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Wine Guys

Americans have a notorious sweet tooth. We crave doughnuts, candy bars and nearly every conceivable flavor of ice cream. So it's surprising we have pretty much ignored dessert wines. These sweet wines have a higher residual sugar after fermentation than dry wines. When integrated with other distinct flavors and appropriate acidity for balance, the best sweet wines move beyond cloying and syrupy to rich and profound.

Identical to their dry cousins, sweet wines come in many distinct styles with myriad different flavor profiles. Produced in nearly every winemaking region, they easily match up with foods that either complement or contrast with their sweetness, flavors and texture, which means they don't have to be limited to the dessert course.

A classic example is serving sauternes with foie gras where the citrus and honey flavors pair wonderfully with the fatty liver flavors. The Italian sweet wine Vin Santo is a perfect foil for slightly bitter almond cookies. Alsatian late-harvest gewurztraminers are great with chocolate; vintage ports are delicious with Stilton blue cheese; and German ice wines are wonderful with fruit dishes. Or, they can simply substitute for dessert itself since sipping a complex dessert wine rather than consuming a chunk of cheesecake is often a more interesting way to conclude a fine meal, and likely less caloric. Just avoid pairing sweet wines with very cold foods like sherbet that will numb the mouth and mute the flavors.

Sweet wines are fashioned with many techniques. Some grapes naturally develop high sugar content especially if harvested late when the fruit has become overripe. The high sugar is more than the yeasts can convert into alcohol during fermentation resulting in a sweeter wine.

Fortified wines are created by adding neutral alcohol in the form of grape spirits to create port, muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise and Banyuls, while Moscatel is made by adding sweet sherry. The increase in alcohol kills off the yeasts to stop fermentation while the sugar content is still high.

Ice wine, or eiswein, is made by pressing frozen grapes to obtain juice concentrated with sugar and other flavors. And some of the world's most desired dessert wines are the result of an infection by a favorable fungus, Botrytis Cinerea, which slightly desiccates the grapes while imparting a distinctive honey-like flavor.

A good place to begin exploring sweeter wines is also one of my favorite ways to welcome dinner guests. Moscato d'Asti is a refreshingly light, gently effervescent and low-alcohol sweet wine created from moscato bianco grapes in Italy's northwest Piedmont region. Its lovely aromas, complex flavors and balanced acidity make it a great aperitif, or it can stand alone as a marvelous way to end a meal. Moscato d'Asti also pairs beautifully with apricot tarts and other fruit pastries as well as Italian desserts, including panna cotta and zabaglione. Be sure to serve it chilled and within a few years of the vintage on the label.

Extraordinary dessert wines are created in Sauternes and Barsac located in the southern Graves region of Bordeaux, France. Semillon is the predominant grape varietal, although sauvignon blanc and muscadelle are also used in these highly collectable wines that can cost several hundred dollars for just a half-bottle. Less expensive but frequently nearly as tasty are the sweet wines made in the surrounding regions of Monbazillac and Loupiac.

Producing Dessert Wines
Producing these wines is a labor-intensive process requiring multiple passes along the vines to hand-select individual grapes exhibiting the appropriate amount of ripeness and Botrytis. The balanced acidity found in the best versions permits these wines to age for decades during which their color darkens and their flavors become richer. The more recent versions are sweeter because of riper harvests and can be enjoyed now or put away to appreciate many years in the future.

Tokaji has been treasured by European monarchs for centuries. Known as the "Wine of Kings and the King of Wines," it was also adored by the likes of Beethoven, Haydn, Voltaire and other luminaries. They are produced in Hungary's Tokaji-Hegyalja region near the Carpathian Mountains mostly from Furmint grapes, although other varietals are permitted. Furmint starts with a thick skin, but as it matures, the skin becomes thinner and translucent. Some of the water in the grape subsequently evaporates, thereby concentrating the sugars and flavors. This process is further enhanced by allowing botrytis to set on the grapes before harvest.

The botrytisized wines are called "Aszu," from the Hungarian word for "dried." These highly sought-after wines are created by first crushing the botrytisized grapes into the consistency of dough. The juice from non-botrytisized grapes is placed on top of the dough for up to two days before being drained off into barrels or vats where fermentation is completed over several years.

The wines were formerly described by how much dough was used in units of "puttonyos" ranging from three to six. The higher the number, the sweeter the wines; wines made with more than six puttonyos are called Aszu-Eszencia. Currently the number refers to the wine's residual sugar.

Profoundly sweet but not syrupy, the characteristic high acidity of Tokaji-Aszu wines keeps everything in check. These are simply some of the world's greatest sweet wines with intense flavors of honeyed oranges, apricots and other dried fruit.

The end of communism brought much needed outside investment to revitalize the Hungarian wine industry. Founded in 1989, the Royal Wine Co. now possesses some of Hungary's most important vineyards. Their impressive portfolio includes Royal Tokaji Red Label 5 Puttonyos 2003 with decadently rich and slightly spicy candied apricot and honeyed peach flavors.

The weather in Canada's Niagara Peninsula gets cold enough to create gorgeous ice wines in the more traditional fashion. The grapes are harvested frozen and then hurried to the winery for processing. The Inniskillin Winery made its first ice wine in 1984. Their award-wining 1991 version brought international acclaim to the region and now Niagara dessert wines are considered among the finest in the world.

The Inniskillin Niagara Peninsula Riesling Ice Wine 2007 is an outstanding example with rich sweet peach and apricot flavors beautifully balanced by crisp citrus acidity. Tart apples, honey and apricot predominate in the equally good Inniskillin Niagara Peninsula Vidal Gold Ice Wine 2006.

Port produced in Portugal's Douro Valley is the best known of the fortified wines. The neutral alcohol spirit known as Aguardente is added to the grapes to stop fermentation while there sugar content remains high and to increase the final alcohol content. Ports are created in two general fashions. Barrel-aged ports slowly oxidize and become more concentrated because of evaporation. The bottle-aged versions are less intense.