Wine & Spirits - April 2020 - 70

31 URANT
s t AL
ANNU

AFTERDINNER WINES

RESTA

In 2020, Port continues to be the most popular after-dinner libation in the
Poll -especially 10- and 20-year-old Tawnies, which monopolize the ten
most-popular bottlings on respondents' lists. Even in a restaurant specializing in the wines of Greece, which has a long and illustrious history with
sweet wines, customers reach for Port first, says Depoina Karapostolaki of
Amali in NYC. "Guests know Port," she says. "They don't know Samos."
The same could be said for Sauternes, which made a comeback this year
with Château Roumieu-Lacoste and Chateau Suduiraut at #22. At some
high-end restaurants, diners are even calling for Sauternes bottlings by
name. "Even though it is expensive and decadent, it does offer value," says
Cedric Niçaise of the Château d'Yquem he pours at Eleven Madison Park
in NYC. "Sauternes is the most important sweet-wine category, and there
is a clear hierarchy, with Château d'Yquem at the top."
That said, the range of dessert wines on the Most Popular After Dinner
list is wider than ever-in large part, it seems, due to the excitement sommeliers feel for some categories. Joseph DeLissio, who has an extraordinarily deep selection of Madeira at The River Café in Brooklyn, is not shy
about his love for the category. "So often we get the comment, 'I didn't
know what Madeira was. This is new!" Well, I say, this is one of the oldest
things being made. There are certain things people need to be exposed to."

MOST POPULAR FORTIFIED & DESSERT BRANDS
Rank
1
2
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
23
24
25
26
27
28

70

Brand

Appellation

Taylor Fladgate

Porto

Fonseca

Porto

Graham's

Porto

Rare Wine Company

Madeira

Dow's

Porto

Warre's

Porto

Niepoort

Porto

Château Suduiraut

Sauternes

Sandeman

Porto

Royal Tokaji

Tokaji

Quinta do Infantado

Porto

Ferreira

Porto

Ramos Pinto

Porto

Donnafugata

Passito di Pantelleria

D'Oliveira

Madeira

Kopke

Porto

Château Rieussec

Sauternes

Broadbent

Madeira

Château Roumieu-Lacoste

Sauternes

Château d'Yquem

Sauternes

Churchill's

Porto

Smith Woodhouse

CHRIS RAFTERY
Gramercy
Tavern
NYC

RAJAT VAIDYA
Daniel

No one is going
to skip the
aperitif at the
beginning of the
meal to plan for
the dessert wine.
So, dessert wine
will always be an
add on. Even if a
few people order
it, it helps the
bottom line.

Very few people
will say no when
you ask, 'Would
you like a glass
of Sauternes with
your foie gras?'
People love it;
they eat it up.

NYC

MOST POPULAR FORTIFIED & DESSERT BOTTLINGS
Rank Brand
Taylor Fladgate
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Designation
Porto 20 Year Tawny

Graham's

Porto 20 Year Tawny

Taylor Fladgate

Porto 10 Year Tawny

Warre's

Porto 10 Year Tawny Otima

Fonseca

Porto Bin 27

Sandeman

Porto 20 Year Tawny

Dow's

Porto 20 Year Old Tawny

Graham's

Porto 10 Year Tawny

Niepoort

Porto 20 Year Tawny

Fonseca

Porto 10 Year Tawny

Fonseca

Porto 20 Year Tawny

Rare Wine Company

Madeira Historic Series Boston Bual

Rare Wine Company

Madeira Historic Series New York Malmsey

Niepoort

Porto 10 Year Tawny

Rare Wine Company

Madeira Historic Series Charleston Sercial

Ferreira

Porto 20 Year Tawny

Royal Tokaji

2013 Tokaji 5 Puttonyos

Cappellano

Barolo Chinato

Donnafugata

2015 Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé

Yuste Aurora

Jerez-Xeres-Sherry Oloroso

Smith Woodhouse

Porto 10 Year Tawny

Porto

Château Roumieu-Lacoste

2017 Sauternes

Blandy's

Madeira

Château Suduiraut

1998 Sauternes

Fèlsina

Vin Santo del Chianti Classico

Fred Jerbis

Friuli Vermouth

Cappellano

Barolo

Quinta do Infantado

Porto 10 Year Tawny

Yuste Aurora

Jerez-Xeres-Sherry

Château Laribotte

2016 Sauternes

Château Laribotte

Sauternes

D'Oliveira

1989 Madeira Sercial

G.D. Vajra

Barolo Chinato

G.D. Vajra

Barolo Chinato

Ramos Pinto

Porto 30 Year Tawny

Warre's

Porto 20 Year Tawny Otima

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2020

10
12
14
16
17
18
19
20
21

22

26
Wine & Spirits - April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2020
