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Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Royal Tokaji Wine Company from Hungary, European. The first perfect, 100-point score ever bestowed by Wine & Spirits Magazine. New, it has whiplash flavors and off-the-chart acidity that can catch in your throat. As it mellows, it casts an almighty deposit, it turns a wonderful bright mahogany color and weaves an astonishing tapestry of flavors - of apricots, quinces, marmalade, butterscotch... 'So different from other wines' said one critic, 'that it is like seeing a new primary color'. The first vintage of the true Royal Tokaji Essencia since the celebrated 1993, the 1999 Essencia is offered in a stately brass-hinged wooden box carved from Hungarian oak, lined with velvet and containing a hedonistic first - the indulgent Royal Tokaji Hungarian crystal sipping spoon. The spoon was designed exclusively for Royal Tokaji, enabling 33 sips per bottle - or 66 if you share your spoonful with a loved one. The back label bears the number of each bottle produced. 500ml bottle 2.9% Alcohol

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Ch?teau d'Yquem from Sauternes and Barsac, France - Bordeaux. Blend: 80% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc Color: Medium gold. Aroma: Honeyed, oaky, flowery, tropical fruit bouquet, magnificent and unique. Palate: Rich, opulent, concentrated and full-bodied. 94-96 Wine Advocate

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Chambers Rosewood from Victoria, Australia. My notes essentially read the same every year, even though the bottlings are non-vintage and I taste the most recent releases. Consistency and greatness are the norm at this Rutherglen winery. The average age is 7-10 years for the regular cuvees, about 70 years for the grand cuvees, and the ancient rare cuvees date back to soleras from 1890. It is redundant to keep repeating the same tasting notes, so readers will have to take my word for it ... this is one of the world's most remarkable dessert wines, and is worth every effort to latch on to a half bottle or so. - Wine Advocate

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Ch?teau d'Yquem from Sauternes and Barsac, France - Bordeaux. Wonderful aromas of pineapple, apple and lemon, with loads of botrytis. Full-bodied, but very refined, superfresh and racy. Goes on and on. Fabulous. Incredible purity and brightness. Like a perfectly cut diamond. Pierre Lurton, the manager of Yquem as well as Cheval-Blanc, really wanted to mark his arrival at the legendary estate, so he went to draconian lengths to deliver something superb in 2004. -Wine Spectator 95-100

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Ch?teau Rieussec from Sauternes and Barsac, France - Bordeaux. Fruity, with lemon, apricot and lilac on the nose. Full-bodied, with a lovely intensity and bright acidity. Long and elegant. The palate builds on the finish. Not the 2001 (Wine of the Year), but very good indeed. Wine Spectator Barrel Sample. Score range: 92-94

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Graham's from Portugal. W. & J. Graham's Classic Vintage Ports are produced in years when the harvest and the resulting wines are found to be exceptional. This occurs, on average, about 3 times per decade. After aging for 18 months in cask, the best wines of some the finest Quintas in the Douro, especially Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos, are blended to produce a rich, exquisite wine. Violets, roses, spices, and candied dark fruits emanate from the glass of the murky black/purple colored 2003 Graham Vintage Port. After four days of air, this wine's aromatics sweetened further, displaying jammy blackberry and blueberry scents. Bold, full-bodied, and expansive, the Graham benefited the most from extensive contact with air of all the 2003s tasted for this report. This opulently jammy wine assaults the palate with powerful yet soft layers of oily, candied red fruits as well as notes of tar and hints of mocha. A highly concentrated effort, it is creamy textured, suave, and reveals an admirably long finish filled with additional layers of dark fruits intermingled with spices. Projected maturity: 2030-2055. -Wine Advocate

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Quinta do Noval from Portugal. What a nose. Ripe fruit, with chocolate, blackberries and raisins. Full-bodied and medium sweet, with velvety tannins. Finish goes on and on. Layered and wonderful. Best after 2014. -Wine Spectator

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Dow's from Portugal. Very dark opaque purple colour, with a typically spicy nose and intense underlying aromas of blackberries and blackcurrants. On the palate enormous weight and structure with a marvellous balance of dense black fruit flavours and firm tannins.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Dow's from Portugal. Only produced or 'declared' in years of exceptional quality and represent a very small percentage (2 - 3%) of total Port production. The backbone of Dow's Vintage Ports are drawn from the companies' finest vineyards, Quinta do Bomfim and Senhora da Riberia. Each property contributing to the wines unique character and class. Aged in wood for approximately 2 years and bottled unfiltered, Dow Vintage Ports are considered to be amongst the finest Vintage Ports produced. These fine wines can be enjoyed young and vibrant or allowed to aged for many years in bottle, developing their very own style, very different from all wood aged Ports. 2003 follows the traditional Dow's Vintage Port style; drier than the other leading houses while retaining the traditional richness that is characteristic of all great Vintage Port. A wine with immense power and structure.

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Cockburn from Portugal. Consistently hot and dry, with no surprises and an optimal level of rain during the different seasons of the year. The vines grew with a low but steady level of water, allowing them to classically develop. A fine picking season in September lead to a harvest with above average quantity and excellent quality, mainly due to the consistency of the weather. He added, It was a good year especially for Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional, allowing a strong maturation of these leading Douro varieties. -- Miguel Corte-Real, Cockburn's Viticultural & Commercial Director Our blenders have been tasting, categorizing and identifying the wines that might go into the final vintage blend for the best part of two years now. Only after the most rigorous selection was the final decision taken; it's been a long, focused, process. This wine is intensely purple in color, with aromas of blackberries and mature plums; full and firm on palate, with a long fruity finish resonating with chocolate overtones. Try with a Stilton Blue and hazelnuts -- Jim Reader, Cockburn's Head of Wine Making and General Manager

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Ch. Coutet from Sauternes and Barsac, France - Bordeaux. Spice, dried pineapple, honey and light apricot aromas, like freshly crushed grapes. Full-bodied and very sweet, with masses of crushed fruit character and a long finish. Best after 2010. -Wine Spectator Medium yellow. Deeply pitched aromas of honey, orange and fresh apricot, with a suggestion of candied sweetness and some spicy oak. Rich, sweet and wonderfully pure, with a nectar-like quality to its flavors of overripe peach, orange and spices. Plenty of botrytis character here. This boasts an exhilarating chewy texture and superb aromatic persistence. Today this is a fruit bomb, but it's still an infant. Its superb inner-palate energy suggests that it will evolve very slowly and last well. Promises to be a great vintage for this chateau. -International Wine Cellar 91-94

Dessert, Fortified & Fruit Wine by Broadbent from Portugal. A balanced, silky red with serious grip. Full-bodied and chewy yet refined, with excellent fruit and a sweet finish. This is a Vintage Port made for importer Bart Broadbent by Niepoort. Always good stuff. -Wine Spectator