麻豆约拍

Tom’s buns are naughty, decadent and irresistible. Sweet fortified wines are sort of the wine equivalent. They’re rich, decadent and pack a punch. Traditionally, they are drunk in the colder months, but I feel they can be hard done by. There’s a whole lot of wine in each bottle, or half bottle, so a little bit goes a very long way. They roughly half the strength of spirits so treat them with respect. A large whisky measure (50ml) can last for ages if you swirl, smell and sip it slowly. At a dinner party, a half bottle is probably enough for five or six people.

Joe, Daniel and Tom

Australia makes some of the most exquisite and rich dessert wines, but sadly, through being out of fashion, they鈥檙e something of a dying breed!

Joe Wadsack

Tom’s toffee and coffee choux buns

1. Campbells RutherglenEstates Muscat NV (Waitrose, Ocado £12.49)

Australia makes some of the most exquisite and rich dessert wines, but sadly, through being out of fashion, they’re something of a dying breed! A small fraction of this wine could be upwards of 50-80 years old. These wines deserve a bigger audience. In the beginning all wine in Australia was made like this, because in the absence of refrigeration, fortification was the only way of stopping the wines going bad. This is literally like drinking a gingery, date-stuffed sticky toffee pudding. A mouthful of this elixir fills the mouth with gorgeous flavour, and the aftertaste lasts for minutes.

2. Maynard's 10 year old tawny port (£9.99 Aldi)

In the absence of Aussie Muscat, a tawny port would do. It is made exactly the same way, but from red wine grapes. It also tends to have a fresher acidity and a drier overall flavour, because of the red wine tannins. This is astonishing value, for a wine with so much age. Tastes of dried cherries, prunes and hints of demerara sugar. Stylish wine.

3. The Wine Society’s Exhibition Mature Medium Sweet Oloroso Blend (£11.50 The Wine Society)

Sherry isn’t as unctuously sweet as Port or Australian Muscat, but it has layers upon layers of complexity. This is a true joy to drink on its own, but the figgy, coffee and salted caramel flavours are phenomenal with Tom’s buns. You’d better get into fine sherry quick smart, because the prices are climbing every year at an astonishing rate.

Daniel’s smoked haddock, grain mustard butter sauce & Iberico ham

Daniel’s starter is glorious and is north western Spain on a plate. To that end, why not match it with a saline, fragrant, seriously cool grape variety?

1. Muros Antigos Vinho Verde Escolha 2012 Portugal (£9.50 Oddbins)

This variety from near the North Spanish coast is born to be drunk with fish or shellfish. It is light, fragrant, but with some underlying power. Albariño, or Alvarinho as the Portuguese spell it, is achingly cool at the moment. If there's a more fashionable grape variety than this, I'd love to know what it is. Good Spanish ones are climbing in price, but at under £10, this is great! He salty minerailty and fresh acidity work equally well with the salty Iberico ham and the tangy butter sauce. It also doesn’t have so much flavour that it dominates the delicate fish.

2. Cune Barrel Fermented Rioja Blanco 2013 Spain (£10.49 Waitrose)

It seems that most of Spain’s premium wines, a rapidly growing list, go fantastically well with classic Spanish ingredients. Here is a wine that is lightly fruity, but packed with savoury umami wood and yeasty sourdough flavours. What more could you want with tangy buttery sauce and mouth coating air-dried ham? A little piece of heaven.

3. Navajas Blanco Crianza 2011 Rioja (£7.95 The Wine Society)

This is beautifully judged with slightly less savoury than the Cune wine and a bit more fruit. It is almost like a blend of the other two wines. Maybe this is the perfect combination here? And the price! This is quite literally silly money for such a well-made white.

*Please note that the retailers and prices listed were last updated on 22nd December 2014, and these drinks may also be available at different retailers.