From excellent classics to new-wave discoveries, the world of candy wines is nicely value exploring. One of the best examples might be transformative – which is probably why dessert wines go hand in hand with the end-of-year vacation season – but these candy treats deserve consideration year-round.
Bringing to mild a few of the most interesting candy wines from throughout the globe, outcomes from the 2022 Decanter World Wine Awards noticed a lot of luscious dessert wines awarded prime scores.
Of the classics, Tokaji Aszú was ‘in nice type due to the wonderful 2017 classic’ in accordance with Caroline Gilby MW, Regional Chair for North, Central & Japanese Europe. Sauternes, too, impressed the consultants, with Château Laville 2019 awarded the competitors’s first-ever Greatest in Present for the appellation.
‘We have now colleagues at DWWA who’re winemakers, sommeliers, retailers, wine consumers – every one among them is assessing the wines from a barely totally different side, and out of that what we get is a superb impartial choice.’
Sarah Jane Evans MW, Co-Chair
Scroll down to find 15 top-scoring candy wines from DWWA 2022
From Croatia, Slovenia and Greece to Canada, South Africa and China, nations all over the world noticed candy success.
‘There’s at all times a “purse” wine – one you wish to smuggle out on the finish of the day,’ commented Sarah Jane Evans MW of Simčič’s Leonardo 2013 from Primorska, Slovenia, which was awarded a Platinum medal on the 2019 competitors, Greatest in Present the next 12 months, and was Slovenia’s highest-scoring candy wine in 2022. It’s only one to look out for.
Under uncover a choice of the highest-scoring candy wines, from 15 totally different nations, at this 12 months’s competitors, with many extra to look at awards.decanter.com
Decanter World Wine Awards: the world’s finest candy wines
France
Château Laville, Sauternes, Bordeaux 2019
97 Greatest in Present
£23/37.5cl Tim Syrad
The primary Greatest in Present for a Sauternes. It has ample luscious sweetness, botrytis complexities and lanolin oak. Beneficiant, creamy palate, with crème anglaise and chantilly richness, and a touch of lemon. It’s not a Sauternes to maintain for a decade or extra, nevertheless it presents high-quality worth and large pleasure within the quick time period. Alcohol 13%
Italy
Colmano, Vin Santo del Chianti Riserva, Tuscany 2000
97 Greatest in Present
@ColmanoAziendaAgricola
This distinguished vin santo is a lightweight, translucent russet brown. The aromas evoke outdated libraries, however with a falling crystalline sweetness. On the palate, it’s intense and virtually bracing, regardless of its extravagant sweetness. Lingering flavours of fig, dried fruit, caramel and toasted almond. Alc 13.5%
Canada
Jackson-Triggs, Okanagan Property Reserve Riesling Icewine, British Columbia 2018
97 Platinum
jacksontriggswinery.com
Perfumed and alluring, with beautiful aromatics of lifted, floral rose, plus apricot and plush mango, main on to a textured, honeyed palate of zesty tangerine and alluring caramel, all underpinned with a laser-like acidity. High class! Alc 9%
Croatia
Benvenuti, San Salvatore Muškat, Istria, Coastal 2017
97 Platinum
benvenutivina.com
A basic model that’s highly effective, wealthy and paying homage to Sauternes. Totally botrytised, it has gorgeously concentrated
dried apricot, orange peel, brown sugar, buckwheat, honey and baked apple flavours, ending with a protracted honeyed tail. Alc 13%
Germany
Hans Wirsching, Iphöfer Kalb Gewürztraminer, Trockenbeerenauslese, Franken 2018
97 Platinum
wirsching-shop.de
Fragrant, with rose water, Turkish delight, lychee and Oriental spices. There’s an opulent sweetness on the palate, balanced by a noble acidity. A reverberating end. Alc 6.5%
Greece
Property Argyros, Vinsanto Late Launch, Santorini 2002
97 Platinum
estateargyros.com
A fantastically developed nostril opens with burnt caramel, fig, buckwheat, honey and notes of pine forest. The palate is
rounded and lusciously candy, providing toffee, caramel and candied black fruit. Nicely developed, with excellent
freshness. Alc 13.5%
Hungary
Gróf Degenfeld, Aszú 6 Puttonyos, Tokaj 2017
97 Platinum
£45/50cl Better of Hungary
Pristine apricot and ginger jam, peaches and cream, honeysuckle and orange blossom, with a stunning contact of warming spice. New Hungarian oak provides toasted, woody notes, and the palate finishes with an assertive and imposing texture. Alc 11%
Austria
Stift Klosterneuburg, Grüner Veltliner Eiswein, Niederösterreich 2018
96 Gold
£19.99/37.5cl Cockburns of Leith
A honeyed and wealthy, expressive nostril exhibiting crystal-clear yellow stone fruit, quince, black radish and peppery spiciness. Beneficiant and juicy on the palate. Alc 11%
South Africa
Klein Constantia, Vin de Constance, Constantia, Cape City 2018
96 Gold
£51-£70/50cl Broadly accessible
by way of impartial retailers
Unique Muscat fragrance: potpourri, jasmine, barley sugar. Focused on the palate with dried apricot and confit orange, plus savoury, nutty notes. Has a contemporary and nevercloying magnificence. Alc 14%
Switzerland
Adrian & Diego Mathier, Gemma, Valais 2019
96 Gold
mathier.com
Inviting and enticing aromas of peach, apricot and honeyed mango, resulting in a textured palate of lush yellow plum, caramel and baked apple. An exquisite mineral end. Alc 13.5%
China
Sanhe, Cailonglin Jinding Icewine, Huanren, Liaoning 2016
95 Gold
Liaoning Sanhe Wine Co
A beautiful scent of zesty citrus fruit on the nostril, with contemporary and vivid touches of pineapple and raisin. Honeyed, virtually lactic on the palate. Alc 12%
New Zealand
Seifried, Winemaker’s Assortment Candy Agnes Riesling, Nelson 2021
95 Gold
£17.49/37.5cl Waitrose Cellar
Delicate nectarine and lime rind aromas with notes of apple and apricot. A honeyed palate, with a incredible acid line and a mouthwatering end. Scrumptious. Alc 10.5%
Slovenia
Marjan Simčič, Leonardo, Goriška Brda, Primorska 2016
94 Silver
£54.95/37.5cl Orbit Wines
Crimson fruit characters with honey and apricot becoming a member of notes of lanolin, camomile and herbs. A spicy palate with swathes of tannins. Alc 13%
Spain
Gorka Izagirre, Arima, Txakoli de Bizkaia 2019
94 Silver
gorkaizagirre.com
Juicy and chic, with apricot, peach, raisin, orange marmalade and beeswax aromas and flavours, tangy acidity and a protracted end. A second glass, please! Alc 12%
Australia
De Bortoli, Deen Vat 5 Botrytis Semillon, Riverina, New South Wales 2018
93 Silver
£9.69-£10.50/37.5cl
Le Vignoble, TJ Wines
A fancy bouquet of nutty barrel-fermented components, and plenty of caramel and vanilla botrytis flavours. Candy and properly structured with some spine. A beautiful wine. Alc 11.5%
