The category of dessert wines encompasses a wide range from light and floral to rich and jammy.  Dessert wines can be white, red, or tawny, and very sweet or just a bit.  They also range in alcoholic strength.  Sweet wines are widely under-appreciated, especially considering how difficult some of them are to make.   

How sweet wines are made:

Dessert wines can attain their sweetness and concentration by a number of techniques.  The finest sweet wines are made by concentrating the sugar in the grapes. 

Late harvest—made by leaving the grapes hanging on the vine as long as possible in order to concentrate grape sugars. 

Example of this method: many dessert wines wines, including Jurancon and late harvest German Rieslings (Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trokenbeerenauslese)

Noble Rot (Botrytis) makes a very complex and long-lived wine.  Traditionally Sauternes of Botrytisized Semillon but noble rot can affect other grapes such as Riesling or chardonnay.  Wine regions have good and bad years for Botrytis, as the fungus prefers very specific conditions, and destructive rots can threaten to destroy the crop.

Example of this method: Sauternes, Barsac, Seleccion des Grains Nobles

Freezing grape clusters—Grapes are picked while frozen on the vine and immediately pressed. The water in the grapes is trapped as ice and does not make its way into the wine.  This traditional method is extremely labor-intensive, which is reflected in the cost of icewine.  A half bottle can easily cost $100! Alternatively, producers can cheat and employ freezers.  The grapes are harvested then frozen.  This keeps the price in check but the final product is nowhere near as intense and complex as the real deal.  traditionally made from Riesling

Example of this method: Eiswine, Icewine

Vin doux naturels—An already sweet wine’s fermentation is arrested by the addition of spirit (usually brandy). Yeast are incapacitated by these high levels of alcohol.

This results in a wine which is both sweet and strong in alcohol. These are often called “fortified wines.”

Example of this method: Port, Banyuls

Deliberate raisining—drying mature grapes either on the vine or after picking.

Example of this method: Vin Santo, Amarone

Incomplete fermentation— Fermentation is arrested partway, resulting in a sweet wine with low alcohol.

Example of this method: Moscato D’Asti

The Grapes used depend on the region—sweet wines can be made anywhere from Austria to Uruguay . Traditionally producers make a dessert wine from their local grapes.

What’s with the small bottles?

Dessert wines are usually sold in half-bottles (375mL).  These wines are rich and filling, so smaller servings are standard. The smaller bottles also help keep the price tags down, which is good when you’re just trying something new.  By the way, leftover dessert wine will usually keep a little longer because sugar is an excellent preservative.

Pairing Dessert wines with Food

Dessert wines are often best when allowed to shine, by serving them as dessert.  Pairing them with food is a little trickier, but highly rewarding.  You have to match the sweetness level of the food with that of the wine.  For instance, rich and dark red dessert wines and Ports are the best match with chocolate.  Lighter, floral white dessert wines pair beautifully with fruit-based desserts.  Rich, salty and pungent blue cheeses will overpower most dry wines but pair surprisingly well with sweet wines such as Sauternes and Port.