Light Cookies

Fortified · Full · Sweet

Sherry's middle path — starts as Fino under flor, ages oxidatively when the flor dies. Hazelnut, salted almond, dried orange peel. Drink with hard cheese or rich stews.

Roussillon's fortified dessert red — Grenache-based, port-like, with notes of cocoa, walnut, and dried fig. The classic chocolate-dessert pairing.

White · Medium · Dry

Lychee, rose petal, and a touch of ginger; medium-bodied, low-acid, and unmistakable. The wine for any cuisine where the spice cabinet did the heavy lifting.

White · Medium · Dry

Aromatic, racy, and shapeshifting — bone-dry in Alsace, off-dry on the Mosel, syrupy and ageless when late-harvested. The single most versatile wine for spicy food on earth.

Fortified · Full · Sweet

Portuguese island wine that gets better the more it's mistreated — heated, aged, oxidized into nutty, caramel-tinged immortality. Drink Sercial dry as an aperitif; Bual or Malmsey with dessert.

The Muscat grape family — covers everything from dry Alsace styles through sweet Beaumes-de-Venise to ancient Greek dessert wines. Always perfumed; always smells like grapes.

Fortified · Full · Sweet

Sherry's fullest dry style — aged oxidatively from the start, no flor. Walnut, fig, leather; the wine for game and aged hard cheese.

Fortified · Full · Sweet

Fortified red from Portugal's Douro Valley — sweet, warming, and surprisingly versatile. Ruby and LBV are for everyday; Vintage and Tawny are for serious occasions. Pair with blue cheese, walnuts, or just a fire.

Dessert · Medium · Sweet

Amarone's sweet ancestor — the same dried-grape technique stopped before the sugar finishes fermenting. Cherry, fig, cocoa; dessert in liquid form.

Dessert · Full · Sweet

Bordeaux's legendary sweet white — Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc hit by noble rot, then patiently fermented. Honey, apricot, candied citrus, and a finish that lasts a small eternity. Pair with foie gras, blue cheese, or a fruit tart.

Dessert · Medium · Sweet

Tuscany's traditional sweet wine — grapes dried on mats, fermented and aged in small barrels for years. Honey, dried fig, and a strong nutty finish. Pair with biscotti for the classic dunk.