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Dessert Wine Notes

Dessert Wines - Introduction

  • Dessert wines have a noticeable presence of sugar.
  • Viscosity indicates the richness and weight derived from sugar.

Dessert Wine Arrangement

The wines are loosely arranged from lighter/less sweet to sweeter.

  • The lighter wines resemble white wines.
  • Red dessert wines or highly oxidized red wines are also present.

Division of Sweetness

A clear divide exists between wines five and six.

Moscato D'Asti

  • Example: Vietti Moscato D'Asti.
  • Bubbles help mitigate the sweetness.
  • High acidity.

Spalese

  • Example: Doctor Polly Bergweiler Spalese.
  • Dessert wines can be made in various ways, one being stopping the fermentation process.
  • Low alcohol content (5% or 6%).
  • Late harvest wines also use this method.

Sauternes

  • Comes from the Water Valley in Bordeaux, specifically the Lower Left Bank.
  • AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée).
  • Driven by the Semillon grape.
  • Supportive grapes: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and potentially Muscadel.

Ice Wine

  • Example: Inniskillen from Canada (Niagara Peninsula).

  • Uses Riesling grapes, but other grapes like Cabernet Franc, Vidal Blanc, or Ceball Blanc are also used.

  • Origin: Likely Old World (Germany, Scandinavia).

  • Large scale production in North America.

Vin Santo

  • Also known as holy wine.

  • Different versions exist (white and red).

  • Grapes: Trebbiano and Malvesia for white, Sangiovese for red.

  • Example: Chianti Classico (made from white grapes in Chianti).

  • Aged for three years in barrels, deliberately oxidized, resulting in its color.

  • Made from dried grapes using the "Pacito method".

Ricciato Della Valpolicella

  • Uses dry grapes, similar to Amarone.
  • Ricciatos have residual sugar because fermentation is stopped early.
  • Amarones have the yeast eating all the sugar.

Bagnules

  • Made in Southern France (L'angue d'Arc Roussillon).
  • France's equivalent to Port wine.
  • Typically 100% Grenache grapes.

Fortified Wines

  • Cream Sherry (10 year age).
  • Tawny (20 year age).

Other Notes

  • Dessert wine section on the exam has minimal questions, focusing on Sauternes, Ricciato, and Tawnys.

Dessert Menu Balance

  • Balance is crucial in dessert menus.
  • A chocolate dessert is essential due to its popularity.
  • Categorization: Fruit-based, nut-based, chocolate-based, custard-based, and pastry/cookie-based.

Selling Dessert Wines

  • Sometimes, the dessert wine is the dessert itself.
  • Black coffee can be a great companion to balance sweetness.

Dessert Wine Categories

  • Rot Wines: Wines affected by noble rot (Botrytis cinerea), Sauternes is the famous one, but Tokai (Hungary) and Selection de Grand Noble (Alsace), and Loire Valley also produce them.

  • Chateau d'Iquem was classified as the highest level sweet wine of Bordeaux in 1855.

    • Tokai Asu is the botrytized grapes
    • Tokai Asensia is the most expensive with prices up to 5000 - 8000 per bottle

  • Dried Grape Wines: Vinsanto (white - Trebbiano, Malvesia; Red - Sangiovese), Recciato (Valpolicello), Vindepaille (France).

  • Fortified Wines: Port, Madeira, Sherry, VDN (vin doux naturel) - naturally sweetened by stopping yeast and adding neutral grape spirit.

  • Enriched Wines: Sparkling wines (Demisex Champagne), Moscato D'Asti, L'Ambrusco, Sparkling Shiraz, Brachetto, Diawaki.

  • Late Harvest Wines: The greatest examples are from Germany. Examples include Schweilhase, Auslhase, a Baren Auslhase, a Trockenbaren. Best done with Riesling

  • Iced Wine Water content is frozen so the juice is high in sugar. Extracted via freezing.

Matching Wine with Dessert

  1. Wine should be as sweet or sweeter than the dessert.
  2. Sweet and sweet.
  3. Bridging aromas and flavors to enhance the experience.

Fruit Based Desserts

  • Fresh fruits, Chantilly cream, poached/grilled fruit, fruit pies/cobblers/tarts.
  • Pairings: Ice wine, late harvest wine, enrichment wines (Moscato D'Asti, Broquetto).

Dried and Baked Fruit Desserts

  • Strawberry rhubarb cobbler.
  • Pairings: Red-based dessert wines made from dried grapes or fortified wines.

Tropical Climate Fruits

  • Pineapple, mango, melon.
  • Pairings: White-based dessert wines, rot, late harvest Riesling, enrichment wines.
  • Fresh vs. baked fruits: fresher fruits pair better with white-based wines; baked, richer desserts pair better with red-based or highly oxidized wines.

Nut Based Desserts

  • Pecan pie, coffee/toffee/maple, butterscotch, toasted nuts.

  • Pairings: Fortified and dried grape-based wines.
    *Platter of toasted, lightly salted nuts pairs greatly with fortified wines.
    *Candied cashews or salted roasted cashews

  • If fruit is incorporated (mango or pineapple), consider white-based dessert wines.

Chocolate Based Desserts

  • Examples: Chocolate pota creme, chocolate bread poutine, chocolate chunk/walnut cookies, chocolate souffle/fondue, white chocolate mousse, flourless chocolate cake, chocolate truffles.
    *
    Pairing depends on the type of chocolate:

    • Dry, high cacao percent: Pair with drier wines like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
    • Fillers, cream, butter: Introduce sweeter wines.
    • White chocolate: White-based dessert wines.

Cream and Custard Based Desserts

  • Examples: Creme brulee/caramel, bread pudding, tarte tin, tiramisu, eclairs, pumpkin pie, cheesecake, pastry cream, ice cream.
  • Pairs with fortified wines, late harvest wines, enrichment wines. Bridging flavors becomes crucial (e.g., cheesecake with raspberry sauce pairs better with red-based, while mango or pineapple sauce pairs better with white-based).

Examples of Pairing Combinations
*Ruby ports are great with vintage chocolate
*If caramel or butterscotch is introduced to chocolate then red based and tawny ports.
*Light pastries with some fruit go well with enrichment wines or late harvest wines
*Flaky pastries with honey sauces or butter pairs well with oxidative, more intense dessert pairings

Dessert Wine Tasting & Pairings

  • "The number one rule, a wine dessert wine needs to be as sweet or sweeter than your dessert."

  • Wine #1 (Moscato D'Asti) paired best with a simple sponge cake with strawberry lemon compote because it provided a lightness, enhanced freshness of berry, and light sweetness.

  • Wine #3 (Saturna) and #4 (Ice Wine) paired well with the white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry coulee. The white-based dessert wines helped with the white chocolate and the healthy fats from the whipped cream and cream cheese.

*Wine #5 (Vinsanto) paired with an éclair, specifically because the Vinsantos are oxidized and aged for three years