Ben Ryé Meets Westmorland Pepper Cake for WOTY 2025
Welcome to the Wine Alchemy Wine of the Year (WOTY) award for 2025. This year, it is also part of the occasional series that pairs Wine with Cake. This year’s WOTY is Ben Ryé, one of the world’s greatest sweet wines, and a true masterpiece. Here it pairs with Westmorland Pepper Cake, a unique Cumbrian fruitcake rescued from extinction with help from Slow Food’s Ark of Taste. This match is made in heaven.
Pantelleria, Sicily
Ben Ryé comes from the Sicilian volcanic island of Pantelleria, made by Donnafugata at their Cantina Khamma winery. Pantelleria is located off the southwest coast, being the largest of the Sicilian islands, about 14 km long and 8 km wide. Large enough to have an airport and a population of 7,500, the Pantelleria DOC totals about 450 hectares, surrounded by an extensive national park.
Ben Ryé is an Arabic name, meaning “Son of the Wind.” As for the grape variety, it’s Moscato di Alessandria, a truly ancient white grape variety found widely around Mediterranean coasts, but probably of Italian or Greek origins. It’s known here as Zibbibo, which is Arabic for “raisin”. Indeed, Passito di Pantelleria is a dried grape wine, the best in the DOC 1.
Terroir
This place is closer to Tunisia in Africa than it is to Sicily.2 Hence, the islands’ terroir is understandably harsh, but it is not uniform. The soils comprise porous black volcanic ash and lava flows, while the constant winds are strong, humid and brine-laden. The climate is dry and hot, with rainfall infrequent, and the sunlight is intense and scorching. Few grape varieties could tolerate such conditions as well as Zibbibo. However, the mountainous topography offers different elevations, aspects and exposures, and the island is surprisingly green. There are macchia scrublands that include capers, olives, honeysuckle and broom. The last volcanic eruption here was in 1891, but there is visible activity in the form of hot springs and fumaroles.
Ben Ryé
Under such conditions, the winegrowing here can rightly be described as “heroic” and dates back to the Phoenicians. It takes at least three times as many hours of manual toil to cultivate vines here as in an average Sicilian vineyard. The vines are planted in low density and are trained as Albarello Pantesco – single bush vines that hug the ground and spread horizontally, with their roots in pits that collect the morning dew and resist the wind. Only 1.5 – 2 kg of grapes are produced by each bush, which often grow on steep terraces held in place by ancient walls built from black volcanic lava. Since 2014, UNESCO has listed Pantelleria in its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Vineyard altitudes range from 20 metres to 400 metres, so grape maturation varies widely according to location. Those sites that ripen the earliest, in early to mid-August, are often considered the best, as this is when water is most available. That’s quite a contrast to many of the world’s sweet wines, where the harvest is delayed as late as possible!
Donnafugata
Donnafugata-Pantelleria-Contrada-Khamma
Meanwhile, Donnafugata is one of Italy’s great wine estates and a founder member of the prestigious Comitato Grandi Cru d’Italia.
Founded in 1983 in Marsala, Sicily, by the Rallo family, Donnafugata now have five different Sicilian wineries, of which Cantina Khamma on Pantelleria is one.
Of their many eco-initiatives, they are members of SOStain Sustainable Sicily and employ lightweight bottles made of 90% recycled glass.
On Pantelleria, Donnafugata have invested heavily in its 68 hectares of Zibbibo. This is grown at 16 sites around the island, inside some 40 km of drystone walls. Their Zibbibo vines include a rescued vineyard of ungrafted vines over 100 years old. Since 2010, a research vineyard has studied 33 different Zibbibo clones from Italy, France, Spain and Greece.
The largest plot is at Contrade Khamma, on the eastern side of the island, including the vines that predate phylloxera, and which also hosts the modern winery.
Donnafugata, Ben Ryé, DOC Passito di Pantelleria, Sicily, 2002. 14.5%
Donnafugata Ben Ryé Label
Technical
The Zibbibo harvest commences in August, and these first grapes are the best selection. These dry into raisins on racks exposed to the sun and wind. They lose 60% of their weight, but this concentrates aroma and flavour.
Meanwhile, the grapes harvested in later selections are pressed into a fresh must, and then this undergoes a long, slow fermentation in stainless steel, which lasts over a month.
During this fermentation, the destemmed dried grapes are gradually added to the fermenting must in several stages. This enables the Zibibbo to release all its aromatics, ensuring the resulting wine achieves a precise and natural balance of sugar, alcohol, and acidity. Note that there is no fortification with alcohol – such wine styles do exist in the DOC, known as Liqouroso, but in comparison, they are poor relations.
Maturation is then for eight months in stainless steel, followed by 16 months in the bottle, under a FOR 51 cork. In 2022, considered a good and typical vintage, the wine naturally fermented to 14.5% alcohol, with 203 g/l of residual sugar and 7.6 g/l acidity. It’s certified organic, vegetarian and vegan.
Tasting
Ben Ryé is a brilliant amber with a slight rose hue in the centre of the glass, and leggy with glycerine. There is an intense and complex aroma which encompasses dried apricot and burnt Seville oranges, hints of honey, broom, and white flowers.
On the palate, there is noticeable viscosity, but this is neither thick nor cloying. Neither is it overpoweringly sweet, being tempered by fresh, vibrant acidity. In fact, what’s memorable is the precise balance between alcohol, acidity and sugar, doubtless because of that skilful addition of the dried grapes to the fermenting must.
Flavour-wise, honeyed tones marry with fruit intensity. Seville oranges are to the fore, but there’s also apricot, figs and raisins. The alcohol is unobtrusive, while a balsamic undertow leads to a persistent yet clean finish that measures in minutes. The final farewell contains hints of marzipan and salinity. In short, this is an astonishing, beautiful and complex wine.
