A focused selection of dessert and fortified wines — Port, Sauternes, Pedro Ximénez, Manzanilla, Madeira, Tokaji and Recioto — chosen for quality and for the role they play at the end of a meal, or alongside the food we sell across the rest of the site. Many available in half bottles, which makes sense for wines drunk in smaller quantities.
Why These Wines Are Underrated
Sweet and fortified wines are the most overlooked category in the cellar. They've fallen out of fashion in a way that has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with changing drinking habits. The result is that some of the finest wines on earth — Sauternes, aged Tawny Port, Tokaji Aszú — can be bought for a fraction of what equivalent quality costs in red Bordeaux or Burgundy. A premier cru Sauternes or a 30-year Tawny is some of the best value in fine wine, full stop.
They also pair with food in ways nothing else can. Pedro Ximénez with Jamón Ibérico or strong cheese. Sauternes with foie gras, blue cheese, or fruit-based desserts. Tawny Port with chocolate, nuts and dried fruit. Manzanilla with seafood and tapas. Recioto with hard Italian cheese. Sweetness, acidity and concentration combining in ways still wine cannot.
Port
Vintage and aged Tawny from the Douro. Vintage Port — Fonseca, Warre's — is a declared-year wine with structure and depth that develops over decades. Tawny ages in barrel rather than bottle, taking on the oxidative character that defines the style: caramel, nuts, dried fruit, spice.
Vallado 30 Year Tawny is one of the finest expressions of the style — complex, concentrated, long. Quinta da Silveira 10 Year Tawny offers serious quality at an accessible level.
Sauternes
The great sweet wine of Bordeaux, made from botrytis-affected grapes that concentrate sugar, acidity and flavour to extraordinary levels.
Château Suduiraut — premier cru classé, with genuine finesse. Château d'Yquem — widely regarded as the greatest dessert wine in the world, a name that needs no qualification. Both in half bottles.
Sherry & Pedro Ximénez
Manzanilla from Bodegas del Rio — bone-dry, saline, one of the most versatile food wines in existence.
Pedro Ximénez from Barbadillo and Alvear — the opposite end: thick, dark, intensely sweet, with dried fig, raisin, molasses and dark chocolate. Outstanding drizzled over vanilla ice cream, paired with strong cheese, or served alongside Jamón Ibérico.
Madeira
D'Oliveiras 5 Year — one of the most resilient and long-lived wines in the world. The production process (heating and oxidation during ageing) makes Madeira virtually indestructible, and an opened bottle keeps for months. Caramel, citrus peel and toasted nuts. An underrated end-of-meal wine, and an excellent cooking ingredient.
Tokaji
Grand Tokaj 6 Puttonyos Aszú — Hungary's most celebrated wine and one of the great dessert wines of Europe. Made from botrytised Furmint, with the Puttonyos system indicating sweetness — 6 Puttonyos being the highest. Honeyed, apricot, marmalade character balanced by bright acidity.
Recioto
Cavedini Recioto della Valpolicella — a sweet red from the Veneto, made from partially dried Corvina grapes in the same tradition as Amarone but retaining residual sugar. Rich, concentrated, deeply fruity. Pairs well with chocolate desserts and aged cheese.
Delivery
Next-working-day UK courier — or choose your preferred delivery date at checkout. Orders before 2pm dispatch same day. Free weekday delivery over £225.
