Dessert wines come in many colors and styles and range from syrupy sweet to delicately so, still or sparkling, red or white. There are certain grape varieties, such as Muscat or Gewurztraminer, that lend themselves brilliantly to the production of sweet wines.
Dessert wines can be loosely divided into two types: those that are fortified and those that are not. Fortified dessert wines are made by the addition of grape spirit at some point in the fermentation process. The spirit can be added before the fermentation of the wine is complete, which stops the fermentation and causes the final product to have some residual sugar. This method is also known as mutage, and is used most famously for Port, Madeira and France’s vin doux naturel. A fortified wine may also be made by adding the spirit only after fermentation is complete, as with Sherry, but sweetening agents may be added later.
Other dessert wines are made without addition of spirit, but gain their final sweetness in a number of other ways, but most of these methods involve concentrating the juice and sugar of the grape. Some grapes intended for dessert wines are allowed to be affected by Botrytis, or noble rot, while others are allowed to freeze on the vine before the water in the grapes – as ice – is removed, leaving a greater concentration of sugar in the fermentation must. Italy’s famous Vin Santo is traditionally made by drying the grapes out on straw mats until the sugar concentration is so rich that not all the sugars can convert in the fermentation process.
Clearly, the range and complexity of dessert wines makes any generalizations difficult, but regardless of the style, dessert wines are an exciting category and worth exploring. Most are very, very long-lived and match excellently with foods that would otherwise be extremely difficult to compliment. Blue cheese, anyone?
Fortified Wine
French Wholesale Producers
La Tour Vielle (KL)
Domaine de Durban (KL)
Madeira Wholesale Producers
Cossart Gordon
Leacock's
Port and Port-Style Wholesale Producers
Dows - Portugal
Quinta Do Vesuvio - Portugal
Bogle Vineyards - California
Peachy Canyon - California
Imported Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Fino Panesa Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Especial Fino La Panesa
Emilio Hidalgo Gobernador Oloroso Seco Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Marques de Rodil Especiale Palo Cortado Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Morenita Cream Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Pedro Ximenez Sherry
Dessert Wine
Imported
Librandi Le Passule Vino Passito IGT
Falesco Passiro IGT
Falesco Pomele Rosso Dolce IGT
Di Majo Norante Apianae Dessert Wine
Coppo Brachetto d'Acqui Passione DOC
Coppo Moscato d'Asti Moncalvina DOCG
Botromagno Gravisano Vino Passito IGT
Argiolas Angialis IGT
Tasca d’Almerita Diamante Passito IGT
Franz Haas Moscato Rosa
Altesino Vin Santo d'Altesi DOC
Castellare S. Niccolò Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOC
Allegrini Giovanni Recioto DOC
Maculan Acininobili
Maculan Dindarello
Maculan Madoro IGT
Maculan Torcolato DOC
Enrique Mendoza Moscatel de la Marina
Emilio Hidalgo Hidalgo Fino Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Especial Fino La Panesa
Emilio Hidalgo Gobernador Oloroso Seco Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Marques de Rodil Especiale Palo Cortado Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Morenita Cream Sherry
Emilio Hidalgo Pedro Ximenez Sherry
Wholesale Producers
Chambers - Australia
Campbell's - Australia
Gesellman - Australia
St. Supery - California
Jaden - Canada
Mission Hill - Canada
Domaine Ostertag (KL) - France
Chateau Les Tuileries (OR) - France
Chateau Roumieu-Lacoste (KL) - France
Didier Champalou - France
Erich Bender
Gai'a - Greece
Samos Brand - Greece
Yarden - Israel
Paul Cluver - South Africa
