This is the most beautiful list of wines.

Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese 2007 Mosel, Germany 37.5cl 14.99
100% Riesling grapes grown on the red volcanic soil of the Ürziger Würzgarten vineyard from 80 - 100 year old vines trained to the traditional Mosel Arch single pole system. Harvesting is done solely by hand to yield 50hl/ha before a careful berry selection and a soft slow pressing. Specially selected yeast is used due to the high osmotic pressure in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. The wine is then matured for 10 months on fine lees before being bottled in August. Alc 8.0%, TA 8.0g/l, pH 8.0g/l, RS 79.0g/l. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 1 branch.

Not a great deal on the nose. Sweet but not heavy. This doesn't roll around in your mouth. It’s sharp and lovely.

Willi Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Auslese 2010 Mosel, Germany 15.99
100% Riesling. Weingut Willi Haag is family-owned and run. The vineyard is south-facing and extremely steep, with a gradient of 75% in places. Vines are 25 - 50 years old and strictly pruned in Spring to ensure low yields with great flavour concentration. Grapes were hand harvested on 15th October. Fruit was very gently pressed in a pneumatic press and then fermented at 14°C in stainless steel tanks for 7 weeks. Matured on the fine lees for at least 3 months. Bottled mid-April 2011. Winemaker Marcus Haag. Alc 7.8%, TA 10.7g/l, pH 3.32, RS 116g/l. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 7 branches.

Little aroma. Weighty but with tang and a hint of fizz. Lovely after-taste. Like fresh apricots.

Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Auslese Gold Cap 2009
Rheinhessen, Germany 37.5cl 26.99
100% Riesling and although Gunderloch are not certified, they work closely to organic certification practices.The 30 year-old vines, planted at 5,000vines/ha yield just 50hl/ha (half of the region’s average) when harvested 100% by hand. Each berry was sorted rigorously before a very gentle pneumatic pressing. Fermentation by carefully selected yeasts took place at 8°C for 6 - 8 weeks. No malolactic and matured in cask for nearly 6 months prior to bottling in April 2010. Alc 8.0%,TA 10g/l, RS 140g/l. Available from Waitrose
Wine Direct and 2 branches.

Heady, rich aroma. Rich, oily taste but with bright and clean aftertaste. Just lovely.



Weingut Göttelmann Münsterer Dautenpflänzer Riesling Auslese 2010
Nahe, Germany 50cl 24.99
100% Riesling planted on very steep slopes of red quartzite slate. The Dautenpflänzer vineyard is just 1.2ha and was planted 30 years ago. Grapes were picked in the last week of October with 3 tries and a yield of just 2.5hl/ha. The fruit was pressed in a Bucher tank press then a slow, cool fermentation took place at 13°C with selected yeast until February. No malo and bottled April 2011. Winemaker Götz Blessing. Alc 8.0%, TA 11.2g/l, pH 3.5, RS 126.5g/l. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 2 branches.

Little aroma. Intense and wonderful taste. Nobody, nobody could fail to love this. It is exquisite. Mouth-wateringly gorgeous.



Seifried Estate Sweet Agnes Riesling 2010 Nelson, New Zealand 37.5cl 13.99
100% Riesling, hand-harvested in April 2010 in perfect late summer/early autumn weather conditions of cool mornings and warm days. Sugar levels at harvest were 38° Brix. The grapes were pressed frozen to release a concentrated intensely flavoured juice leaving the icy portion (water) to be disgarded. Cool fermented in stainless steel tanks for 2.5 weeks and the wine was bottled in August 2010. Winemaker Chris Seifried. Alc 10.5%, TA 10.9g/l, pH 3.05, RS 180g/l. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 3 branches.

Golden colour. Quite a stinky nose. Sweet and heavy with a tangy finish.

Kayena Vineyard Tamar Ridge Limited Release Botrytis Riesling 2010
Tasmania, Australia 37.5cl 13.99
100% Riesling from the estate’s own vineyards located at Kayena on the West Tamar River in Tasmania. The fruit was harvested from the 26th of April through to the 25th of May at a ripeness of 28º bé. Yields were low, averaging about 1.95tonnes/ha. The botrytis infected fruit had a significant percentage of shrivelled berries making pressing slow and limiting juice yield. Due to the very high sugar concentration, fermentation was a slow process taking some weeks. Alc 10.0%, TA 10.0g/l, pH 3.15, RS 191g/l. IWC Silver and DWWA
Bronze Medal Winner. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 4 branches.

