The incredibly high rating scores from the French Guides for this sweet wine are fully justified. It is without doubt the most satisfyingly complex wine we have in the cellar and arguably the most unique. The aromas and flavours of “Hommage” just go on and on, offering incredible length, harmony and balance. This is an unbelievable drinking experience and is a “must have” for any cellar and also offers outstanding value compared to any other sweet wine of similar quality.

CHARACTERISTICS

Visually, deep golden in the glass, almost coppery. The nose explodes with a blend of nuts, raisins, caramel, spices and more subtle aromas of white flowers, figs, dried apricots and orange rind. The mouth is rich, full and also has excellent acidic balance, so the wine does not appear too sweet at all and leaves a very clean finish. The aromas are replicated in the mouth with layer on layer of exotic tastes. A wine to savour again and again. It will age well and will match a range of foods, including Foie Gras, certain desserts and hard cheeses.

THE WINERY

A family estate for five generations, the family started making wine at the beginning of the 19th Century at Domaine des Bernardins. The property was previously owned by Bernardin monks (hence the name) before being transformed into a wine estate. Mr Louis Castaud was the first one to show real concern about how the village’s traditional production had almost disappeared and he was very much involved in achieving appellation status for Muscat de Beaumes de Venise in 1945 after 10 years of hard work. It is now considered a Premier AOC for sweet wines. His family were able to make Domaine des Bernardins thrive by combining know-how and traditional values with some of the very grapes in the AOC. Today his daughter Renée Castaud is still active in day-to-day life at the estate and his granddaughter Elisabeth, her husband and their son Romain now make the wine. Hommage was created a number of years ago as a tribute to Louis Castaud and is unique in the AOC for using a Rancio style multi vintage approach for dramatically increased complexity and a world class final wine.