Please suggest v/good dessert wines < (say) $40/375ml bottle

[Softie]

Hi Everyone,

May I have your suggestions, please, on above-average to outstanding non-fortified dessert wines (eg Botrytis Rieslings/Semillons) likely to be available in Australia. Suggestions on best vintages would be greatly appreciated, too.

We're finding we are enjoying these wines more and wish to make a serious foray into buying - say 4-8 different wines/vintages. (At the moment we'd have less than a dozen bottles of stickies in our cellar of ~400 wines.)

(BTW, we had a 2003 Forrest Estate (NZ) Bot. Riesling last night. It was, to our tastes, nothing less than stunningly good.)

Warm regards,

John

[PaulG]

We'll be tasting a 2009 Mount Horrock Cordon Cut Riesling tonight at the Adelaide offline which meets your budget/size requirements, so stay tuned to the TN's to see if it's worth while!

[Waiters Friend]

I'd agree with the Forest Hill botrytis riesling. Plantagenet's (also Great Southern) is worth a look, too.

I'd also have a look at Tasmania, with Frogmore Creek and Josef Chromy (amongst others) producing the goods. All rieslings so far.

There is of course, the all-conquering Noble One.

Cheers

Allan

[burgster]

The Forrest Estate (not Forrest Hill as someone suggested) is very good, the 09 is stunning. I also like a couple of noble Viogniers; Yalumba and Trinty Hill. The best dessert wine I have tried from Australia or NZ over recent years is Riverby Estate from Marlborough. I can vaguely recall having a Frogmore Creek, but I think it was a Gewurzt, it was at the end of a big night.

[Rossco]

Im cracking a 07 Mt Horrocks Cordon cut on the weekend, so will let you know how i go

I LOVED the Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling...but i forget which vintage it was (2006 maybe?) I have the empty bottle proudly displayed on my shelf, so will find out.

Others I have tried & enjoyed is the Peter Lehmann Botrytis Semillon. Although it does need a few years under its belt.

Long Gully Estate Iced Riesling. This was pretty good for the price. Although to be honest the Brown Brothers kills it.

A long time ago (4+ years) I tried Lilly Pilly estate which was sensational. Cant remember if it was the Noble Blend or the sweet harvest.

Grab some Brown Brothers!

Oh yeah....I almost forgot. On the recent trip to Tas, I tried the Velo wines Late Harvest Riesling, which was great. Also had a couple of bottles of the Moores Hill CGR Late Harvest Riesling. That was great too.

[Softie]

Wow, thanks for the great dividend of advice so far, everyone. We do like the Noble One - and had lots of the 07 Vintage of late - but the Forrest ESTATE (NZ) 2003 was Streets ahead in complexity and moorishness; of course, comparing a 2003 under screwcap compared to a 2007 vintage (also Stelvin, BTW) could be misleading.

[milky]

Another vote here for the Mt Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling - it rawks!

Kellermeister Wines (Lyndoch, Barossa) does a 'faux' Eiswein, using Traminer grapes, and re-create the freezing conditions for natural Eiswein in large cooling rooms. The juice pressed from the frozen berries are made into nice sweet wines with good acid balance, and positively yummy! And quite nicely priced at $20 a pop - give it a try...

Also, I've found Brown Bros 'Orange Muscat & Flora' to be a nice VFM drop.

Cheers~!

[cuttlefish]

G'day Softie,

I think the Siefried (sp.) from NZ can be quite good. Framingham have some good ones from time to time.
Villa Maria make a noble Riesling that's consistently high quality.
I'd second the Brown Brothers Patricia, but I think it's "cellar-door only"
I'm almost certain I've seen it retailing somewhere, though.
Noble One, of course.
Lillypilly feature regularly with their little set of botrytis wines, and they're said to be good. I'd go after their one made from sauv blanc.
Suss out De Bortoli's second-fiddle one "Deen De Bortoli". It's cheap but good.
Tamburlaine in the Hunter have had a rather decent noble Chardonnay in recent times.
Spring Vale from Tassie have one made from Gewürztraminer, but that might have all sold out ?
Punt Road in the Yarra have a botrytis Semillon (or did have) that was supposedly not far off where the De Bortoli ones come from.
I can't think of any others from SA, or WA, but there must be some...other than those previously mentioned.

[sjw_11]

More support for the Mt Horrocks.
A number of the Hunter botyrtis semillons are good, e.g. Hungerford Hill, Briar Ridge, etc.
Brokenwood do some nice ones as well depending whats available, including a sticky sav blanc from Cowra thats excellent.
D'arenberg in Mclaren vale do a couple of interesting stickies, some with even more interesting names.
From NZ, Aurum in Central Otago make a whole range of impressive stickies. Cloudy Bay do an interesting sticky gewurtz.

[Cloth Ears]

Chateau Filhot 2005 is available from Dans and it's not a bad drop. And, it improves once it's open (for a few days, anyhow). Château Lafaurie 2004 is also, but it might be over your 'budget'.

I'm not much of a fan of the Aussie Sauterne or botrytis styles, but there are a couple of really good ice wines (or eiswein) out there. Probably double your budget, though.

Some of the Noble One were really good ('82, '87 and '90, from memory). Brown Bros Noble from '94 was good too. If it's Australian I tend to look for Rieslings excepot for the Noble One.

[Lucas Formosa]

Recently enjoyed an '05 Mount Horrocks and happy to echo others' praise. Consistently delicious stuff.

Punch (Yarra Valley) produce a similarly styled Botrytis affected Riesling in the same price range that's worth a look. Slightly riper style.

