Dining

Hand Picked Dessert Wine and Port

Dessert Wine & Port at Hand Picked Hotels

Noble Rot or Botrytis Cinerea occurs when the grapes are left on the vine until the late autumn, allowing them to ripen and their sugars to become much more concentrated. Botrytis is a fungus which naturally develops on the skins of the grapes, caused by the additional moisture in the air with the early morning autumn mists. It feeds on some of the sugars, leading to a very highly concentrated sweet grape with high acid. This makes it ideal for producing the excellent quality natural sweet wines that Sauternes is renowned for and which are now being emulated by some of the more sophisticated winemakers of the New World.

Sauternes and Barsac 2001

Almost since the harvest was gathered in, rumours had been flying around that the white, sweet wines from Sauternes and Barsac were extremely good. But as it turns out this was a huge understatement. 2001 has produced a truly exceptional crop of hedonistic Sauternes, equalling and even surpassing the greatest vintages of the last 50 years like 1990, 1988, 1976 and 1967. Some owners and critics are heralding it as the finest vintage ever.

Hand Picked Hotels invested in these wines at the time of production and we are now delighted to offer two which are really showing their colours. Château Coutet is one of the oldest estates in Barsac and dates back at least to the 13th century. The name comes from a word for ‘knife’. The estate acted as a military centre in the 100 Years war. The wines at Château Coutet are fermented in oak barrels (of which about 1/3 are new each year). After fermentation, which ends within six weeks, the wines age in oak barrels for about 18 months. Château de Malle takes its name after te family de Malle, owner of the château in the 17th Century. In the 18th century, Jeanne de Malle married Alexandre-Entrope de Lur-Saluces. Just before the French Revolution, the oldest Lur-Saluces inherited Yquem while the youngest settled at Château de Malle.

Our Dessert wine & port collection

Bin	Botrytised wines	Price
901	Château Levant, Sauternes, Bordeaux, 37.5cl France 2007 Lusciously exotic with lingering flavours of peach, apricot, grapefruit and ginger.	£36.00
902	Château Coutet 1er Cru Sauternes-Barsac, Bordeaux France 2001 (37.5cl) Creamy vanilla and spice with a delicate richness building to sumptuous barley sugar and pineapple.	£60.00
904	Valdivieso Eclat Botrytised Semillon, Curico Chile 2007 (37.5cl) Deep gold, honeyed palate with mouth-watering citrus fruit characters and clean finish.	£35.00
905	Coteaux du Layon Beaulieu La Soucherie, Loire France 2008 (50cl) Rich apricot, honey and mineral character. Expansive and luscious with great balancing acidity.	£51.00

Muscats, Stickies & Dried Grape Wines

Bin	Muscats, Stickies & Dried Grape Wines	Price
907	Graham Beck Rhona Muscadel, Robertson South Africa 2008 (50cl) Perfumed with fruit, grapey aromas and sweet, floral fruit with peach and orange barley sugar notes. Clean, fresh finish.	£30.00
908	Muscat de Beaumes de Venise Domaine de Fenouillet, Rhône France 2010 (50cl) Pronounced, floral, honeysuckle and musky ripe orange fruit aromas with a lovely balanced sweetness and ripe fresh Muscat grapiness.	£35.00
910	Recioto di Soave Suavia, Veneto Italy 2006 (37.5cl) Honeyed aromas of dried fruit and peaches. Rich with sweet spice on the palate cut by a streak of minerality and crisp acidity.	£77.00
	In a Class of their Own.

Red Stickies and Port

Bin	Red Stickies and Port	Price
911	d'Arenberg Vintage Fortified Shiraz, McLaren Vale Australia, 2007 Rich bramblefruit lifted by spirited sweetness and a surprisingly clean finish	£32.00
913	Recioto della Valplicella Classico Nicolis, Veneto, 50cl Italy, 2006 Intense perfume, delicate with floral sensations of violets, iris, wild roses and vanilla. Full creamy sweet flavour, velvety and rich.	£74.00
915	Warres Warrior, Douro Portugal Velvety full body and luscious blackcurrent and cherry flavours	£42.00
916	Warres Otima 10yr old Tawny Port, Douro, 50cl Portugal Russet crimson with a fragrant, ripe-rich bouquet. Smoot, silky texture and subtle oak balanced by a fresh acidity.	£57.00
917	Warres LBV Port, Douro Portugal, 2006 Firm and full-bodied with a ripe fruit character almost chewy tannins and a long finish.	£46.00