Winemaker Notes
Once bottled, d'Arenberg's Nostalgia, like all other tawny style fortified wines, does not improve in bottle, but can be kept safely after opening.
Nostalgia's colour is a light to mid tawny mahogany and yellow brown, with khaki and olive green tinges at the edges indicating advance base material age.
On the nose, d'Arenberg's Nostalgia exhibits complex, spicy lifted nutty 'ranco' aromas. Caramel, toffee, coffee and butterscotch smells augment dried fruit, especially prune and fig characters, which are also evident on the palate. In the mouth complex oak, fruit and brandy flavours marry to produce a luscious, raisined, spicy nutty and lingering finish.
The palate, although generous with English toffee, butterscotch and Christmas cake-like flavours, is well balanced by the drying sensations that come from long aging in oak.
In recent times, roughly every other vintage Chester Osborn fortifies small amounts of Grenache and occasionally Shiraz to put more young Nostalgia material in old brandy buttes, barriques and hogsheads at d'Arenberg to ensure a small but hopefully constant supply of Nostalgia Fine Old Tawny when introduced to the final blend in future. Until then, the older Nostalgia is best drunk with local almonds, currants, dried fruit, cheeses and coffee.
Professional Ratings
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.