SWEET AND FORTIFIED

2016 Berton Vineyards, Botrytis Semillon, Riverina, Australia (£5.99, half bottle, Aldi) IN SPITE of its teeny price, this is one of the most beautiful and balanced sweet wines in the whole of the UK. Bob Berton, who is its amazing creator, is such a great winemaker that he regularly features in my 100 Best Australian Wines Report. Ideal for tarts and cakes — this is a real treat. NV Taste the Difference 12-Year-Old Pedro Ximénez Sweet Sherry, Spain (£8, 50cl bottle, Sainsbury’s) MADE by the famous Williams & Humbert winery in Jerez de la Frontera, the ‘PX’ grapes are dried until they turn into raisins, then fermented, fortified and matured in oak for 12 years. This painstaking process results in the most hedonistic of all sweet wine styles. It is like a super-sweet espresso punctured by boozy raisins and liquorice notes. In other words, it is sheer heaven with Christmas pudding. NV Very Rare Amontillado, Emilio Lustau, Jerez, Spain (£9, half bottle, Marks & Spencer) YOU have to be a sherry aficionado to appreciate this particular wine because it is extraordinarily intense and very serious indeed. The balance between the deep raisin and fig notes and the brutally refreshing acidity is wondrous to behold. You could drink it chilled as a mighty aperitif or after dinner with top-flight chocolates (or both) and be in seventh heaven. NV Quinta do Noval, 10-Year-Old Tawny Port, Douro Valley, Portugal (£24.99, reduced to £19.99 until December 26, Waitrose; £24, reduced to £19, Oddbins) NOVAL has an impressive portfolio of boutique ports on the shelves and this is the pick of the bunch. It’s my favourite of all of the 10-year-old tawnies; I wouldn’t even bother trying the rivals. The flavour lasts half an hour, such is its epic build quality. 2004 Taylor’s, Quinta de Vargellas Port, Douro Valley, Portugal (£29.99, Co-op) WINEMAKER David Guimaraens made this elite single quinta port in 2004. With 13 years under its belt, it is on top form this Christmas. Decant this wine, pour generous glasses and then swirl and sniff for hours. You will enter a trance as your senses are taken over by this powerful potion, and you will be able to let the Christmas mayhem happen around you.