The world of sweet and fortified wine can seem one of leather-padded comfort and contentment. It’s true that port, sherry, madeira and classic dessert styles are all about craftsmanship and tradition, of long ageing and slow sipping. So, nothing new to consider here, you may think – but that would be a mistake.
As the results from this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) show, these wines have stories to tell that reach back centuries and pull you up to the minute. Some of them may surprise you.
Colheita port: Time in a bottle
It may sound like a riddle, but can you think of a wine that was vinified in the last century but that was only bottled earlier this year? That’s exactly what the venerable Port house Kopke did with its 1957 Colheita, capturing a Best in Show in the process. (Consider: 1957 was the year that the Soviets launched Sputnik.)
Wines are tasted blind, so judges couldn’t have known its history, but the truth was on the palate, exhibiting ‘unrivalled finesse, subtlety and soft-fruited grace’.
Kopke, registered in 1638, is the oldest port house, with a history that spans nearly four centuries. It specialises in aged tawnies and colheitas.
Master blender Carlos Alves says: ‘Kopke’s Tawny colheitas come from single harvests and are aged in wood for periods of no less than ten years, and after which they are bottled according to market requests. These represent unique wines and cannot be reproduced.’ Indeed, drinking them is akin to tasting time itself. These wines are, says Alves, ‘genuine symbols of their time’.
Very old sherry: Oenological treasure
Sherry is a drink with odd nooks and crannies – which is what its admirers revere most about ‘their’ drink. The styles evolve and overlap, and some have a mind of their own, changing from one phase to another without the permission or interfering hand of a winemaker. But even by sherry standards, VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry) is a curious and much-sought-after style – and the Best in Show-winning Bodegas Tradición VORS 30 Years Amontillado is a thriller.
The way it comes about is complex. Technical director and winemaker Miguel Villa explains: ‘The ageing process begins with a biological phase under a veil of flor yeast, which we extend for ten years. The wine then loses the protection of the flor and continues through a long oxidative ageing phase lasting more than 20 years.’ The result, he says, ‘defines the character of Amontillado, preserving the finesse and saline nuances of biological ageing while developing the complexity and depth associated with prolonged oxidative maturation’.
Bodegas Tradición was founded relatively recently by Joaquín Rivero and specialises in mature, traditionally made sherries. ‘Since our foundation in 1998, our mission has been to preserve and promote historic soleras – true oenological treasures.’
Vinsanto: ‘The soul of Santorini’
The island of Santorini may be tiny, but it holds a commanding place in the world of wine – and not just for its lauded dry Assyrtiko wines. Winemaking has been part of this Aegean island’s heritage for centuries, and no wine is more emblematic than its namesake, Vinsanto.
This sweetly complex, wood-aged and age-worthy wine is the forerunner of madeira and northern Italy’s Vin Santo. ‘Vinsanto is one of the most historic wines of Santorini and an essential part of the island’s identity,’ says Matthew Argyros, winemaker and managing director of Estate Argyros, who produced Best in Show-winning Argyros Vinsanto Late Release 2005.
It speaks clearly of its provenance. ‘The wine is made from a traditional blend of Santorini varieties. After harvest, the grapes are laid out under the Aegean sun for 12-14 days, concentrating sugars, flavours and acidity before it is fermented. The wine is then transferred to old oak casks, where it undergoes a long period of maturation. In the case of our Vinsanto Late Release 2005, the wine remained in barrel for 16 years before bottling,’ Argyros explains.
The extended ageing contributes far more than oxidative character. ‘It gradually builds complexity, texture and depth, while allowing the wine to retain remarkable freshness,’ he says.
It is a deeply traditional wine style, produced according to methods that have been practiced on the island for centuries. In many ways, Vinsanto represents the historical soul of Santorini winemaking.
Matthew Argyros, winemaker and managing director of Estate Argyros
Oremus: A tale of old and new
Careful selection of botrytised grapes, slow fermentation, lengthy ageing in small Hungarian-oak barrels in a 13th-century cellar… These are just some of the attributes that make Oremus Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2016 a standout.
Making Tokaji is a process that’s centuries old, but Oremus itself was established in 1993 by Spain’s Álvarez family, of Vega Sicilia fame, in a project aimed at revivifying this historic wine from the renowned Tokaj region after the fall of communism. It has grown into a 100-hectare estate, vinifying traditional grape varieties grown on volcanic soils.
