Other Fortified
2016 Gold: 3 Silver: 7 Bronze: 5 Commended: 9
2015 Gold: 8 Silver: 6 Bronze: 2 Commended: 6
Ever worried that your wine list is a bit, well, boring? That other lists are having more fun than you are? That there could be amazing ways to sex things up a bit if only you knew how?
Well, the Other Fortified section acts like The Joy of Sex did for bored middle-aged couples in the 1970s. With its explosive mixture of the exotic, the under-rated and the unexpected, it’s been one of the best places to go for a bit of palate titillation in this competition for several years.
Madeira, as so often of late, picked up the majority of the medals, with a superb range of styles and prices, almost all between £20 and £30. It was good to see last year’s Fortified Wine Producer of the Year superstar, Justino’s, back with other examples from its range, and picking up high medals. Also heartening to welcome a Sommelier Wine Awards newcomer into the mix, with D’Oliveiras taking two of the three places on our Gold List.
Yet arguably the most eye-catching entry here was the Diren Mahlep – an exotically sultry Turkish beauty that belly-danced its way to the front of our tasters’ imaginations with a combination of sweet, sour and spicy moves that left most of them priapic. Taster after taster who tried it was intrigued, stimulated and smitten. It was a fitting winner of this year’s Caspar Auchterlonie Fortified Critics' Choice Trophy.
By the glass, with food, over ice… it’s an extraordinary drop at a steal of a price. If you don’t think something like that can add a bit of va-va-voom to your wine list’s libido, then, frankly, you are dead from the waist down.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘[The Diren Mahlep] had the acidity of Madeira and an amazing price point. You can imagine selling that by the glass…’ Timothy Connor, Bread Street Kitchen
‘It’s tough to sell a bottle of Madeira. But you can have a bottle open for a year and it’s not going to go bad, so why not put it on by the glass?’ Andrés Ituarte, Avenue Restaurant
‘Nobody asks me for Madeira.’ Dominique Raclin, consultant sommelier
‘The fortified Muscats were a lovely way to finish the day. They all had a lot of beauty, and they’re great with food. Savoury, sweet, spicy and rich… they’re very versatile.’ Tamas Czinki, Northcote
“We do a lot of tasting menus, and I always try to use eclectic things on there that people don’t know very well. Wines like this would be perfect.” Michael Fiducia, Drake’s Restaurant
“We don’t see enough Madeira on restaurant menus, we should see a lot more.” Ignacio Campos, Hawksmoor Seven Dials
FOOTNOTE: Includes a wide variety, from Moscatels to Madeiras to liqueur Muscats. While prices shown on these pages relate to the size of bottle on sale, for judging purposes, prices were given for the 75cl equivalent volume.