After a scrumptious dinner or lunch, you definitely crave a dessert, and when you have a beverage that is rightly named Dessert wine, it would be a great way to end the meal. These wines come in a variety of flavors to please everyone’s palate. They’re sweet and delicious but not too heavy or filling. The best part is that you can drink them any time of the day! Dessert wines are typically served as an after-dinner drink. They’re perfect for any occasion, especially when served with dessert.
Types of Dessert Wines
Dessert wines come in a wide range of styles, from the light and fruit-forward to the rich and complex. They can be made from any type of grape, but the most common varieties are those used for red wine production. Some popular examples include Moscato d’Asti; Sauternes; late harvest Rieslings; Tokaji Aszús; Vin Santo.
There are many different types of dessert wines, such as white zinfandel, late harvest riesling, Moscato d’Asti, sherry and Port. The most popular type of dessert wine is probably champagne or sparkling wine, which has been flavored with sugar syrup to make it sweeter than regular champagne or sparkling wine.
Dessert wines have been produced in many countries, including Italy, France, Germany and Australia. In recent years they have also been produced in Chile and California. Dessert wines are often designated by the term Vin Doux Naturel on their labels to indicate their types. There are Sparkling, Lighly-Sweet, Richly Sweet, Sweet Red Wines and Fortified Dessert Wines.
Best Dessert Wines to Enjoy
Dow’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port
The vibrant purple colour of a great young Port has softened to a delicate green-gold after 20 long years in seasoned oak casks under the watchful eye of the master blender and the Dow’s head lodge man. On the palate, Dow’s Twenty Years Old Tawny is perfectly balanced, with notes of dried nuts and spice. One of the greatest wines a Port blender can make.
Smith Woodhouse 10 Year Old Tawny Port
As a niche name with limited production, Smith Woodhouse is not as well-known as most of its peers, but among Port connoisseurs it is eagerly sought. In major blind tastings of all the Ports declared in Vintage years, critics consistently pick out the Smith Woodhouse as extraordinarily good and extraordinarily good value.
2011 Fèlsina Vin Santo del Chianti Classico
Golden yellow, with coppery highlights. Peach, apricot, pineapple and tropical dried fruit aromas. Consistency on the palate, softness and elegance nicely structured by the oak barrels. Wine with great balance, favorable acidity and a well-harmonized residual sugar. Long in the mouth.
1994 Fonseca Vintage Port
The Best Fonseca Port since 1977. Fonseca Vintage Ports are noted for their expressive, luscious fruitiness, which develops great opulence and complexity with age, as well as a voluptuous roundness on the palate supported by velvety mouth-filling tannins.
2000 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port
Inky, purple color. Powerful, intense, black fruit and cherry aromas with lovely fragrant aromatic notes. On the mouth this wine is in perfect harmony with beautifully balanced fruit and tannins. Rich, elegant, luscious black fruit flavors. Enormous concentration with again this attractive scented quality coming through. Long rich finish. Very stylish.
1995 Taylor Fladgate Quinta De Vargellas Vintage Port
Deep purple; opaque. Subtle, elegant well balanced. Fresh raspberry, cassis fruit scents. Great depth and complexity. A perfectly balanced wine. Harmonious. Rich chocolate, berry flavors. Enormous depth and concentration.
2003 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port
Inky purple black with narrow magenta rim. Classic Taylor nose, with exotic scents of violet and gumcistus set against an impenetrable background of intense dark berry fruit. Stylish and racy palate, displaying a tight fabric of sinewy tannins and packed with concentrated grapey flavors which intensify through the seemingly endless finish. Like many other great Taylor vintage this wine is an archetype of restrained power, its elegance and breeding concealing massive inner strength and stamina.
1994 Martinez Vintage Port
Wine Spectator Top 100: 1997 #22. A big, rich, and full-bodied Port that is brimming with fruit flavor and velvety tannins that have a punch on the finish.
1997 Dow’s Vintage Port
The Dow’s 1997 Vintage is an outstanding wine, made slightly drier in the classic Dow tradition, which due to its superb structure will evolve into a classic vintage port. Very dark opaque purple color, with a typically spicy nose and intense underlying aromas of blackberries and blackcurrants. On the palate enormous weight and structure with a marvelous balance of dense black fruit flavors wrapped in a tannic cloak.
1997 Warre’s Vintage Port
Wonderful purple blue color. A classic Warre nose full of class and complexity, packed with concentrated layers of ripe red fruits and underlying gum cistus aromas. On the palate rich floral flavors, enormous mid-palate structure, and impressive length. Undoubtedly a wine for long aging and a classic amongst Vintages.
The Making of Dessert Wines
Making dessert wines requires some patience, as it can take up to two years to be ready. This is because they need time to age in oak barrels before they’re bottled and released. The grapes used to make dessert wines are often picked late in the season and have a high acid content. These grapes are then fermented slowly, which gives them their sweet flavor. From full-bodied reds to light whites, there is something for everyone! Dessert wine is an alcoholic beverage typically containing 15% alcohol by volume (ABV) or more.
Dessert wines are wine that is typically sweet and served with dessert. They can be served chilled or at room temperature but should never be served warm. Dessert wine is typically semi-sweet or sweet, usually containing 15% – 20% sugar by weight (though sugar content may range up to 45%), making it less dry than sherry. So matching the dessert (if any) with the wines is crucial for the wine to taste good.
Takeaway
Dessert wines genuinely contain a lot of sugar, so they are best enjoyed in smaller glasses. They can be served as a dessert. They’re served chilled or at room temperature with dessert, but they can also be enjoyed by themselves! They can be drunk with ice cream or other desserts like cheesecake and chocolate cake and are often used in cooking to add flavor. They also have a lower alcohol content than other types of wine, so it’s easier to drink more than one glass.