Make your tastebuds twinkle! Skip the heavy dessert option. Try out these 5 major types of dessert wines. From delicately fizzy Sparkling Dessert Wines to Fortified wines like Vintage Port wine. However, keep in mind that dessert wines are meant to be enjoyed in small glasses. They are quite often treasured like a bottle of Scotch.

These are the 5 Main Types of Dessert Wines

• Sparkling Dessert Wine
• Lightly Sweet Dessert Wine
• Richly Sweet Dessert Wine
• Sweet Red Wine
• Fortified Wine

Find Your Way to Dessert Wines

It is a fact that sweet wine comes from extra-sweet grapes. The fermentation process is stopped before the yeast converts all grape sugars into alcohol, in making sweet wine. Some of the several ways normally adopted to stop fermentation include super-cooling the wine or adding brandy to the mix. Eventually, it results in a rich wine that is sweetened with natural grape sugars.

There are hundreds of different types of dessert wines that are available in the market. But most of them fall into 5 main styles. Read on to acquaint yourself with basic outlines of the 5 styles along with the process and variety of grapes used for producing them. Explore and experience all five styles to deep dive into dessert wines.

Sparkling Dessert Wines

It is the carbonation and high acidity in sparkling wines that make them appear less sweet than they actually are. Moreover, there are certain grape varieties that smell sweeter than others. It tricks our thought process into believing that they taste sweeter. For example, a Demi-Sec Moscato tastes sweeter than a Demi-Sec Champagne. Even though both contain the same amount of sugar.

Keep your eyes peeled open for these words on the label, when you are looking out for sweet dessert wine Champagnes and other sparklers!

• Demi-Sec (French)
• Amabile (Italian)
• Semi Secco (Italian)
• Doux (French)
• Dolce / Dulce (Italian / Spanish)
• Moelleux (French)

Lightly-Sweet Dessert Wines

These wines are refreshingly sweet. And are perfect for savoring on a warm afternoon. Several sweet wines pair well with spicy foods including Indian or Southeast Asian cuisine. Save for rare examples! Lightly-sweet dessert wines are best enjoyed close to the vintage date. Get your hands on a German Riesling. They age quite well.

These wines often explode with fruit flavors. They are well suited for fruit-based and vanilla-driven desserts. Consider Gewürztraminer! Lightly sweet dessert wines are well known for their lychee and rose petal aromas.  Moreover, it pairs excellently with fruit tarts.

• Gewürztraminer: This grape variety makes a highly floral wine with moderate amounts of alcohol.
• Riesling: It is a very popular white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region.
• Müller-Thurgau: This is a less common variety of grape that is also from Germany.
• Chenin Blanc: Made in a sweeter style of wine in the United States. It is commonly available in South Africa, and France as well.
• Viognier: This is an aromatic grape variety that is not sweet. The wine it produces is rich and oily on the palate.

Richly Sweet Dessert Wines

These wines are made with the highest quality grapes in an unfortified style. These wines are commonly aged 50+ years because sweetness and acidity preserve the fresh flavor. Richly sweet dessert wines are historically important including Hungarian Tokaji which was loved by the Tzars of Russia.

There are numerous ways to produce richly sweet dessert wines. Let us understand them better by the way they are made.

• Late Harvest: It means exactly what it is called. These grapes hang on the vine longer in the season. They become sweeter and more raisinated with concentrated sweetness. Grapes left on the vine longer are normally used for late-harvest wines. Most often these wines use Chenin Blanc, Sémillon, and Riesling grapes.
• Noble Rot: This is a type of spore called Botrytis cinerea. It eats fruits and vegetables but adds unique flavors of ginger, saffron, and honey to sweet wines. Nowadays, there are many popular types of dessert wines made from such grapes. Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, Furmint grapes from Hungary, and German Ausiese varieties of grapes are the most favorite used in this type.
• Straw Mat: Grapes are normally laid out on straw mats to raisinate prior to winemaking. These wines are made with Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes. Italian Passito is yet another straw wine made with several different kinds of grapes, both white and red. Greece also produces Vinsanto, which is made with high-acid white Assyrtiko grapes. Muscat grapes and Zweigelt grapes are also used in the making of this type of wine. French Vin de Paille from the Jura region of France uses Chardonnay and ancient Savagnin grapes.
• Eiswein or Ice Wine: This wine type is extremely rare and expensive. Only occurring in bizarre years when vineyards freeze. Moreover, ice wine must be harvested and pressed while grapes are still frozen. Canada is the largest ice wine producer in the world. You can also find ice wines in cooler regions of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Ice wines are normally made with Riesling or Vidal grapes. Even Cabernet Franc grapes are sometimes used to produce ice wine. Expect to find ice wine honeyed and richly sweet like a noble rot wine.

