Dessert Wines

In past entries we've explored fortified wines that are just one major category of dessert wines. While the list of dessert wines is too expansive to cover in one posting, we'll touch briefly on the categories of sparkling wines and the various types of Late Harvest wines.

As discussed in prior posting, sparkling wines can range from dry to sweet. Typically a wine labeled "Dry" will have little to no residual sugar (RS). But that's not true in sparkling wines. Sparkling wines on the sweeter side are called:

• Extra Dry has 12-20% residual sugar
• Dry has 17-35% residual sugar
• Demi Sec will have 35-50% residual sugar
• Doux (meaning 'sweet' in French) will have greater than 50% residual sugar

A few of the sweeter sparkling wines include Moscato d'Asti, Asti Spumante, Sparkling Gewürztraminer, Demi Sec, and Sparkling Rosé. Sparkling wines are fun and festive and will go well with most dessert courses.

The other major category of dessert wines is Late Harvest wines.  These wines can be broken down by the following production methods:

• Late Harvest of the Grapes: Simply put, the longer the grapes stays on the vine the more ripe they become and the more natural sugar they produce. During the fermentation process, the yeast is not able to convert all the natural sugar to alcohol thus resulting in a sweeter wine. Nearly any grape varietal can be used to produce a Late Harvest dessert wine. These tend to be very rich and fruity with notes of honey.
• Using Dried Grapes: A dried grape, or raisin, just tastes sweeter than a grape because the sugar is not diluted in water. Thus, using dried grapes can result in more sugar, less water. Here again, the yeast used to ferment the wine doesn't consume all the sugar before dying off resulting in a sweet wine. Grapes may be dried on the vine, on straw mats or while hanging on racks.
  • Greek Straw Wines
    • Vinsanto is made with high-acid white Assyrtiko grapes
    • Samos is a sweet wine made from Muscat grapes
    • Commandaria is a sweet wine from the Mavro grape
  • German Strohwein/Austrian Schilfwein - These are sweet wines made from Muscat and Zweigelt grapes in Austria and Germany.
  • French Vin de Paille - From the Jura region of France, these wines are produced using Chardonnay and the ancient white wine grape Savagnin.
  • Italian Passito - These wines are made with several different kinds of grapes, both white and red, but notably from the Moscato grape. These have a fruity bouquet and flavors of apricot and raisins.
  • Vin Santo - From Italy, this wine is produced from Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes. Includes nutty and date-like flavors. Commonly served with biscotti that may be dipped in the wine or eaten separately.
• Noble Rot:  The awful sounding name of this method occurs naturally in climates where there are cool damp mornings and warm dry afternoons.  This environment is where naturally occurring fungus, Botrytis, causes the grapes to shrivel on the vine, losing much of the water and leaving behind the extra concentrated sweet fruit. The 'rot' is entirely harmless and results in a highly sought-after style of wine. In Bordeaux, France, the Sauternes region is famous for its Noble Rot wines produced mostly from the Semillon grape.
• Ice Wine: This method allows the grapes to freeze on the vine, converting all the water within the grape to ice. When the grapes are immediately picked and crushed, the ice remains behind and only the sugary juice of the grape is collected. Only a fraction of this sweet juice is converted to alcohol during the fermentation process, thus creating a sweet wine.

So whether it is a fortified wine, a sparkling wine or a Late Harvest wine, there are many choices for dessert wines. A general rule for a dessert wine is that it should be sweeter than the food being served and slightly chilled. So keep these options in mind when choosing a dessert wine to go with your favorite dessert options.  But, as always, drink what you like and enjoy! Cheers!

Fortified Wines: Sherry and Vermouth

In recent posting we've addressed fortified wines including Port, Madeira and Marsala. All these wines are produced by adding either Brandy or neutral grape spirit to wines during the fermentation process or after fermentation is complete.

Without getting too much into the details of distilled spirits, Brandy (derived from the word brandywine, or burnt wine) and grape spirit are produced by heating wine to the point where the alcohol evaporates and is collected separately. Fortified winemakers then use these distilled alcohols to increase the alcohol levels in fermented wines.

While grape spirit is simply neutral-flavored grape alcohol, Brandy takes this grape alcohol one step further by aging it in wooden casks to smooth out the flavor of this otherwise harsh alcohol and give it its unique flavor.

