Penfolds Fortified Grandfather Tawny has intense nose with fruitcake, liquorice, raisin, and roasted walnuts all blending together with a seamless freshness contradicting age. A classic Penfolds palate with fruitcake, liquorice and vanillin oak flavours with a sweet full and round mid-palate, and a finish that persists on and on. With each vintage, varietal batches are selected for Grandfather. These batches are individually aged in seasoned old oak casks before being blended together at 14 years of age. This blend is then introduced into the ‘Grandfather Solera’.

Rockford needs no introduction, although most of the plaudits go to their red wines. This tawny is a fitting tribute to founder Robert O’Callaghan’s restored 1897 Paddle Steamer Marion; with the very old base wine being refreshed each year with small casks as they reach maturity. The result is packed with gentle dark fruit and dried/caramelized fruit notes and lots of baking spice complexity. You can happily leave an open bottle in a dark place to sip over the course of a few months, though we find it tends to disappear pretty quickly. The dark horse of the Rockford range.