Dessert / Sweet Wines | Prices, Types & Reviews
Written By: Brian Freedman on Wed, Jul 12th 2006
Sweet wines, when made well, are some of the most rewarding and intensely-flavored wines on the market. As opposed to the cheaply made wines that were popular in the United States through most of the 50's and 60's, real sweet or dessert wines are as sophisticated as even the finest dry wines from, say, Bordeaux or Burgundy. Sadly, many people still shy away from them, perhaps because they have not been able to get past their reputation as cheap.
There are many methods employed in the production of sweet wines. The grapes can either be left on the vine to shrivel as the water evaporates and the ratio of sugar increases. They can be picked frozen, which also concentrates the sugars. They can be infected by the fungus Botrytis, which not only saps the water from the grapes but also imparts a wonderfully floral quality to the resulting wines, which are famous for their ability to last upwards of 100 years before reaching their peak levels of flavor and aroma. Or they can be fortified, which means that the sugar fermentation is halted by the addition of a spirit (often brandy or other grape-based alcohol), which raises the alcohol and keeps the wine sweet. Whatever you tend to like best, the is just no better way to end a big meal than with a glass of sweet or dessert wine.
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