Top Dessert Wines

Dessert wine is the type of wine that is served typically with a dessert. Although most of the time it is drunk alone, meaning without any food. A lot of people drink dessert wine in small quantities because it is very sweet and because of this, it often comes in small bottles rather than the larger ones.

There are dessert wines that are not especially suitable to accompany sweet desserts but instead are better when drunk alone or, alternatively, served with foods with strong taste such as foie gras. Desert wine is also excellent when matched with pudding because it is thought to bring out the flavor.

Desert wine is flavorful and, most of the time, extra spirits are added to it to raise the alcohol level. Dessert wine is a lot sweeter, richer and thicker than other table wines because the grapes used are already very ripe when they are picked. They are harvested late, thus, their residual sugars are preserved.

Like dinner wine, dessert wine is best served chilled and some wine connoisseurs prefer a dessert accompaniment of baked sweets or fruits. Serve heavy dessert wine during winter and the lighter ones for summer.

These wines contain flavors like peach, honey, almond, lime, caramel, pineapple, oak, and herbs that enhance the wine’s flavor and make a perfect drink to go with light desserts. Some of the best dessert wines include late harvest wines that come from grapes that have dried-up a little bit for concentrated sweetness and fortified dessert wines like port and sherry. A basic rule in serving dessert wine is that it should always be sweeter than the accompanying dessert.

If you are into sweet wines, try the late harvest dessert wines below. They are regarded as the top three best dessert wines.

• Bonny Doon’s Muscat Vin de Glaciere 2004 – This dessert wine is from California and is priced at $15. Taste the flavors of candy-coated pears and very sweet pineapple that blend together making a delightful wine perfect with another dessert or enjoyed alone.

• Silvan Ridge Early Muscat 2003 – Priced at $14, this dessert wine originated from Oregon. This dessert wine will surely be a hit in your parties with its crisp and fresh fruity flavors of mixed apples, pears and peaches. This dessert wine is also best served with creamy desserts or fruit cocktail.

• Petit-Vedrines Sauternes 2002 – This classy dessert wine originated from France and is priced at $12. It’s pale-colored and rich with honey, caramel and coconut flavors.

Some of the world’s most famous fortified wines include Marsala, Sherry, Cream Sherry, Madeira, Vermouth and Port.