Sweet Red Wines

These wines are on the decline nowadays, except for cheap commercial production. Nevertheless, there are still quite a few historically well-made sweet reds worth reaching out to. However, the majority of these awesome sweet red wines use esoteric grapes and are from Italy.

• Lambrusco: This region produces a refreshing and bubbly sparkling wine in both dry and sweet styles. Lambrusco has a yeasty undertone. Alongside raspberry and blueberry flavors. The sweet versions of Lambrusco are labeled as ‘Amabile’ or ‘Dulce’.
• Brachetto d’Acqui: This bubbly red or rosé wine is made with Brachetto grapes from the Piedmont region. It is famous for its floral and strawberry aromas. It has an affinity to pair well with cured meats.
• Schiava: This is a rare variety from Alto-Adige that is still available. Schiava was nearly wiped off the map. A touch sweet, while being refreshing it smells sweet of raspberry and cotton candy.
• Freisa: This is one of the great red varieties of Piedmont. With lighter tannins and floral cherry notes, Freisa is related to Nebbiolo.
• Recioto Della Valpolicella: It is made in the same painstaking process as Amarone wine. Recioto Della Valpolicella is lush, bold, and rich.
• Late-Harvest Red Wines: These red dessert wines in the US are made with grapes like Zinfandel, Mourvedre, Malbec, and Petite Sirah. Late-harvest red wines explode with sweetness along with heightened alcohol content.

Fortified Wines

Fortified wines are made When grape brandy is added to a wine, it is known as Fortified Wine. It can either be dry or sweet. Lion’s share of fortified wines is higher in alcohol content. They pack about 17-20% of the ABV. They also have a longer shelf life after they are opened.

Port Wines

Made in the Northern part of Portugal along the Douro River, Port wine is a rare and sweet red wine. They are made with dozens of Portuguese traditional grapes including Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, and Touriga Nacional. The grapes used for making Port Wine are collected and fermented together in open tanks. These grapes are stomped every day as the wine begins to ferment. The wine is strained and blended with a clear grape spirit that is nearly 70% ABV at a point during the fermentation process. It eventually stops the fermentation procedure and fortifies the wine. There are a series of winemaking steps after this that lead to the different styles of wines mentioned below.

• Ruby & Crusted Port: This wine is sweet. It is an introductory style of Port wine that tastes of the freshly minted port. However, it is much less sweet than Tawny Port.
• Vintage & LBV Port: This wine is also sweet. Both LBV and Vintage Port are made in the same style. But due to the style of cork enclosure, LBV is designed to be enjoyed in its youth. And vintage Ports are meant to be aged about 20-50 years before consumption.
• Tawny Port: This is a very sweet wine type. The process of aging a Tawny Port happens at the winery in large wooden casks and smaller wooden barrels. Tawny Port becomes more nutty and figgy with age. It is best when aged 30-40 years.
• Port-Style Wines: It is also known as Vin Doux Naturel. This is a sweet Port Wine that can only be made in Portugal. Nonetheless, there are many producers all over the world who make port-style wines. Including Pinot Noir ‘Port’ and Zinfandel ‘Port’. All these are however referred to as Vin Doux Naturel (VDN) wines.

Sherry

Coming from Andalusia in Spain Sherry wines are made using Palomino, Pedro Ximénez, and Moscatel grapes. It is produced using varying amounts of the three types of grapes. Sherry is purposefully oxidized so that it develops nutty aromatic flavors.

• Fino: This is a dry wine. It is the lightest and most dry of all types of Sherries. Fino displays tart and nutty flavors.
• Manzanilla: It is a dry wine featuring the specific style of Fino Sherry. It comes from a more specialized region that is even lighter than Fino.
• Palo Cortado: This dry wine is slightly a richer style of sherry. Palo Cortado is aged longer producing darker colors and richer flavors. This typically dry wine features fruity and nutty aromas along with salinity.
• Amontillado: This wine is mostly dry. It is an aged sherry that typically takes on the nutty flavors of butter and peanuts.
• Oloroso: It is a dry wine that is well-aged. Oloroso is dark sherry having higher alcohol content due to the evaporation of water during the aging process. It is more like the scotch version of Sherry.
• Cream Sherry: This is also a sweet-style wine. It is eventually made by blending Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez Sherry.
• Moscatel: This sweet style Sherry comes with fig and date flavors.
• Pedro Ximénez: Known as PX in short, it is a very sweet type of wine with brown sugar and fig-like flavors.

Madeira

This is a type of wine produced by using 4 different varieties of grapes grown on an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It is unlike other wines simply because the wines undergo a heating and oxidation procedure. This technique was traditionally called ‘ruin a wine’. Madeira portrays a rich fortified wine with walnut-like flavors, that are saline and spreads oiliness on the palate of the consumer due to the four different grapes used that are used in production. Ranging from dry to sweet, Madeira works well alongside a meal. It is also best as a pre-dinner drink. Get to know Madeira better.

