After enjoying the highly acclaimed Domaine du Grange Neuve Monbazillac earlier in the evening, we decided to continue the trend of sweet French white wines and open this gorgeous Graves to pair with our dessert, steamed sticky toffee pudding and custard.

The most striking facet of this wine is the powerful and gripping aromas and flavours of apricot, both conserve and fresh. The bouquet is uplifting, yet refined and somewhat complex, despite the early onslaught of apricot, there is also elderflower and a lemony kick. On the palate, apricot conserve is prominent, dominating throughout the palate to the finish, which is honey clad and lengthy.

You could argue this was a little over-sweet and as such, I would suggest pairing with a dessert as opposed to an aperitif or with a cheeseboard. Best served heavily chilled.

BUY NOW FROM VIRGIN WINES

It's been a long while since I enjoyed a sweet white wine as much as this; with it's wispy tones of toffee, sweet butterscotch and burnt marmalade, it's hard to not to be utterly enamoured with this absolute beauty from the Dordogne! We enjoyed it as an aperitif and then with some soft blue cheese, quite the pairing, if I do say so myself!

Evocative honeyed aromas flood the senses initially, yielding to some alluring citrus, with a subtle grassy background note and a mild nuttiness. In the mouth, toffee, butterscotch and marmalade mingle effortlessly, creating wine harmony and a glazing mouthfeel, that begs you to take another sip. This wine has bags of character, a linear acidity and a grippy intensity, keeping all the flavours in check wonderfully and making for supremely easy drinking; no mean feat for a sweet wine, where the majority of affordable examples end up being overly sweet and cloying and ultimately one dimensional.

Serve well chilled, around 6'c and allow to warm in the glass and enjoy!

BUY NOW FROM VIRGIN WINES