by quality-driven producer Emilio Lustau. It’s different in style to the above wines, delicate and fragrant with an almost savoury character on the nose. It has a rich, honeyed attack and a sweet concentration with a nutty flavour. Great with sticky toffee pudding or almond and chocolate crunch cake.
Wackus Bacchus