Dessert / Fortified Wine Varieties

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 Dessert/Fortified

A dessert wine is much thicker and sweeter than regular wine. Whereas other wine might be enjoyed as an aperitif, dessert wine is usually taken at the end of a meal either on its own or with the dessert course. There are many methods for producing dessert and fortified wines. Botrytis (noble rot) is the process where grapes are allowed to rot on the vine, and fortification is when an alcoholic spirit like brandy is added to stop fermentation and retain sugar content.

Dessert and fortified wines are usually yellow-gold to brown in colour and best served with sweet dishes. The peach, almond and honey flavours of these wines make them excellent partners for desserts prepared with fresh fruit and served with chocolate.


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Apple Wine

Also known as cider, apple wine is made by fermenting apple juice. Apple wine is enjoyed all over the world, although it goes by many different names depending on the where it is produced. In Anglo-Saxon countries, apple wine is also known as apple cider or just cider. The French call it cidre doux and in Germany apple wine is called Apfelwein. Australian apple wine is produced in the Clare Valley and around the southern wine-producing regions.

The taste of apple wine can differ greatly, as can its appearance. Generally it is quite a sweet wine but can also be dry. Sometimes they're cloudy like beer or perfectly clear like wine. Depending on the fermentation process and the types of apples used, the colour of apple wine can be anything from a pale yellow to brown. It tends to be that the mass-produced varieties are more wine-like, almost clear and sparkling, while the traditional apple wine made at home is darker, tastier and carry more of the apple essence.

Apple wine is perfect served with barbequed meat, particularly glazed lamb and pork chops. In fact, if the apple wine is blended into the marinade or the glaze, it'll really accentuate the flavours of the accompanying wine.


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Botrytis

Botrytis (or Noble rot) is actually a fungal condition that sets in late in the harvest season and causes grapes to rot, reducing the water content and leaving mostly sugar behind. It is a deliberate move by winemakers because it helps sweeten and concentrate the juice yielded by the grapes, which in turn is used to make dessert wines.

This fungal rot changes the chemical make-up of the grape and its juices, which also produces a different characteristics for the resulting wine, certainly to the type of wine produced from the grapes harvested earlier, and intact. A good Botrytis is redolent of apricot, honey and caramel, the sweetness offset by spicy notes on the bouquet.

Whereas Champagne would open an evening's food fare, a Botrytis-influenced drink would round it off. These wines are usually enjoyed with spicy desserts like pumpkin pie, cinnamon pancakes and fruit cake.


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Late Harvest Other

When "Late harvest" appears on a bottle's label, it is usually means that the wine is sweet, like late-harvest Semillon and Riesling are known to be. These types of wines are made from grapes that have been left to rot on the vine, a process known as botrytis. The grapes lose their water content and leave behind only the sugar in the juice.

Other late-harvests like raisin wine and straw wine are made from air-dried grapes. Ice wine is another kind of late-harvest wine made from grapes left to freeze on the vine. This allows the water to freeze right out of the grapes and leave behind the sugary juice. The late harvest method is popular in most wine-producing countries, especially South Africa and Australia.


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Late Harvest Pinot Gris

Originally Pinot Gris grapes deliver an interesting wine light in flavour and even lighter in the aroma department, and when left to rot on their vines, the grapes produce a sweet, sticky juice used to make the varieties that wear the late-harvest label. Late harvest Pinot Gris wines are cultivated in the southern wine-producing regions of Australia.

The Botrytis-affected Pinot Gris wines are much more flavoursome and certainly more complex. Fruity notes of pear and orange dominate and there are lingering hints of minerals. These wines are sweet, warm and full on the palate, sometimes with hints of the oak in which it is left to mature.

A Pinot Gris late harvest is a treat when paired with chocolate-based desserts and fresh berries.

 

Late Harvest Riesling

Riesling is one of the more versatile grape varieties, and nothing showcases this versatility than when it harvested late to make the sweet wines for which Riesling is so well known. These wines are cultivated in the Clare Valley region in southern Australia.

If grown and processed in a cooler climate, a late harvest will retain more of the crisp acidity than a late harvest produced in a warmer climate. Nonetheless, these wines are fruity and full with hints of peaches and the trademark citrus fruits coming through strongly. A well-made late harvest Riesling will impress by the way it balances its sugar content perfectly with its acidity. This Riesling is wonderful served with icy fruit sorbet, fruit salad, peach or apple crumble or tiramisu.

 

Late Harvest Semillon

As far as the cultivation of dessert wines goes, Semillon is the favourite grape because its thinner skin allows for a more effective state of Botrytis and therefore sweeter juice. Semillon wines are naturally more honeyed and substantially textured than other white wines and makes for a wonderfully balanced dessert wine.

Late harvest Semillon wines are known to feature bright floral notes with hints of peach, pineapple and sometimes banana making up the bouquet. Typically they're yellow-gold in colour, thick with the buttery taste of apricots and honey. Sweet Semillon is left to mature in oak, usually French, which contributes a slight woodiness to the long finish.

Fois gras, blue cheese and light chocolate desserts are excellent pairings for a late harvest Semillon.


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Liqueur

Liqueur is a sweet alcoholic drink made by infusing many different flavours to create a beverage most often dominated by the flavour of herbs, flowers and spices. Liqueurs can be enjoyed on their own, mixed with other alcoholic beverages to enhance flavour or combined with coffee, ice cream and also an ingredient in cooking.

