What Are Sweet and Dessert Wines?
Sweetness in wine is measured by residual sugar, or the sugars that are left unfermented in the finished wine. However, the amount of sugar can vary widely and perception of sweetness can be affected by factors including tannins, acidity, and the dessert with which you pair the wine.
Wines that are perceived as sweet can be created through certain natural processes, like harvesting high-sugar grape varieties later in the season at peak ripeness. Other techniques involve drying out the grapes on a straw mat to raisinate, allowing grapes to freeze on the vine, or permitting them to become infected with the Botrytis cinerea fungus. In each of these methods, the grape is dehydrated and the remaining sugars concentrate as water is removed.
Fortified wines, meanwhile, become sweet when a spirit is added to the base wine during fermentation, killing off yeast and leaving behind a higher percentage of unfermented residual sugar. In another technique called chaptalization, sugar from external sources are added to the grape must, while süssreserve is a process in which sweet, unfermented grape juice from the initial pressing is reserved, then added back to the fermented wine before bottling to increase sugar levels.
Dessert wines include a wide range of styles from around the world. With that said, these are some of the most common categories.
Ice Wine
Ice wine (Eiswein in Germany, or Icewine in Canada) is made from grapes that are allowed to freeze while still on the vine, requiring temperatures of around 20ºF. Once harvested, the frozen grapes are pressed into must, which is used to create a very concentrated and sweet wine with a relatively low ABV of around 10–12%. Because the juice is so sweet, fermentation can often take three to six months.
Although the style originated in Germany, Canada is the world’s largest producer today. Ice wine can have up to 220 grams of sugar (almost double that of a cola). For this reason, Kate Leahy, the author of Wine Style, likes it with an extremely sweet dessert like pecan pie. “It can hang,” she says. A common savory pairing for ice wine is cheese, and it also works with a plain cheesecake.
Fortified Wine
To produce fortified wine like port, sherry, and madeira, winemakers add a spirit to the base wine during or after the fermentation process, often brandy. These bottlings will have a higher alcohol content (usually around 17–20% ABV), more similar to a liqueur than a table wine.
Many fortified wines boast both dry and sweet styles, which will depend on when winemakers choose to add the spirit during the fermentation process. Adding the spirit during fermentation (as opposed to after) will kill off yeast sooner, leaving a larger amount of unfermented residual sugar behind and resulting in a sweeter fortified wine.
Port
Created in Portugal to preserve red wines on the long journey from Portugal to England, port is one of the most storied styles of fortified wine. More than 80 Portuguese grape varieties can be used, including touriga franca, touriga nacional, and tinta roriz (also known as tempranillo). A distilled grape spirit, usually brandy, is then added to the base wine during fermentation.
Port comes in various styles, but the most common dessert options are rich tawny port and more fruit-forward ruby port. The classic dessert pairing for port is chocolate, and Leahy likes to join it with a rich flourless chocolate cake. Port is often compared to chocolate-covered cherries and is the perfect complement to chocolate cake with a raspberry sauce.
Sherry
First things first: Not all sherry is sweet, and in fact, most styles lean dry. The fortified wine encompasses a broad category made with white-wine grapes grown in the southwestern Spanish province of Cádiz, predominantly near the town of Jerez. The wine is fortified with neutral grape spirits, and a unique system called a solera is then used to age the liquid. During this process, younger sherries are added to more mature ones and progress through a series of barrels, with some of the oldest wines eventually removed for bottling and the barrel refilled again with younger stocks.
Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez (PX) grapes are commonly used for sweet dessert sherries, and can often be found in varietal bottlings. A nutty oloroso-style sherry, which is aged in the absence of flor (a layer of yeast that develops on top of many sherries in the solera), is typically made with palomino grapes, and can lean sweet or dry depending on whether sweeter moscatel is blended in. Cream sherries, meanwhile, are sweet sherries; they are essentially olorosos that are most often blended with sweeter Pedro Ximénez grapes.
Sherry has this underlying nutty quality, no matter the style. As such, nutty desserts such as candied toffee cake are generally a great pairing with a slightly sweet style like an oloroso sherry.
When it comes to dessert sherries, Pedro Ximénez is a rich, thick, and syrupy style that is best enjoyed on its own or as part of the dessert. Simpley pour it over some vanilla gelato and you’re done!.