You can serve this wine for meditation. But it’s also ideal with Sicilian desserts (Cannoli, Cassata, Bucellato, Modica Chocolate) or Sticky Toffee Pudding. Alternatively, try strong blue cheeses – even Danish Blue works. To this list you can now add Westmorland Pepper Cake.
Westmorland Pepper Cake
Ginger Bakers – Westmorland Pepper Cake
Ginger Bakers
Ginger Bakers in Kendal, Cumbria, are the sole makers of Westmorland Pepper Cake. Ginger Bakers is a company that was started on a kitchen table by Lisa Smith in 2006. Today, they have their own purpose-built bakery and a wide range of award-winning cakes for wholesale and retail supply. Lisa was also the very first recipient of Dave Myers’ Cumbrian Food and Drink Hero award.
History
Westmorland Pepper Cake originated in 19th-century Kendal. The recipe is based on a fruit cake that uses sultanas and raisins, but what makes it unique, distinctive and delicious is the inclusion of spices such as cloves, ginger and cracked black pepper, along with the use of black treacle.
At that time, Cumbrian seaports such as Whitehaven were importing spices, particularly from the vast British Empire. Though it’s hard to imagine today, Whitehaven was second only to London for this.
Pepper and other spices, as well as molasses, rum and sugar, were initially expensive, hence the presence of lockable Spice Boxes in old Cumbrian houses.
Gradually, black pepper became widely adopted by Cumbrian cuisine as demand rose, supply increased, and prices became more affordable. Today, black pepper remains a staple, accounting for 20% of the spice trade, an industry worth billions.
However, as with many specialities, this cake declined in popularity as fashions changed and it became almost forgotten. Only an ever-dwindling older generation could recall it from childhood. A few written recipes were seemingly lost within the local library archives.
Rescue
Ginger Bakers, with the help of Slow Food, brought back this cake from extinction in 2014, rediscovering the old recipes in the archives and then refining them for modern kitchens and tastes. It’s now on the Slow Food Ark of Taste list 3, as an authentic recreation of a “forgotten food”. It’s also multi-award-winning, the latest being the winner of Britain’s Best Fruit Cake at the 2025 British Bakers’ Awards, held at the Birmingham NEC.
Tasting
As a fruit cake, it’s dense but delightfully light in texture. Much more so than, say, a Christmas Cake, which for me is no bad thing, as those can be heavy and tiring and just too sweetly sticky. This is a cake with none of those properties. There are no cherries or nuts either, just raisins and sultanas. However, the key to it is the combination of sweet and savoury, thanks to the quality and pungency of the black pepper used. The pepper starts subtly and then gradually becomes more noticeable, gaining momentum until a fiery finish.
If you’d like to make your own, here’s the recipe. This cake is vegetarian-friendly but does contain gluten. Try it with cheese (think Wensleydale, St.Sunday, and Blue) and, naturally, it’s good with a nice hot cup of tea. But Ben Ryé is the perfect partner.
Pairing
These two products are traditional, of rare excellence, and have historical culinary importance. However, they are also uncannily complementary in taste. Slice the cake thinly and serve the wine slightly chilled. Maybe add cheese. The weight of the cake and the wine are similar, and the wine is sufficiently sweet to deal with the sweetness of raisins and sultanas. Neither wine nor cake is heavy or cloying. But it’s the fiery pepper, ginger and cloves of the cake that marry with the depth of Seville orange and dried apricot that’s remarkable. The wine leaves the palate refreshed and ready for another mouthful.
And Finally
There are other excellent Passito di Pantelleria wines, but Ben Ryé has become the Primus Inter Pares. The UK Importers are Liberty Wines, and Ben Ryé is widely available through several independent wine merchants with a typical price of £45.00 – £50.00 for a half (375 ml) bottle. These include Noble Grape, Valvona & Crolla, Field & Fawcett, The Bottle Shop, and Hedonism. 750 ml bottles are also available.
Only Ginger Bakers’ Westmorland Pepper Cake is commercially available, at £9.50 for a 600g cake. Available online, from their Kendal bakery shop or at nearby Farmers Markets.
2014 was obviously an auspicious year too – the commercial launch of Westmorland Pepper Cake and the Ark of Taste, and the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Pantelleria. An unlikely but perfect match, revealed on New Year’s Day 2026.
Location – Donnafugata
Pantelleria Winery
Contrada Khamma fuori,6
91017 Pantelleria (Trapani)
Sicily
Italy
What3Words Location – Donnafugata
Location – Ginger Bakers
Ginger Bakers (Kendal) Ltd.
Lakeland Food Park
Crook Road
Kendal
Cumbria
UK
LA8 8QJ
What3Words Location – Ginger Bakers
Notes
- The Pantelleria DOC covers Zibbibo wines in dry, sparkling and sweet styles. Sweet wines may be fortified (Liquoroso) or naturally sweet (Passito).
- Distance comparison: From Khamma on Pantelleria (Lat. 36.81), Kelibia in Tunisia (Lat. 36.84) is 76 Km, while Marsala in Sicily (37.79) is 116 Km.
- Slow Food describes their Ark of Taste as, “the traditional products, local breeds, and know-how collected by the Ark of Taste belong to the communities that have preserved them over time. They have been shared and described here thanks to the efforts of the network that Slow Food has developed around the world, with the objective of preserving them and raising awareness”.
- You can find other Wine and Cake matching articles here, here, and here.
- Here are all the previous Wine Alchemy WOTY award winners: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017 and 2016