Dessert wines: sweetness to discover

Versatile and refined, dessert wines complete the meal with a final touch, ideal for those who want to ensure a unique tasting experience. In the varied world of wine, however, these types of wines represent a particular category that deserves attention; they are intense and enhance the taste and flavor of the dishes prepared by pastry chefs. What are the main types of dessert wines and what ideas can be suggested for the table?

Types of Dessert Wines

A dessert wine has specific characteristics, and choosing the ideal option for your dish can make a difference. The Moscato, for example, is famous for its floral scent, while the Passito It guarantees an enviable sugar and aromatic concentration.

Specifically, the Moscato It is a sweet aromatic wine, often sparkling, made from the grapes of the same name. Moscato. Its aromatic profile evokes orange blossom, honey, and peach, embracing characteristics such as lightness and low alcohol content.

The Passito Instead, it is a wine produced with dried grapes. This particular production method allows the wine to have a unique richness of flavors, with subtle notes of dried fruit, caramel, spices, and honey.

Another type of dessert wine is Sauternes, a sweet French wine produced in the town of Bordeaux, made from grapes affected by botrytis cinerea, commonly known as noble rot. This process gives the wine a flavor of apricot, honey, saffron, and sweet spices. It pairs wonderfully with blue cheeses and desserts where fruit is the true star.

Another equally important type for desserts is the Porto, fortified Portuguese wine available in many varieties: Vintage, Tawny and Ruby. Each of them has unique characteristics; for example, Ruby Port is fruity and robust, while Tawny Port has notes of nuts, spices, and caramel.

Very interesting is also the Sherry type, coming from the Jerez region, which has a dense flavor with raisin notes that are ideal for accompanying chocolate desserts. Ice Wine, on the other hand, is a type of wine made from grapes harvested and pressed while they are still frozen. The result is a sweet and well-balanced product, with tropical, citrus, and honey flavors.

Don't forget the Tokaji type, a sweet Hungarian wine with excellent aromatic complexity, offering notes of honey, apricot, and citrus.

Production process

Dessert wines, given their ability to accompany the end of a meal, offer something different from the wines usually consumed during lunch and dinner. In fact, such wines can be produced using completely different processes that influence their organoleptic characteristics.

The most well-known process is the drying of grapes, a method used to optimize the concentration of sugars and aromas in the grapes. Shortly after the harvest, these grapes are left to dry in ventilated rooms, a process that can last several weeks. Drying reduces the water content in the grapes, increasing the concentration of sugars and ensuring complex and intense flavors. One interesting fact about this is drying directly on the vine.

Another production process is called Botrytis Cinerea, or noble rot, which under specific climatic conditions allows the mold to attach to the grapes without damaging them. In this case, the concentration of sugars is also favored, although the appearance of this external agent does not occur every year, making the wine much more precious.

Late harvest is an additional production process that involves harvesting grapes well beyond their ripeness, allowing for the development of a particularly strong flavor. Specifically, these wines have a strong presence of aromas, such as the famous Gewürztraminer. In some cases, late harvest intersects with noble rot, adding further complexity to the product.

Among dessert wines, the Solera method is also used for the production of the specialty Sherry. It consists of aging and periodic blending, where wines from different vintages are mixed in multiple casks. In this way, a fortified wine ideal for pairing with desserts can be obtained.

Organoleptic characteristics

The different types of dessert wines allow for a variety of pairings, often related to the organoleptic characteristics one wishes to achieve. They can be mainly divided into four categories: color, aroma, taste, and texture.

Color

For young and fresh wines, the Moscato Some Passiti are the ideal solution, as they tend to show colors with golden reflections, such as straw yellow. While for botrytized wines, such as Sauternes, the color shifts towards amber.

Fortified wines, such as the Porto Sherry shows hues that tend towards ruby red and dark mahogany, while the Tawny specialty varies towards amber. Late harvest wines exhibit a wider range of colors, ranging from golden yellow to amber depending on the age and, above all, the concentration of sugars.