Madeira
Madeira is made on a small Portuguese island of the same name.The wine is fortified with brandy and subjected to forced oxidation and heating, resulting in a rich wine that can last for centuries. Madeira comes in a range of styles, spanning from dry (seco) to sweet (doce).
When you’re serving madeira as a dessert wine, you’ll want to look for bottlings made with Bual and Malmsey grapes. “There’s a dried fruit component to Bual madeira, as well as an acidity and freshness, that can really stand up to some of these richer desserts like a chocolate bread pudding. These same components would also make it a natural match for a fruitcake or any rich chocolate dessert. Malvasia, also known as malmsey, is the richest style of madeira and can typically be reserved for pouring over ice cream or sipping.
Noble Rot
Grapes used for noble rot wine are infected with the Botrytis cinerea fungus (or botrytized), which weakens the skins and causes them to dehydrate, producing complex honeyed flavors and golden-hued wines.
Popular types of noble rot wines, which are harvested later in the season, include Hungary’s Tokaji Aszú and offerings from France’s Sauternes appellation. However, noble rot wines can be made in other regions and styles, often using Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Sémillon, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and other varietals. These wines tend to be expensive because of their labor-intensive production process. In general, they will pair well with citrusy and fruit-driven desserts.
Sauternes
Sauternes comes from the Bordeaux region of France and is made with grapes that have been affected by noble rot, like Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle, resulting in high-acid wines with fruity and honeyed notes. A common savory pairing for sauternes is seared foie gras. For dessert, Leahy says a buttery apple pie or galette will echo that creamy richness, and the acidity of the sauternes will complement the natural acidity of the apples.
Sauternes also pairs well with custard desserts like crème brulée. The whole structure of the wine is meant to help work through those kinds of rich flavors, like French toast and maple syrup.
Tokaji
Tokaj is the name of a wine-growing region in Hungary’s northeastern corner, and Tokaji refers to wines that are made from grapes in its vineyards on the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains. Although any wine produced from six permitted varieties in Tokaj may be called Tokaji, the region is most well-known for its sweet wines, which are affected by noble rot.
When most sommeliers mention Tokaji, they’re referring to Tokaji Aszú, which is made from botrytized grapes (most commonly Furmint and Hárslevelű) and must have a minimum of 120 grams per liter of residual sugar. Tokaji Eszencia, while more rarefied and expensive, is well-known for its low alcohol content at just 3–4% ABV and decadent sweetness that sometimes includes 450 grams of sugar per liter. Leahy says Tokaji Aszú’s Old World honeyed flavors might lend themselves well to a panettone, or another enriched holiday bread with dried fruits and nuts.
Late Harvest
As the name implies, late harvest wines refer to bottlings made from grapes that have been harvested later in the wine-making season, often in cooler climates, or those that have dried after harvest or been affected by noble rot. As the grapes stay on the vine, they pass their peak ripeness before eventually dehydrating, which concentrates the sugars. Technically, any grape can be harvested later in the season, but common grapes used in late-harvest wines include Riesling, Moscato, Zinfandel, Chenin Blanc, and Sémillon.
Try pairing a sweeter late-harvest Riesling with pumpkin pie, as its honeyed notes tend to work with the seasonal spices. Pumpkin pie is just so spicy. You don’t want to overwhelm it and compete with it. You want to bring something that’s going to accentuate all those flavors anyway.
Leahy particularly likes sweet Italian reds with chocolate desserts. The tannins in chocolate are high, so the tannins will complement each other. Sweet red wines will also work well with berry desserts.
Sparkling Sweet Wine
If you want to serve something bubbly with dessert, you’ll find a range of styles to suit whatever you’re serving. A sweet Champagne (look for demi-sec or doux) works well with warm fall spices that you might find in a pumpkin loaf or a cinnamon roll. It has that brioche and that toastiness. Champagne goes with everything.
Moscato d’Asti, a sparkling white made from the moscato grape, is a great palate cleanser before desserts, says Leahy, and can also be paired with citrus treats like lemon tarts. She likes a sparkling Italian red like Lambrusco or Brachetto d’Acqui to serve with berry desserts.