Most liqueurs are sweet dessert-type wines that can easily be homemade using a strong spirit like vodka and, depending on the type of liqueur, a variety of fruit like berries and a variety of herbs. The resulting beverage can be various colours, which makes it an attractive addition to cocktails. On their own, liqueurs aren't particularly high in alcohol, but some can contain as much as 50% alcohol.


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Madeira

Named after the islands off the coast of its native Portugal, Madeira can be made into a variety of dry wines, but it is most popular as a sweet wine consumed with dessert. It is considered to be one of most enduring wines, some still in perfect condition 100 years after bottling.

Madeira wine is subjected to an interesting process where it is exposed to a great deal of heat to speed up fermentation. It is this exposure that accounts for its longevity. Madeira is a sweet wine with notes of dried peaches and apricots on the nose, usually of medium acidity and high alcohol.


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Muscat

In Australia, dessert wines in this grape family are made of Orange Muscat, so named for it citrusy bouquet. Muscat grapes range from white to black and is often thought of as the best grape variety for botrytis-induced sweet wine because of its rich perfumes and fruity character.

Muscat is a versatile grape also used in the cultivation of sparkling wines and simple table wines. Muscat dessert wines are rich and full in the mouth, redolent of honey, apricot and pears with a distinctive perfume. Its spicy fruitiness makes for a complex, elegant character, pleasing in its unpretentiousness.

Chocolate cake, spicy ginger puddings and ice cream are excellent pairings for sweet Muscat.


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Other Dessert

Dessert wine is the sweeter, thicker alternative to regular wine. Besides allowing the grapes to rot to increase the sugar levels in the grape juice, wine-makers also add other ingredients to create a unique and interesting taste. Popular additions are fruits like raspberries, mangoes, oranges and lemons. Intensified sweetness is also achieved by adding honey and sugar.

Some other examples of dessert wine include raisin wines like Vin Santo. Raisin wine is made from white or brown air-dried raisins. Another popular dessert wine is ice wine. This is made with grapes cultivated in below-freezing temperatures. The water freezes out of the grapes, leaving only the sugar in the juice.

Dessert wines should be served either on their own or with the dessert course of a meal.


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Other Fortified

Fortified wines are made by adding a spirit (like brandy) to grape juice to stop the fermentation process. This helps to increase the sweetness and alcohol content of the resulting wine. Port is the most common example of a fortified wine, but there are a number of other wine types that go through the same process.

Pineau des Charentes, or just Pineau, is a sweet wine (white or rose) produced in Cognac, France. Pineau's sweetness is achieved by adding the alcohol Cognac to the juice. Pineau is sweet, but not as sweet as Port.

Marsala is an Italian fortified wine made when grain alcohol is added to the grape juice. When ready for drinking, it is yellow-gold in colour, sweet and high in alcohol. Malaga is a Spanish fortified wine made from Pedro Ximinez and Moscatel grapes. Vin-doux-naturels is the name given to mildly fortified wines made in southern France from Muscat or Grenache grapes.


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Port

Port is a fortified wine originating in Portugal and is now produced in all the major wine-producing countries in the world. The wine produced for the making of Port is treated to fortification, which involves adding a neutral spirit, often brandy, to the wine that stops the fermentation process, increased its sweetness and also the alcohol level. It then left to mature in steel tanks (reductive aging) or barrels (oxidative aging).

This is heavier, sweeter and stronger than other dessert wines. Depending on its age, Port's colour can range from yellow-gold to deep brown. Even Port cultivated from white grapes takes on the gold during the aging process.

Port is usually served on its own at room temperature after the final course of a meal. White Port can be served chilled.


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Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine originally cultivated in Spain, but whereas other sweet wines like Port are fortified to stop fermentation, Sherry is fortified after the fermentation process is complete.

Sherry is produced from the juices of three grapes: Palomino, Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel. The relevant one for sweet wine here is Pedro Xeminez. These grapes are harvested and then sun-dried to concentrate and sweeten the juices. Once fortified, the wine is placed into stacked wooden barrels and then aged in the solera method, which involves moving a portion of the wine from the top barrel to the ones below.

Sherry is by no means reserved for elderly gentlemen and their poker evenings. This thick, sweet wine is enjoying resurgence as wine lovers rediscover the wonderful taste sensation Sherry has to offer.


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Tokay

Also known as Tokaj, this sweet wine is originally produced in the Tokaj-Hegyalja region of its native Hungary. It is a sweet wine made from a variety of white grapes subjected to noble rot on the vine. This concentrates and sweetens the juice, which is then fermented and left to mature in wood.

Australian Tokay, mainly produced in the Rutherglen area along with Muscat, is not made in the same way as the original Hungarian variety and so bears little resemblance to the original Tokaji.

Tokay wines are sometimes cultivated to be dry, but it really shines as a dessert wine. It starts life pale gold and then becomes darker with the oxidation that comes aging. It is deliciously sweet and best served on its own as an aperitif. However, Tokay wine is wonderful with fruity desserts.

 

Vermouth

Vermouth is fortified liquor made of wine spiced with herbs and then treated with neutral spirits, a recipe first developed more than 200 years ago. It is a smooth sweet drink to be enjoyed on its own or as an additive in cocktails like Manhattans.

Traditionally sweet Vermouth is red, although white sweet Vermouth also exists.

Vermouth is sweet and smooth with a distinct aroma of herbs and spices. Besides being served as an aperitif or mixed into cocktails, Vermouth is also used in cooking, adding its unique blend of flavours to an array of dishes, particularly chicken.

Vermouth can be refrigerated for up to a year after opening.