DESSERT WINES
Dessert wine comes in many shapes and sizes, including Fortified Wines like Port, Marsala, Sherry, or Madeira; Ice wines from Canada, upstate NY or Germany and sweeter style wines like Sauternes, Muscat de Baume de Venice; and some Vouvray, or TBA and BA Riesling from Germany. I’ll break this down into the two separate categories to make things easier.
FORTIFIED WINES
Port comes from Portugal, specifically the Douro region, and is made primarily of Toriga National. It comes in three different styles: Ruby, Tawny, and Vintage. The major difference in these is how they are aged, and blended. Vintage port is only produced in the best of years, and is all aged together in barrel and will improve significantly for many years. Ruby port is the most inexpensive and most produced wine of the type. It’s aged in bottle after being blended into the house style, and will generally not improve with age. Ruby ports are very dark in color and fruit forward. Tawny port is a wood aged port similar to vintage port except Tawnys are blended from barrel to barrel with the average age of all the barrels labeled on the bottle. So a 10 year tawny port may be half 5 year old port, and half 15 year old port. This blending process is almost identical to the one used in making sherry and allows the port to lighten up in color due to limited oxidation.
Sherry is the Spanish equivalent of port with some interesting differences. All sherry is blended through the Solera process which goes from barrel to barrel older to younger which allows the sherry to oxidize. The main grapes in sherry are Palomino and Pedro Ximinez. Another significant difference between port and sherry is that sherry is broken down by sweetness level, with fino being the driest and cream being the sweetest. The other major difference is that sherry is fortified at the END of fermentation, whereas port is fortified during fermentation, both with grape based brandy. Sherry generally has an almond nose with a soft mouth feel.
ICE WINES/SAUTERNES
Ice Wines are very interesting as the grapes are harvested frozen and pressed while they are still frozen. By doing this, all of the water that is in the grapes stays frozen, leaving only the pure sweetness of the grape. If it takes 2 – 1/2 pounds of grapes to make one 750ml bottle of wine, it takes 10 times that to make a 375ml bottle of Ice wine. This, as well as the 2am harvest, add to the exorbitant price of these wines. Most ice wines run from $30 – $150 but some can run as high as $2,000 for a 375ml bottle.
Sauternes are very similar to Ice wine in that the water of the grape is taken out of the equation. Instead of freezing the grapes, the winemaker allows the grapes to become infected with Botrytis, which is a fungus. This fungus consumes the water from the grapes and leaves the golden sweetness remaining to be pressed. This process will impart a slight honeyed note to the wine. Sauternes is made from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes and is a perfect pairing for foie gras and Crème Brulee.
Get personalized recommendations for pairing your favorite desserts with dessert wines! Call and speak to a Sommelier now! 1877-773-8485
Jon Link, Sommelier