‘This is a really special wine’, says winemaker András Bacsó. ‘We are harvesting both berries and bunches at the same time. The botrytised berries are picked one by one, manually. The bunches, which are almost botrytis-free, are pressed to give us a base juice, which starts its fermentation. In the middle of this transformation the berries are mixed with the fermenting juice in a 6 puttonyos ratio, which means we add 6 buckets (‘puttony’) of Aszú berries to one ‘gönci’ (136-litre barrel) of fermenting juice.’ Hence the name ‘6 puttonyos’.
After pressing, the wine continues fermenting for a couple of weeks. It is then aged for two years in small Hungarian oak barrels. After bottling, the wines are cellared for 4-6 years. It’s a ‘quite traditional’ winemaking style, says Bacsó. ‘But in the background, we are following and guiding every process with modern equipment to make sure that the wine evolves in the right direction.’
A wine like this can only be made when the conditions are right. But when they are, the results reward the patience required.
DWWA 2026: Sweet & fortified Best in Show winners
Greece
Estate Argyros, Vinsanto Late Release, Santorini, Aegean Islands 2005
(Image credit: Future)
Best in Show, 98 points
In our 2023 edition of DWWA we were lucky enough to try a younger version (the 2015 vintage) of the historic ‘vino santo’ of Santorini; this year we got the chance to scrutinise a much older version, dating from 2005. It is shockingly good: a magnificent tribute to the wine which, during the C13 to C15 heyday of the Venetian empire, became the prototype of seaborne, oxidative and hugely concentrated sweet wines and thus the forerunners not only of Italy’s modern-day ‘vinsanto’ wines, but also (in later fortified guise) of Madeira. It’s a dark walnut in colour, with powerful but impressively harmonious aromas of fig, date, dried apple, tobacco, walnut and honeyed baklava. The palate is deep and once again packed with dried fruits, but the celebrated acidity of Santorini’s Assyrtico sends its electricity through the wine, and it also has a significant tannic presence (perhaps the result of the wine’s very long ageing), which brings further balance too. There is, finally, an island or volcanic saltiness apparent in the wine to set the seal on its sense of place. Alcohol 13%
Hungary
Oremus, Aszú 6 Puttonyos, Tokaj 2016
(Image credit: Future)
Best in Show, 97 points
Our judges always enjoy discriminating between each year’s clutch of Tokaji wines, and this year’s cohort was better than ever. Little surprise, then, that it resulted in a third appearance for Tokaji in our Best In Show collection, and the first-ever entry for a 6 puttonyos Aszu (the two previous laureates had been an Edes Szamorodni and a 5 putts Aszu). A major point of Tokaji differentiation is between the creamy, silky seductive-reductive styles and those where some oxidative ageing has brought drama and tang. This wine belongs to the latter group, and our judges relished its notes of cooked lemon and baked apple, of linden tea, of autumn leaves, tobacco and honeyed walnuts. The bright acidity, as always, brings an alertness and vim to the wine, and note how flavoury that acidity is: it’s the key to the wine’s fruited allusions, very hard to pin down – but endlessly refreshing and enjoyable to drink. Alc 10.5%
Portugal
Cockburn’s, Quinta Dos Canais, Single Quinta Vintage, Port 2018
(Image credit: Future)
Best in Show, 97 points
The 2018 Douro growing season was not an easy one: it was preceded by almost two years of drought, interrupted by a very wet spring (over 120 mm of rain in March alone), then followed by a fierce summer when temperatures regularly exceeded 35°C and in places hit 45°C. It also followed two widely declared Vintages (2016 and 2017), so many producers chose not to declare 2018 as a full Vintage but produced Quinta Vintage wines instead. Its nascent grandeur, however, is apparent in the fact that a Quinta wine from 2018 has won a place in our Best In Show selection for the second year running. This is a broodingly dark wine, opaque black-purple to the rim, with powerful aromas of blackcurrants, kirsch, violets and rosemary. It’s very sweet but fruit-packed over a ground base of cocoa and cherry coulis; the port has prolific fine tannins, very low acidity and some cleansing pure-cocoa bitterness for balance. Serious stuff. Alc 20%
Henriques & Henriques, Boal, 30 Year Old, Madeira NV
(Image credit: Future)
Best in Show, 97 points