Aroma

During the tasting of sweet wines, one of the most commonly used words is aroma; this term related to dessert can mean everything and nothing. Sweet wines offer a wide variety of aromas, which can be intense or complex.

The aromas with floral and fruity notes are typical of Moscato, while the aromas of dried fruit and spices are enhanced by the Passito and from Sauternes. Those who rely on the Porto and the Sherry can enhance the aromas of ripe fruit and spices.

Taste

Identify the type of dessert wines to choose and having defined the aroma you prefer, the taste that can be obtained from the wine is equally important.

The Moscato offers a natural sweetness, with a refreshing effect, while the Passito and botrytized wines are ideal for a rich and viscous taste. The Porto Sherry has an intense and robust flavor with a enveloping sweetness.

Consistency

An organoleptic characteristic that should not be underestimated is the texture of dessert wines, which varies depending on the aging of the product and the method used for production.

The Moscato it has a light and sparkling consistency, while the Passito and the botrytized wines are more oily and dense, resulting in rich and viscous. The Porto Instead, it embraces a full-bodied and structured flavor, with a velvety and rich texture.

The organoleptic characteristics identify aroma, taste, texture, and color, but how can you recognize a dessert wine at the first sip? In order to understand what type of wine it is, it is essential to evaluate more than one aspect: balance, complexity, persistence, integrity, and structure.

A dessert wine must be balanced, with sweetness and acidity that never feel overwhelming. Similarly, the aromatic complexity offers layers of different flavors and scents. Persistence is a key indicator that identifies the duration of the flavor once the wine is sipped. Integrity refers to the absence of defects in the wine, with defined and easily recognizable aromas. As for the structure, or consistency, it must be harmonious, whether it is light or viscous.

Gastronomic pairings

Choosing dessert wine for lunch and dinner is not easy, but there are some pairings that always have great success.

Among the classic pairings, there is the... Moscato with light desserts. For example, a fresh fruit tart with Moscato of Asti. The Passito Instead, it pairs much better with blue cheeses, like spicy Gorgonzola; while Tawny Port is the best choice for dark chocolate.

If you want an innovative pairing, you can rely on a Tokaji wine with Baklava, such as a Recioto della Valpolicella with spiced desserts. This wine allows you to make the most of tropical fruit flavors, which are excellent to accompany desserts made with coconut, pineapple, or mango.

General tips for pairings

More than the pairings themselves, it is important to understand the mistakes to avoid when choosing wine for dessert. Among the tips for dessert wines, attention to the intensity of the chosen product is essential. In fact, it is necessary to avoid one overpowering the other; it is advisable to pair rich and structured desserts with equally intense sweet wines, and the contrast should always be balanced to make the pairing harmonious.

Tasting tips

For the tasting, it is essential to check the serving temperature. The Moscato Product from late harvest, for example, should be served slightly chilled, between 8-10°C, while the Passito Sauternes pairs better at lower temperatures, around 6-8°C. Porto Sherry, on the other hand, is ideal at room temperature, around 16-18°C, where it shows its best qualities.

Equally relevant is the type of glass, Porto Sherry requires a wide glass, while white and sweet wine needs a smaller cup.

Wine and sweets are not easy to store, especially in summer. It is advisable to keep wine bottles horizontally in a dark and cool place between 12-15°C, avoiding excessive temperature fluctuations.

As for the tasting methods, the process is very simple: it starts with visual observation, followed by olfactory examination and then the actual tasting. The aftertaste is also important; one should savor the wine and note whether or not the aromas persist.

Conclusion

Exploring dessert wines is much easier than one might think, but it's important to choose the right product for the type of dessert you intend to serve.

The variety of wines is not to be underestimated, just like the production process. Centuries-old practices have now become a form of winemaking art, where companies like Vino45 They try to offer their customers a wide range of quality products. You can choose from Moscato, , Passito, Port and much more, based on your needs.