Other popular fortified wines include Sherry and Vermouth.  Sherry, from Spain, is typically fortified with Brandy after fermentation is complete to produce a dry fortified wine. There are sweet styles of Sherry but the finer ones, from Spain, are dry.  The Spanish Sherries are made in multiple styles:

Dry Sherry: Made predominately from the Palomino grape:

• Fino & Manzanilla - Very light in flavor. Can have salty fruit flavors.
• Amontillado - A bit bolder with nutty flavors.
• Palo Cortado - This is much richer with roasted flavors of molasses and coffee.
• Oloroso - This style is intentionally exposed to oxygen during aging resulting its dark appearance and nutty flavors.

Sweet Sherry: Made from Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel grapes:

• Pedro Ximéniz (PX) - This is the sweetest style with flavors dates and figs.
• Moscatel - This has sweet caramel flavors.
• Sweet Sherry: A blend of Oloroso and PX Sherry.

Vermouth is another fortified wine originally from Italy. Vermouth is produced from neutral grape wine or unfermented wine must. Producers then add additional alcohol and their own mixture of botanical products including fruits, herbs, spices and roots. After the wine is aromatized and fortified, the Vermouth may be bottled dry, or sweeteners such as sugar may be added to create the sweet style of Vermouth.

So during the past few entries we've made a quick pass through the most popular fortified wines. Next, we'll investigate dessert wines.  Cheers!

Fortified Wine: Marsala

Previously we've established that fortified wine is wine that has grape spirit added. While typical wines have between 10 to 15% alcohol by volume (ABV), fortified wines end up with 15 to 20% ABV.  Early on, this proved to be quite beneficial, as the high alcohol levels would preserve the wine when making long journeys across oceans.  These fortified wines became known by the city or region where the wine originated; Port from Oporto in Portugal and Madeira wine from the Portuguese Islands of Madeira. This time we'll focus on Marsala wine from the town of Marsala on the west coast of Sicily.

True Marsala still only comes from Sicily and is produced from Sicilian indigenous grapes. And much like Madeira, Marsala is most often thought of as a cooking wine.  But, there are actually five quality levels:

• Fine - Aged for 1 year and commonly used in cooking
• Superior - Aged for 2 years and used most commonly in cooking
• Superior Reserve - Aged 4 years
• Virgin or Solera - Aged 5 years
• Virgin Stravecchio/Virgin Reserve - Aged for 10 or more years

Marsala has three levels of sweetness:

• Secco - Dry (little to no residual sugar). This wine completes fermentation before it is fortified.
• Semisecco - Semi sweet. This wine is fortified near the end of fermentation so as to leave a small amount of residual sugar.
• Dolce - Sweet. This wine is fortified during fermentation. The higher level of the fortifying alcohol kills the yeast before fermentation is complete, hence sugar remains in the wine.

There are also three styles of Marsala wine:

• Gold - Produced with white grapes (Grillo, Catarratto, Inzolia, Domaschino and Grecanico)
• Amber - Also produced with white grapes but the grape must (unfortified grape juice) is cooked to the point where the natural sugars caramelize, giving the wine the amber color
  • Flavors of Gold and Amber Marsala include apricot, brown sugar, and vanilla
• Ruby - Produced with red grapes (Pignatello, Nero d'Avola, Nerello Mascalese, and Frappato)
  • Flavors of Ruby Marsala include cherry, dried fruit, honey, walnut and licorice. 

High-end Marsala wines are produced by a system called 'Soleras' where new and old wines are blended. This will be the subject of a future posting.

A glass of Marsala wine should be served at approximately 55 degrees F and is wonderful when paired with Parmesan, Gorgonzola, Roquefort and other bold cheese. Cheers!

Fortified Wine: Madeira

Madeira is another of the fortified wines. But it is the way that it is produced that is quite unique.

Madeira first became popular in the mid-seventeenth century when the Madeira Islands, part of Portugal, were heavily used as key supply stations for ships heading to the New World or India.  To preserve the wine, additional alcohol (typically Brandy) was added to keep it from spoiling on the long ocean voyages. But these long voyages, in the subtropical heat, and via a rocking ship caused the wines to be kept quite warm, and often get exposed to air.

It was only after these wines reached their destinations that their unique flavors were 'discovered' and became appreciated.  The heating and oxidation causes the natural sugars in Madeira wines to caramelize, resulting in flavors that included burnt sugar and hazelnut, along with fruit flavors of peach and orange peal.

