Torbreck The Bothie / NV / 500mL

Description:

Torbreck The Bothie NV is a fortified wine from the Barossa Valley in South Australia, built on a blend of traditional Barossa fortifying varieties including Muscat à Petits Grains (Frontignac), Semillon, Palomino, Doradillo, Grenache and Shiraz. Sweet, amber-toned and generous, it sits in the dessert-wine camp rather than the aperitif one, and comes in a 500mL bottle.

The aromas run to dried apricot and fig, butterscotch and orange rind, with a warm spice edge of clove and cardamom sitting underneath. Toasted almond and date follow as the glass opens.

The palate is rich and unctuous without turning cloying, the fortifying spirit soft and folded in rather than hot on the back end. Citrus rind keeps a thread of freshness through the middle, and the finish is long, faintly savoury and dry at the edges despite all that sweetness.

Pour it with sticky date pudding, a wedge of aged cheddar or blue cheese, dark chocolate, or simply a bowl of dried muscatels and salted nuts after dinner. The half bottle is the sensible format here — a fortified of this weight is drunk in small glasses over an evening, so 500mL suits a table of four or a couple working through it over a few weeks. It also means you are not committing to a full bottle of something you will only pour occasionally.

Ready now and stable for years unopened; once opened, it will hold well for a month or more in a cool, dark spot, though a half bottle will show its age a little faster than a 750mL.