Sticky Ends: Top 50 Dessert Wines
Cool nights
Fires bright
What sweeter delight
Than finish a meal
With a sticky white.
Well, we might not win any prizes for poetry but the makers of Australia’s dessert wines certainly carry them off by the armful.
Sweet whites – the classification most wine shows give to dessert wines – is Australia’s most richly awarded wine show category. Last year 15 per cent of all sweet white exhibits were awarded a gold medal. That’s more than double the rate of Australia’s signature wine, shiraz, which had a gold strike rate of just 7 per cent. Australia’s second-most highly scored class is fortified.
Also unlike other categories, the class’s big names aren’t afraid to test their wares on the nation’s show tables either. Whereas the Granges and Hills of Grace wouldn’t be seen dead on a show table (or perhaps dare expose their wines to a blind taste test) the De Bortoli clan sends in its glittering champions to protect the family name.
They’re richly rewarded for the effort. Noble One is synonymous with sweet whites in Australia. Last year consecutive vintages of the label claimed two of our Top Five sweet whites while De Bortoli labels claimed four of the Top Ten as judged by Australia’s wine show system and ranked by our preferred methodology.
But others are worth considering. Bunnamagoo, McWilliams and Brown Brothers all received high points at individual shows while others such as Lillypilly scored consistently well.
Sweet whites take a variety of forms. Those that allow Semillon or Riesling grapes to succumb to the Botrytis fungus seem to be the most successful at winning judges’ hearts. Otherwise known as “the noble rot”, botrytis wines took nine of our Top 10 places.
Other methods include late picking to allow longer ripening times or intensifying sugar yields by cutting their feeder canes to starve grapes of their water supply.
Whatever the method or grape, many agree that the only way to finish a good meal is to come to a sticky end. Here is our list of Australia’s Top 50 dessert wines as judged by last year’s wine shows:
| 1 | De Bortoli Wines Noble One Semillon 2013 |
| 2 | De Bortoli Wines Deen De Bortoli Botrytis Semillon 2011 |
| 3 | De Bortoli Wines Noble One Semillon 2014 |
| 4 | Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling 2013 |
| 5 | Lillypilly Noble Blend 2015 |
| 6 | Riverby Estate Noble Riesling 2015 |
| 7 | Heggies Vineyard Botrytis Riesling 2015 |
| 8 | De Bortoli Wines Deen De Bortoli Botrytis Semillon 2013 |
| 9 | Trentham Estate Wines Noble Taminga 2013 |
| 10 | Bunnamagoo Autumn Semillon 2013 |
| 11 | Wairau River Reserve Botrytis Riesling Marlborough 2016 |
| 12 | Mcwilliams Morning Light 2010 |
| 13 | D?Arenberg The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2015 |
| 14 | Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Noble Riesling Botrytis Selection 2015 |
| 15 | Melange Wines Botrytis Semillon 2014 |
| 16 | Nugan Estate Cookoothama Botrytis Semillon 2010 |
| 17 | The Yalumba Wine Company Fsw8 Botrytis Viognier 2015 |
| 18 | Brown Brothers Patricia Noble Riesling 2014 |
| 19 | Sileni Exceptional Vintage Pourriture Noble 2014 |
| 20 | De Bortoli Wines Sacred Hill Traminer Riesling 2016 |
| 21 | Villa Maria Cellar Selection Late Harvest Riesling Marlborough 2015 |
| 22 | De Bortoli Wines Noble One Semillon 2008 |
| 23 | Wines By Geoff Hardy K1 By Geoff Hardy Autumn Harvest 2016 |
| 24 | Borrodell Vineyard 2012 Gewurztraminer |
| 25 | Lillypilly Noble Blend 2011 |
| 26 | Petaluma Wines Cane Cut Riesling 2012 |
| 26 | O’Leary Walker Wines Last Cut Riesling 2014 |
| 28 | Mcwilliams Morning Light 2013 |
| 29 | Hollick Wines The Nectar 2015 |
| 30 | Whitehaven Marlborough Noble Riesling 2014 |
| 31 | Giesen The Brothers Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2014 |
| 32 | Lillypilly Noble Harvest Semillon Gewurztraminer 2012 |
| 33 | Woodstock Botrytis Semillon 2013 |
| 34 | D’Arenberg The Noble Mud Pie Viognier Arneis 2015 |
| 35 | Saddler’S Creek Botrytis Semillon 2013 |
| 36 | Shut The Gate Blossom 26 Grs Riesling 2016 |
| 37 | De Bortoli Wines Sacred Hill Traminer Riesling 2015 |
| 38 | Seifried Winemakers Collection Sweet Agnes Riesling Nelson 2016 |
| 39 | Giesen The Brothers Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2013 |
| 40 | Lerida Estate 2015 Botrytis Pinot Gris |
| 41 | Hunter’S Hukapapa Dessert Riesling 2014 |
| 42 | Freeman Vineyards Dolcino Viognier 2013 |
| 43 | Lillypilly Noble Blend 2002 |
| 43 | Lillypilly Noble Blend 2008 |
| 43 | Berton Vineyards Metal Label Botrytis Semillon 2015 |
| 46 | Stanley Estates Noble Harvest 2014 |
| 47 | The Ned Noble Sauvignon Blanc 2015 |
| 48 | Mount Majura Vineyard Noble Pinot Gris 2015 |
| 49 | DiGiorgio Family Wines Lucindale Semillion Botrytis 2011 |
| 50 | Sieber Road Douceur Viognier 2016 |