Today, Madeira wines continue to be produced by deliberately heating the wine. The most basic Madeira wines are heated in large tanks to 120-140 degree F for at least 3 months. Other production techniques involve storing the wine in large wooden casks in heated rooms for 6 months to a year, or just storing the casks in a warm sun-lite room for 20 years or more.

There are many styles of Madeira wine. The most commonly available Madeira is typically used in cooking, but there are many others that are meant to be enjoyed as an aperitif or dessert wine:

• Fine - The lowest quality. Made from the Tinta Negra grape. Aged for 3 years. Used for cooking.
• Rainwater - A fruity blend from the Tinta Negra grape. Aged at least 3 years. Used for cooking or mixing in cocktails.
• Reserve - Also made from the Tinta Negra grape, but aged 5 years.
• Special Reserve - Typically made from one of the 'Noble' grapes (see below) and aged 10 years.
• Extra Reserve - Also made from one of the "Noble' grapes and aged 15 years (quite rare).
• Colheita or Harvest – A single vintage wine, but aged for a shorter period than a true Vintage Madeira.
• Vintage or Frasqueira – A single vintage but aged at least 20 years.

While the majority of Madeira wines are produced from the Tinta Negra grape, the most authentic Madeira is made from the following "Noble' grape varietals:

• Sercial (Ser-seal) - Nearly dry (very little residual sugar), high acidity (bright and crisp), with flavors of toasted almonds
• Verdelho - Fermentation is halted earlier than Sercial, resulting in higher residual sugar, with smoky and rich flavors
• Bual - Just a bit more residual sugar, dark in color, with flavors of caramel, cacao, dates and raisins
• Malmsey - Having the highest residual sugar, its sweetness comes along with fruity flavors, roasted nuts and chocolate

So, if you are really interested in enjoying a glass of Madeira wine, skip the grocery store cooking variety and seek out a nicer bottle. You will certainly enjoy!  Cheers!

Fortified Wine: A Further Look at Port

Last time we discussed fortified wines - wines with added alcohol. And Port is one of the classic fortified wines. 

From Portugal, this is a sweet fortified wine that was originally created so that it could be put on-board ships in Oporto Portugal and transported to London without spoiling. The high alcohol level (~20% ABV) acted as an excellent preservative. Soon the Oporto style of wines became known to the world as Port.

Port is made from indigenous Portuguese grapes. And while there are more than fifty grapes that fall into that category, the primary grapes used to produce Port are Touriga Franc, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca and Tinta Cão.  Also note that to be called Port, it must be made in Portugal.

Styles of Port include:

• Tawney Port: Blended, sweet, and amber-brown in color, this Port is barrel aged 2 to 40+ years. Tawny Ports tend to have nutty aromas and caramel flavors from natural oxidation in the cask.
• Colheita: A single vintage Tawney Port, aged 10+ years. This Port is bottled only when the producer decides it is ready to drink, and should be enjoyed in the following year or so. The label should carry both the vintage and the bottling date.
• Ruby Port: This style of Port is widely produced and aged just 2 to 3 years before being bottled. These Ports are meant to be enjoyed young. Aging is done in cement or steel tanks to prevent oxidization so the Port retains its fresh, fruity qualities. Because it is filtered (and sometimes pasteurized) before bottling, Ruby Ports do not improve with bottle age.
• White Port - White Ports are blended together using a large number of grape varieties. The most commonly used varieties include Bical, Cerceal, Donzelinho Branco, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina, Rabigato, and Viosinho. White Port is often lost in the mix by the better-known styles of Port but it is not rare or expensive, just not as widely distributed.
• Late-Bottled Vintage (LBV) Port: This is Ruby Port from a single year, chosen for its high quality and bottled after aging for four to six years in wood. It is released ready to drink.
• Vintage Port: This is the highest quality single vintage Port. It is wood aged for two years before being bottled.  This Port matures well in the bottle transforming into a smooth, mellow wine that is rich and wonderfully aromatic.  Not just any year can be used to produce a Vintage Port. The major Port producers must declare it.  Typically three or four years out of a decade have harvests worthy of being called Vintage Ports. Recent vintage years were 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2003.

A Port glass is usually smaller than a regular wine glass and a serving size is around 3-ounces. It should be served just below room temperature, around 60 degrees F. So skip that dessert on a plate or in a bowl and enjoy a glass of Port for your next dessert. And try it with blue cheese and salted or smoked nut!  Cheers!