The Magic of Dessert Wines

Who doesn't like dessert? Actually, I'm not a big dessert eater. When push comes to shove, however, I'd probably rather drink my dessert than eat it. And, when I do it, there are oh so many choices. For today, let's stick with wines.

As a group, Americans shy away from dessert wines. They say they are too sugary sweet in a sickening way. Frankly, there are an awful lot of wines that do fit that horrible description. As bad as the taste, or many would say worse, those same wines are probably highly likely to give you a hangover if you drink too much of them.

Where did those wines come from and why have they skewed American tastes? I think it goes back to those points when many Americans start drinking -- underage. They buy what is cheapest because they really don't care. And, bad jug wine or now bad box wine is cheap. It also goes through production processes to leave sugars that just shouldn't be in wines in wines.

So, we have a stigma about dessert wines. 

Compare to much of the rest of the world where many connoisseurs will gladly give up other foods and beverages for just a small pour of a late harvest wine or fortified wine. In Hungary, Tokaji is rated by puttanyos, a measure of sweetness where more sweetness gets more puttanyos and therefore more cost. In Germany and nearby countries, the rating scales for their precious Riesling and other aromatics is based largely on the sugar content of the unfermented grapes. And, yes, those tend to be the much sweeter wines.

Why would we possibly want wine so sweet? For starters, many people do like to drink these sweet wines with desserts. And, here's a rule of thumb for you: your dessert wine should be at least as sweet as the dessert you are eating. So, if the icing on that cake seems almost pure sugar, your wine better be really sweet.

Ultimately, though, if you let the sweetness luxuriate much the way you do with a dessert, a well balanced late harvest wine can be magical. The fruit flavors are often intense in much the way that very ripe fruit is. These wines tend to be quite viscous and the flavors seem to glue themselves to your palate, so as they evolve, the complexity is full of a multitutde of flavors.

For me, they can be the ultimate relaxation. And, the good news is that it only takes a small pour, but the wines will last in an opened bottle for much longer than tradtitional dry wines. Try one and see. And then try another and another.