List of Dessert Wines

Wine Served With Dessert

Dessert wines are different from regular wines in that they are usually much sweeter and they are served after a meal. Their sweetness results from the high amount of sugar left in the wine during the wine-making process. Dessert wines should be sweeter than the foods they are served with, making fruit and less-sweet baked goods like biscotti ideal partners for this wine.

Sweet White Wine

Sweet white wine is made by leaving more of the grapes' natural sugar in the wine or by adding a form of sugar to the wine during the wine-making process. The level of sweetness in the wine can vary from a dry sweetness to a syrupy sweetness. Sweet white wines include Botrytis, ice wine, late harvest wine and fortified wines. Fortified wines are wines to which brandy is added before the fermentation process is complete, increasing the sugar content of the wine. Madeira and sherry are two of the most common fortified wines.

Noble Rot Wine

Botrytis cinerea or Noble Rot is a fungus that grows on the skin of the grapes and shrivels and dehydrates the grapes. This process actually removes all water and leaves concentrated sugars and flavors within the grapes. The most popular wines made with Noble Rot are Sauternes, Alsatian Vendange Tardive or (VT), Selection de Grains Nobles or (SGN), Vouvray Moelleux, Hungarian Tokaji, German and Austrian Beerenauslese or (BA) and Trockenbeerenauslese or (TBA).

Ice Wine

Ice wine is a cold-weather wine. The grapes are grown in extremely cold regions, such as Germany and Canada, particularly the Niagra region of Canada. The grapes are actually ripe and ready to pick, but they are left on the vine to freeze late in the season. The grapes are picked once frozen and squeezed and filtered to remove the ice. The sugar content in these wines is higher because all that is left after the squeezing is concentrated grape juice and grape sugar. Riesling, Vidal and Schreurebe are three of the most common ice wines.

Late Harvest Wine

Late harvest wines are made with grapes that have been harvested very late in the season. They have been left on the vine longer to fully ripen and produce more sugars within the grapes. Late harvest wines can have anywhere from a dry sweetness to an extreme sweetness. Some examples of late harvest wines are Vendange Tardive, Beerenauslese and Sauternes in Bordeaux.

Sweet Red Wine

Sweet red wines come as fortified wines or as late harvest wines. The process used to make sweet red wine is the same as for sweet white wine. However, there are not as many sweet red wines made as sweet white wines. The two most common sweet red wines are Port and Banyuls. Port style wines are made with grapes that are fully ripened but the fermentation process is stopped early and brandy is added to the wine, increasing the sugar content of the wine. Banyuls wines are similar to Port wines except that the type of grape used is different. The sweetness of these wines also depends on how long they are aged prior to bottling.

References

• Wine Tastings Guide: Types Of Wine
• She Knows Food & Recipes: Drink Dessert
• The Nibble: Wine & Dessert Pairings

Resources

• Wine Definitions: Introduction to Dessert Wines
• Avalon Wine: Delectable Dessert Wines
• Inform It: Dessert Wines Made Eight Ways