WINE 101 | DESERT WINES

‘Dessert' wines are by definition those intended for consumption as or with dessert fare. These wines are traditionally quite sweet so as to match the sweetness levels of the foods being partnered with them.

Many ‘dessert' wines partner particularly well with rich and salty types of cheeses and Foie Gras or other meat pates. These wines often contain high levels of alcohol, acidity, and intense flavors which serve to complement the intense flavors and textures of these foods.

‘Dessert' wines are produced primarily in three ways; through fermentation , through fortification with neutral or other spirits or by using a combination of the two. Residual sugars are either naturally occurring or may be the result of sweetening.

Some of the most popular and well known dessert wines are:

• Port (produced using a combination of fermentation and fortification)
• Sherry (produced using a combination of fermentation and fortification)
• Icewine (produced through fermentation)
• Sauternes and other Late Harvest (produced through fermentation)
• Madeira (produced using a combination of fermentation and fortification)
• Tokay (produced through fermentation)
• Pineau Des Charentes (produced through fortification)

Fruit Dessert Wines

The dessert wines listed above are all grape wines. Many dessert wines however, are produced using the same methods as those mentioned above but from fruit other than grapes.

Popular fruits from which fruit dessert wines are produced include:

• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Apples
• Pears
• Peaches
• Plums
• Black Currants (Cassis)
• Red Currants
• Cranberries
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Blackberries
• Mulberries
• Gooseberries
• Kiwis

Dessert wines produced through fermentation are vinified in much the same way as grape wines are. There are some differences however. Depending on the water content of the fruit used, a simple crush might be used to release the fermentable juice* from the fruit or in the case of fleshier fruits with lesser water content, the crush will lead to the production of a fruit mash to which water will need to be added. This fruit mash/water combination is usually adjusted through the addition of sugar and/or acid in order for it to be rendered fermentable into balanced wine through the action of specialized yeast strains. The final alcohol content will come as a result of the fermentation process exclusively.

*which may or may not need to be adjusted through the addition of sugar and/or acid in order for balanced wine to result.

Dessert wines produced through fortification do not undergo alcoholic fermentation. Neutral or other types of spirit are added in measured quantity to the prepared and unfermented fruit juice resulting in instant fortification. The addition of spirit results in the final alcohol percentage.

Many fermented and fortified fruit dessert wines are sweetened prior to being bottled either through the addition of a measure of fructose or some other type of sugar. This method of sweetening is more common in the case of fortified wines.

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