My intention today is to show how a strong dollar is allowing us to bring in wines that we may not have considered in the recent past and also how we are able to lower prices on others.

This does not happen across the whole spectrum as we have to consider weather patterns as well.

Take, for instance, the wines from Chablis. In 2016 this area had its worst conditions in the past 35 years. Hail shredded the fruit and frost caused the grapes to split open. Even mildew was on the rampage and the end result was a harvest 50 per cent lower than average. No price breaks from there for sure; in fact, probably an overall shortage of their wine.

Spatlese is near and dear to my heart as it was the very first wine that I shared with someone who has since walked through so many of our world’s vineyards with me, including the very one I write about now in Germany. The wine is Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese 2014. Let us break it down word by word.

The Dr Loosen family has owned some of the most treasured estates in the Mosel River region for more than 200 years, and Ernst Loosen runs it today and makes stunningly intense, world-class rieslings.

Er means from and so this is from the town of Wehlen (Piesport-er, Neirstein-er and so on). A sonnenuhr (sundial) stands in this famous vineyard as one was placed there when the workers became unionised and needed to know when to start and finish their workday. Riesling is, of course, the classic grape of Germany and it is definitely making a comeback.

Spatlese, which means late-picked, deserves a story. Each year, the monks at a very famous abbey had to wait for a messenger from the archbishop to arrive and give his permission to begin the harvest. One fateful year the young man met a young lady and tarried in a village for some weeks. The monks were beside themselves with worry and when they finally picked the “overripe” fruit they discovered a new and wonderful class of wine. In fact, this has now been extended to Auslese from even riper selected bunches; Beerenauslese, or late-picked selected berries and even trockenbeerenauslese or selected, late-picked, individual, dried berries.

Wine Enthusiast writes of this spatlese: “94/100 and cellar selection; touches of exotic spice and crushed minerals lend complexity to sun-kissed peach and melon flavours in this medium-sweet riesling. It is punchy and spry, full of high-toned acidity and lift, but finishes long, lean and elegant. It’s youthful and exuberant now, but should continue to meld beautifully”.

The point I wish to make with this wine is that only a short time ago, we would have not considered importing one of this level from such an historic vineyard as it would probably have been priced in the mid to higher $40 range, but we can offer it for $33.90. Try it with Pacific Rim dishes.

Because of a better exchange rate and even savings on shipping costs, we are just lowering our latest shipment from Hungary of The Royal Tokaji Wine Company Kek 5 Puttonyos Aszu 2013 in half-litre bottles from $47.70 to $38.90.

This fine producer in the world’s very first designated wine appellation was founded in 1990 and it was the goal of noted author and wine historian Hugh Johnson, to bring back international acclaim to one of history’s most renowned wine regions. With over 100 international awards they have done just that.

The winery suggests trying this wine with fois gras, blue cheese, dessert and, perhaps surprisingly, with roast pork. I personally felt it perfect with mince tarts at Christmastime.

Puttonyos indicate the level of sweetness and they range from three to six. The law stipulates that five puttonyos must be between 120 and 150 grams per litre of wine. Our taste buds start to perceive sweetness at five grams per litre and so this is definitely a sweet “dessert” wine.

Tokaji is made from handpicked shrivelled (aszu) very ripe berries that are very full of sugar and wondrous flavours of apricots, orange peel, figs and cinnamon.

With grape names like Sargamuskotaly, Koverszolo and Kabar, we will leave it at that.

Leading international chefs and sommeliers have more fun with these wines than almost any other as their uplifting acidity, combined with their colourful flavours are sensational. If you do not feel hungry and are disposed towards cigars, this is another fine match.

•This column is a paid-for advertorial for Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. Michael Robinson is Director of Wine at Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. He can be contacted at mrobinson@bll.bm or 295-0176. Burrows Lightbourn has stores in Hamilton (Front Street East, 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits is available online at www.wineonline.bm.