Dessert wines

FRANCE
Sauternes: the most famous sweet wine in the world. The top property Château d’Yquem costs thousands of pounds a bottle. But don’t worry, there are some affordable ones around. Try a half bottle of the nutty Château La Fleur d’Or 1997 (£5.99 at Safeway). It tastes great with pecan pie. If your budget runs to more and it’s a very special dinner party, you can’t go wrong with the rich, luscious, stylish Château Rieussec 1996 Sauternes (£16.95 a half bottle from Waitrose). This top Château’s wine can be laid down and kept for a good 10 years – if you can resist drinking it. Great with pâté and pudding.

Monbazillac: a neighbour of Sauternes, but much less famous. Monbazillac is brilliant value for money. Try Waitrose’s Château Vignal Labrie 1997 Monbazillac, which is rich and honeyed with a hint of apricot. I recently enjoyed a glass of this with chicken Korma.

Premières Côtes de Bordeaux: again, a lesser-known appellation in the Bordeaux region. Tesco’s Premières Côtes de Bordeaux 1998 is excellent value for money at £4.49. Sweet with a hint of coconut, it tastes great with fruit puddings, but is not really rich enough to cope with chocolate.

AUSTRALIA
Australia has started to produce some top quality sweet wines. Brown Brothers Late Harvest Muscat at £5.99 a bottle from Tesco, is a really rich, sweet wine, a bit like liquid treacle. It tastes amazing with anything chocolatey. In fact, it’s almost a pudding in itself.

Windowrie Botrytis Sauvignon Blanc (£7.99, Marks & Spencer) is an amazing Aussie find, with spicy, honeyed, marmalade-like aroma and flavour. This is delicious with rich puddings such as trifle but has enough of a lime tang of acidity to accompany Thai Chicken Curry with style.

SPAIN
The best value Spanish sweet wine is Moscatel de Valencia. A cheaper version of the French Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, this is always unbeatable value for money. All the supermarkets and off-licences stock it at around £3.49 a full bottle. Rich and grapey, with orange marmalade overtones, it’s a great all-rounder and tastes excellent with all sorts of puddings.

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