• Rainwater & Madeira: If the label says ‘Madeira’ or even ‘Rainwater’, assume that it is a blend of all four types of grapes. Moreover, it is somewhere in between the middle terms of sweetness.
• Sercial: This is the driest type of wine and the lightest of all the grapes that are used in producing Madeira. It will be dry with notes of peaches and apricot and have higher acidity as well. It is quite common to see Sercial Madeira which has been aged for 100 years.
• Verdelho: This dry type of wine has citrus notes and will develop nutty flavors of almond and walnut as it ages.
• Bual: Another sweet style wine that leans on the sweet side along with notes of black walnut, brown sugar, burnt caramel, fig, and root beer. It is quite common to find 10-year-old ‘medium’ Bual Madeira. However, there are several well-aged 50-70 years old Bual as well.
• Malmsey: These sweet wines have caramel and orange citrus notes. They go very well to taste along with the oily oxidized nutty flavor.

Vin Doux Naturel:

VDN Wines are made in a similar style to Port wine. This is a base wine that is created and eventually finished with neutral grape brandy. While the term ‘Vin Doux Naturel’ comes from France, this classification could be used to describe a wine coming from anywhere in the world.

• Grenache-based VDN: This wine type is typically from the south of France. From places like Banyuls, Maury, and Rasteau of Languedoc-Roussillon
• Muscat-based VDN: These come in many styles and places, like Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, Muscat de Frotignan, Muscat de Rivesaltes, Orange Muscat, and Vin Santo Liquoroso from Italy, and Rutherglen Muscat of Australia.
• Malvasia-based VDN: This VDN type comes mostly from Italy and Sicily. Including the Malvasia delle Lipari Liquoroso
• Mavrodaphne From Greece: It is a sweet red wine having many similarities to Port Wine.

FAQs

What are dessert wines?

Dessert wines, as such, are a broad category of sweet wines. They are meant to be served at the end of a meal. Dessert wines are most often sweeter and contain higher alcohol content than other types of wine. and They include a wide range of types like as fortified wines, sparkling wines, and sweet red wines.

What type of wine is good for dessert?

Varieties like Riesling, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Moscato, Cabernet, and Syrah are great choices. As well as many other blends. However, be mindful of the color of the wine and how it compares to the dessert. It is good to eliminate wines that are significantly lighter or darker than the dessert you have chosen to take.

What is the difference between normal wine and dessert wine?

First of all, sweet wine is normally made from a dry wine along with added sweeteners. A dessert wine on the other hand is naturally sweet and considerably much higher in ABV content.

Are dessert wines normally high in alcohol?

Dessert wines are usually sweet with pronounced flavor and higher alcohol content. Specifically, the Port, Madeira, Sherry, and late-harvest wines are traditional dessert wines. They normally contain more than 15% alcohol by volume.

Can you have dessert wine alone?

Yes, of course. Nevertheless, they are most often enjoyed after dinner with a dessert pairing. But then again, with so many styles and flavors dessert wines also make amazing aperitifs, fantastic cheese or savory pairings; as well as stand-alone drinks.

So Sweet Dessert Wine

Also known as Pudding Wine, Dessert Wines are sweet and typically served along with dessert. However, there is no simple definition and Dessert Wine is expected to be a sweet wine which can be drunk with meal. Dessert Wine in United States was earlier defined as any wine which contains over 14 percent alcohol by volume.

Moreover, these included fortified wines as well and were highly taxed as a result. But then this classification is outdated now with modern yeast and viticulture producing dry wines which contain over 15 percent of alcohol by volume, without any fortification.

Making Dessert Wine

Tokaji Aszu & Sauternes are best examples of Dessert Wine. Since Dessert Wine makers have to produce sugar within the vineyard, grape varieties like Ortega, Muscat and Huxelrebe are excellent due to the fact that they naturally produce a lot more sugar in comparison with other varieties. However, environmental conditions do make a great difference on ultimate sugar levels within grapes.

Moreover, techniques like green harvesting which reduce number of bunches on vine early in summer effectively contribute to sugar production since the division is between fewer bunches. It is also true that a sunny year can help sugar levels a lot.

Serving Dessert Wine

As a rule, Dessert Wine should be sweeter than the food which is being served. A perfectly ripe peach is considered as an ideal partner for several Dessert Wines. However, it is pointless to drink Dessert Wine with chocolate and toffee based dishes. Red Dessert Wines like Recioto Della Valpolicella is a good match for difficult to pair desserts.

On several occasions wine itself can prove to be dessert, although bakery sweets make a good match. This is especially true when little bitterness similar to that which is concealed in almond biscuits dunked in Vin Santo. Rich savory dishes like Foie Gras can ideally develop a matching contrast with Dessert Wines such as Sauternes. White Dessert Wines are usually served somewhat chilled or too cold, while Red Dessert Wines are mostly served at room temperature or slightly chilled.