Craiglee (Sunbury) produced a really interesting late harvest Sauvignon which might be tougher to find but is eminently drinkable.

Looking abroad but available here at a pinch over $40 a pop, am compelled to recommend the Kracher 2006 Cuvee Beerenauslese. A stunning drop from a benchmark maker.

And for something different but not far off the Kracher in terms of agreeability is the Telmo Rodriguez 'MR' Moscatel, also available at about the $40 mark for a 500 ml bottle. Unique, dangerously lovely stuff.

Will confess I'm not particularly devoted to dessert styles so it takes something exceptional and well structured to move me. Fair to say all these did just that.

[Thommo]

d'Arenberg's "Noble" range of dessert wines were all extremely good last time I tasted them a few years back. Complexity and deliciocity.

[Craig(NZ)]

around here 1st growth sauterne has been good value. picked up a 3375ml 06 suduaraut a while ago for $48 which was sublime

from nz agree on forrest. also villa maria reserve. they prob the best of the easy to find labels. riverby noble riesling is also awesome value for money at NZ $25ish

[n4sir]

Add to the SA list Mitchell's Noble Semillon from Clare, Kabminye's Muscat Blanc from the Barossa, and Tilbrook Estate's Botrytis Pinot Gris from the Adelaide Hills.

While earlier Noble Ones are exceptional, FWIW I don't think recent vintages are quite as good as it used to be.

Cheers,
Ian

[cuttlefish]

Delatite make one from Gewurtz also

[Sharkey]

I LOVED the Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling...but i forget which vintage it was (2006 maybe?) I have the empty bottle proudly displayed on my shelf, so will find out.

Others I have tried & enjoyed is the Peter Lehmann Botrytis Semillon. Although it does need a few years under its belt.

Long Gully Estate Iced Riesling. This was pretty good for the price. Although to be honest the Brown Brothers kills it.

A long time ago (4+ years) I tried Lilly Pilly estate which was sensational. Cant remember if it was the Noble Blend or the sweet harvest.

Grab some Brown Brothers!

I agree. One of the best wines I have ever had (not just dessert wine but ALL wine) was a 1978 Brown Brothers Noble Riesling that we had in 2008. It was superb. Actually, it was so good I created a thread on it: http://forum.auswine.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=9177

[TiggerK]

Hi J & K,

I see older Noble 1's 375ml can be had at auctions for comfortably under $40 (95/97/02 recently went for $27-$34 + premium). Love the 02 personally, and older ones if stored well would be well worth trying, age makes such a difference with these wines. Cordon Cut pretty good too, would be keen to see how it ages medium term.

And agree wholeheartedly on the Forrest Estate NZ sticky, had it on AirNZ Biz class a few times and it was sensational!

Don't forget PX as an alternative option either... yuummmmmmy.

Cheers and best wishes to you both.
Tim

[Softie]

(Special Hullo to Tom and Tim, )

Everyone,

Thank you. Please keep any more comments coming.

FYI, so far I have ordered:

2007 McWilliams Ltd Release Riverina Bot Semillon
20?? Mt Horrocks Cordon Cut [the vintage my favourite supplier has, unstated, on his website!]
2006 Kracher Cuvee Beeren… [German wine names are long, aren’t they?]
2004 Forrest Est. Bot. Ries.
2005 Forrest Est. Bot Ries.
2002 LILLY PILLY NOBLE BLEND
2004 CLOUDY BAY LATE HARVEST RIESLING
2006 GRALYN ESTATE LATE HARVEST RIESLING

Warm Regards,
John

[burgster]

John

I would grab the Forrest 09 if you see it. And I think when you try them you will find the Cloudy Bay isn't in the same league as the Forrest or Riverby. I would be interested if Craig has an opinion on that.

I'm not a noble one fan myself so it will be interesting to hear how you find it compared to some of the rieslings. And don't forget the noble viogniers.

[PaulG]

For the record, the Mount Horrocks was beautiful!

[burgster]

I see the Forrest just got a trophy at the NZIWS.

[ozwine]

hi
my 2c says try mt vincent watagan dessert wine. their website desc. is about spot on (from memory), but think fruit cake. (its one of the tastiest wines ive tried) its $26 there, but be aware some of us bought it from grays for much less (its now gone)
cheers, happy tasting

[Loztralia]

I'm rather partial to the Tatler "Sticky" botrytis semillon (Hunter Valley) and the Vasse Felix cane cut semillon (Margaret River).

[ozwine]

hi
don't know if you're interested in auctions, but grays have Orange Valley Estate botrytis semillon 07, currently selling for $34/39 bid price per doz (remember commission + delivery) Havent tried it yet, colour looks good (dont be put off by photo where it appears to be blue!)
have tried other OVE wines & enjoyed them, not top class, but pleasant drinking
cheers

[BlaCkAdDa]

Only desert wines I've had lately have all been pretty good and are all cheaper than your $40 mark.

Pirramimma Late Harvest Riesling (this is pretty cheap by half dozen)
Herritage Estate Wines Botrytys Chardonnay is v.nice too though you may have to ring cellar door to get it.
Innocent Bystander Cordon Cut Viogner is v. nice too

[daz]

Wow, thanks for the great dividend of advice so far, everyone. We do like the Noble One - and had lots of the 07 Vintage of late - but the Forrest ESTATE (NZ) 2003 was Streets ahead in complexity and moorishness; of course, comparing a 2003 under screwcap compared to a 2007 vintage (also Stelvin, BTW) could be misleading.

Hope you enjoy tagine food too!