Twelve miles north east of Orange, the village of Rasteau is all Provencal brown roofs and narrow streets. It is also home to the Rhone valley’s least known vin doux naturel. Made from old Grenache vines, this is a fortified wine made like port with alcohol being added to stop the fermentation while retaining the sugar from the late-picked grapes. Over 90 per cent of Rasteau vin doux naturel is white, or rather amber in colour; extremely sweet, it has never sold well outside the Rhone except to a few hardy trenchermen like the Belgians and the Danes.

In our view, the very rare red Rasteau vin doux naturel is an altogether more interesting wine, much less sugary than the white and a truer, more vinous expression of the sensuous Grenache grape. It is fermented to a higher natural degree of alcohol, and it therefore needs less pure alcohol to be added to arrest the fermentation; hence the more natural flavour.

Andre Romero, a small gaunt man with striking grey eyes, is one of the best vignerons in Rasteau and he certainly makes the best example of the Rasteau rouge vin doux naturel, albeit in tiny quantities. The 1998, made from 90-year old Grenache vines, is the best wine to drink with chocolate that we have ever come across. According to the latest dietary research in America, both indulgences are good for you - so enjoy it!