Rich marmalade and tropical fruit nose. Very, very sweet indeed. Luscious and heavy with honey.

Torres Floralis Moscatel Oro NV Spain 50cl 8.99
Muscat de Alejandria and Moscatel de Gran Menudo. Torres have been producing this popular dessert wine, in the style of a Vin Doux Naturel, since 1947. The grapes were grown high up in Torres’ Mas Goma vineyard, in the Upper Penedès. They were allowed to ripen and shrivel almost to raisins before they were picked, with 6 hours skin contact before pressing. Grape brandy was then added to the must to avoid fermentation. The wine was then kept in stainless steel tanks for 1 year before bottling, with a further 2 - 4 months bottle ageing prior to release. Winemaker M. Torres. Alc 15%, TA 2.9g/l, pH 3.82, RS 177.5g/l. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 7 branches.

Gold flowers on the label and the wine is an amber colour. Strong burnt sugar taste with barley sugar and alcohol.

Crociani 2005 Vin Santo di Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy 37.5cl 19.49
90% Malvasia with 10% Pulcinculo (Grecchetto Bianco) from a 3rd generation family estate. Grapes come from the La Caggiole vineyard in Montepulciano and were harvested in Oct 2005. 8 - 8.5kg grapes are needed for just 1 litre of Vin Santo.The late picked grapes were dried until February on reed mats in open cellars followed by gentle pressing and long slow natural fermentation in oak. Aged in Caratelli (small casks) for a minimum 5 years. Wine kept in traditional Vinsantaia (special cellar) until bottling in June 2012. No fining. Winemaker and owner Susanna Crociani. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Alc 16.5%, TA 4.97g/l, RS 94g/l. Available from Waitrose Wine
Direct and 1 branch.

Wonderful nutty oxidative nose. Beautiful. Really nutty, almost burnt. Delicious wine.



Royal Tokaji Betsek Single Vineyard 6 Puttonyos 2007 Tokaji, Hungary 50cl 55.00
Furmint, Hárslevelü and Muscat de Lunel planted on black volcanic soil at density of 6,000vines/ha and hand-harvested in late-Oct. Aged for over 2.5 years in old Hungarian (Zemplen Mountain) oak and was bottled on 7th July 2010, then aged for a further 27 months before release. Just 2,390 bottles were produced. Winemaker Karoly Ats. Alc 11.0%, TA 8.5g/l, RS 183.5g/l. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 4 branches.

Deep golden colour. Stunning, I mean absolutely stunning, aroma. Like fresh oranges, and marmalade and apricots. Sweet Jeez! The taste is perfect. What could be better. Try this, please. *

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2007 South Africa 50cl 29.99
100% Muscat de Frontignan (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains). These historic vineyards were first planted in the late 1600s as part of the original Constantia estate, with soils composed of Table Mountain granite in ideal location for cooling sea breezes. Grapes are left to raisin on the vines, and are hand-selected. Fermentation of the sticky, concentrated must took place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, followed by 18 months of maturation in French oak. The wine was released almost 5 years after harvest. Winemaker Adam Mason. Alc 14.0%, TA 8.3g/l, pH 3.5, RS 177g/l. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 4 branches.

A tricky comparison between this and the tokaji. Deeper golden. The smell is also of apricots, fresh oranges and marmalade. This may have the edge. It has something floral in the mouth. Lovely.



Gonzalez Byass Delicado Fino Sherry 50cl 13.99
100% Palomino, this is a 6 year-old Fino sherry from the 3rd criadera of Gonzalez Byass’ Fino-Amontillado solera, the follow-on solera from Tio Pepe, producing a more mature, fuller-flavoured version of Tio Pepe with slightly more alcohol at 15.5% - the barrel strength – and slightly darker in colour. Produced exclusively for Waitrose, it is bottled to order for freshness, with an authentic original label from the Gonzalez Byass archive. The grapes hail from Jerez Superior at 20 - 70m above sea level with albariza soil. Fruit was hand-picked, gently pressed using pneumatic presses without crushing the stems, seeds or skins, then fermented in stainless steel tanks, before being
fortified to 15.5%. Aged in American oak barrels for 6 years in the Tio Pepe solera with flor. Winemaker Antonio Flores. Alc 15.5%. Available from Waitrose Wine Direct and 243 branches.

Tasted after a row of sweet wines. This has no trouble standing up to them. Wow it is exciting. Deep golden colour. Salty, dirty, yeasty and absolutely alive!

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