This is the ninth outstanding Madeira to appear in our Best In Show selection, but only the second Bual and the first wine to appear from the ‘Aged 30 Years’ category. It’s a commanding wine, with levels of concentration normally only found in Vintage or Frasqueira wines: our judges were hugely impressed with that concentration and verve, with the complexity brought by its rancio notes, by its beautiful dried-fruit and marmalade flavours, and of course by its sweeping and majestic acidity. Pouring the wine into the glass alone will perfume a room. Once in the glass, you’ll find a deep walnut wine with perfumes of fruitcake, caramel, prune and thyme. The palate, which seems barely off-dry thanks to the scouring acidity, triggers a cascade of apple, citrus peel, hessian, lavender, root spice and raisin; the finish lasts at least 30 seconds. This is classical Madeira of grand purity. Alc 20%
Kopke, Colheita, Port 1957
(Image credit: Future)
Best in Show, 97 points
We’ve welcomed two Colheita wines to our Best In Show selection before, but never one quite as old as what one of our judges called this ‘swoon-worthy’ 1957 (bottled earlier this year). The Colheita style of vintage-dated tawnies usually delivers more individual and characterful profiles than blended tawnies with an indication of age, though the latter have unrivalled finesse, subtlety and soft-fruited grace. This wine is no exception to the characterful rule, with its aromas of ‘treacle, pickled walnuts, soy sauce and dried mushrooms’ and its palate of ‘immense concentration’, packed with raisin, lemon, lime, cinnamon and dried-herb flavours. Whether you buy it to commemorate a seventieth birthday next year or simply to put the colheita style through its paces, there’s a huge amount to enjoy in this near-septuagenarian. Alc 20%
Spain
Bodegas Tradicion, VORS 30 Years, Amontillado, Sherry NV
(Image credit: Future)
Best in Show, 98 points
This is the sixth VORS sherry to win a place in our Best In Show selection – though in truth VORS wines are so striking, so complex and so powerfully evocative that, once such a wine is entered, opened, smelled and tasted, it’s almost impossible to stop it going straight to the top of our quality pyramid. The term signifies Vinum Optimum Rare Signatum – or, as a plainer English alternative, Very Old Rare Sherry; the youngest wine in the solera must have an average age of 30 years, and many of the component elements will be much older than that. It is as much an apothecary essence as it is wine, with its scents of citrus perfume, wax, gentian and orris root, coriander and fenugreek; a tiny sip will detonate orange and lemon zest, coffee, more root spice, bitter almonds and dried sage (and no doubt much else: everyone will find different allusions) to the four corners of your mouth and on out into the universe beyond. After you’ve swallowed, those phosphorus bursts of flavour continue to glitter like illuminated jewels in the dark. Remarkable wine. Alc 21%
Lustau, Almacenista Antonio Caballero y Sobrinos, Amontillado, Sherry NV
(Image credit: Future)
Best in Show, 97 points
Every judge who tasted this arresting and ultra-pure Amontillado commented on its energy and intensity, its silky purity, its spotless and refreshing cleanliness and its astonishing length and persistence. After that, though, the notes and allusions each judge picked out differed significantly, underlining the resource and wealth which lies waiting inside this bottle. Prunes, chocolate and Darjeeling tea for one; seaweed, savoury notes and umami for another; orange peel and salted caramel for a third. The wine’s ‘downy texture’ attracted attention – though so too did its ‘firm grip’. An ‘ever-unfolding journey’ concluded one of our panel judges, summarising the appeal of this long-aged, long-treasured and ceaselessly allusive sherry. Alc 21.5%
Valdespino, Ynocente, Fino, Sherry NV
(Image credit: Future)
Best in Show, 97 points
This, only the second Fino to win its way through to our Best In Show selection, is (like the first laureate back in 2017) an older or Pasado style of Fino. You’ll see this instantly in its deep golden colour, and smell it, too, in the broad, complex, savoury-coastal tang of its aromas. Yes, there is yeasty flor present, but there is much else too: seaweed and marsh plants, balsam, dried lemon peel, coffee and (according to one judge) ship’s varnish. ‘The palate is big, bold and earthy,’ wrote that same judge, ‘with layers of beeswax, yogurt, galangal and nuts. Very very long and very satisfying.’ Don’t look to this wine for the chilled crispness and freshness of classic young Fino with ample bready flor; instead prepare for a journey into the warm heartland of the style with this statuesque, resonant and gratifyingly challenging aged example. Alc 15%
(Image credit: Future)
