Muscat de Rivesaltes, Arnaud Villeneuve

Made by the Arnaud de Villeneuve cooperative in the Rivesaltes region of South West France this is what is know by the locals as a 'Vin Doux Naturelle'. This is curious as there is little 'naturelle' about making this. The must of the richly sweet Muscat grapes is arrested in its process of fermentation by the addition of raw alcohol. This puts a stop to any further fermentation, and digestion of sugars by the yeast, and leaves a richly sweet fortified wine. This then spends at least 22 months maturing in vats in the cellars before being bottled. Treat this as an aperitif and have a well chilled glass before a meal or as a digestif afterwards as it goes particularly well with strong blue cheese.

£9.99