Dessert wines for your de-stress whines

“That’s enough today-ing for today, I’m done”. A phrase apt for the best of us, after a long gruesome day of what we call the routine for working adults. We all look forward to the end of the day. The end to a bitter hustle and the start of a sweet and restful indulgence. 

There’s nothing like swaddling yourself up to all the good feelings of accomplishment and treating yourself to a box of sweet treats after a striving day. Desserts have a way of speaking to our weary soul. If it was a person, he/she would make a great therapist - assuring that when it comes to forgoing a day of being stressed, the solution is in the problem; desserts! (stressed spelt backwards).

 As if cakes and pastries were not heavenly enough, there is a divine invention in the realm of wines that could swoon you into sweet ecstasy. Wines lusciously sweet with pronounced flavour and higher alcohol content. Call it wine, call it dessert, but it really is a confectionary heaven in a bottle.

A Tale of the Di(wine) Dessert

There’s no sugar-coated tale to dessert wines. They are simple sweet wines commonly served with dessert. Although, they are not merely one-trick-pony wines. The myriad of methods in creating dessert wines allows for a wide range of styles; sparkling to still and sweet to dry.

Know Thy Grapes : Harvest Techniques

Ripe or Overripe

Both red and white grapes with high sugar content can be used to make dessert wine. Grapes are harvested at a very late stage to allow for high sugar concentration - ensuring that the final wine produced is lusciously sweet after fermentation.

Noble Rot

Noble rot is the rotting of grapes caused by B.cinerea, a fungus that affects many plant species. The mould penetrates the grape skins causing water to evaporate from them. Noble rot allows for a higher concentration in the aroma, acid and also sweetness of the grapes. 

First Frost

Grapes are left hanging on the vine until very late in the year. Once temperatures drop to -7°C or lower, the frozen grapes are quickly harvested and pressed to ensure that sugar, acid and aroma are highly concentrated. This method is used for creating the very rare ice wines.

Method of Production: Fermentation Techniques

Winemaking is about creating alcohol from the fermentation of sugar.  Dessert wine-makers use various techniques to mitigate the tradeoffs of sugar and alcohol from the fermentation process.

Chaptalization

Chaptalization is adding sugar or honey to grapes before fermentation. The process is not intended to make the wine sweeter but rather provide more sugar to ferment alcohol.

Süssreserve / “Sweet reserve”

A German term for using unfermented grape juice to sweeten a wine after fermentation. Süssreserve softens the acidity of the wine and lowers the amount of alcohol. However, under German law, no more than 15% of the wine’s final volume may be süssreserve.

Alcoholic Fermentation

Alcoholic fermentation involves interrupting the fermentation of sweet grapes with the addition of alcohol, typically brandy. This process results in creating liquor wines that are sweet and rich in alcohol contents e.g. Port wines and the Muscat wines of Southern France.

All About the Sugar : Sweet to Sugar Bomb

While sweet treats are appealing to most, not everyone enjoys getting sugar stuffed. 

Here are some tips on finding the dessert wine to avoid the bitter whines of failed purchases.

Sweet You Desire, Sweet You Shall Have

The sweetness of wine is defined by the amount of sugar that remains after fermentation. The more residual sugar, the sweeter the wine; the less residual sugar there is, the drier the wine. Here are some terms to look out for in wine labels if you are looking for a sweet wine:

• Dolce/Dulce : Sweet in Italian or Spanish
• Doux : Sweet champagne or sparkling wine
• Moelleux: Sweet for some French wine

Just a Touch of Di(wine) Sweetness

If full-on sugar bomb is not for you, opt for wines that are gently sweet and when reading wine labels, look out for: 

• Amabile : Amicable/fits just fine
• Semi-Dry : Mild or softly perceptible sweetness
• Demi-Sec/ Semi-Seco : Slightly to medium sweet

Matchmaking Dessert Wine and Desserts

Basic Principle of Food and Wine Harmony

When pairing wine with food, keep in mind that the dish should not be sweeter than the wine. The wine must at least be as sweet or sweeter than the food to avoid any sour or bitter aftertaste. 

The Cellar-brated List of Dessert and Wine Pairing

Riesling with Cheese and Citrusy Dessert

Riesling is a fruity sparkling wine that ranges from dry to sweet. The sweetness of the fruit is balanced impeccably with its natural acidity. Consider trying our Concha Y Toro Terrunyo Riesling with a cheese course or cheesecake. If you have a sweeter, late-harvest Riesling, pair it with citrusy desserts like lemon pound cake, pear tarts or sorbet to get a perfectly palate-pleasing treat.

Moscato with Fruity Dessert

Fizzy, fruity and floral, are the three F’s that best describe the Moscato. Come spring day or late summer evening the popular white wine never ceases to make for a perfect drink. Try serving Moscato with any desserts with fruit or berry components; poached pears, sweet peaches, fruit pies or nutty desserts like biscotti.

Ice Wine with Chocolate and Cheese

Known as Eiswein in German, Ice wine is a special type of dessert wine made with grapes frozen while on the vine. For that reason, this delicious, honey-like treat can only be made in cold climates like Germany and Canada. Available in both red, white and sparkling varieties, consider pairing the red version Inniskillin Cabernet Franc Vidal with chocolate desserts and the white and sparkling variety, Inniskillin Sparkling Vidal with blue cheeses and cheesecake. 

Dessert it Your Way

There are no rooms for rules when in the mood for revenge resting. So ditch all the "rules'' thrown around when it comes to drinking wine and have it your way. Feel like pairing a bottle of Brut rose with those funfetti pop tarts? By all means, go for it. You may end up with a less-than-fun taste or you might love it. Who knows? The beauty is in embracing your inner rebel and satisfying your curious palette. Thinking of indulging in the temptation of getting into an “ I want it, I got it” dessert moment? We got you pal! Meet Cellarbration, the concierge to all your wine desires. Get ready to relish in the variety and best prices available. To make it extra sweet, Cellarbration also provides free next-day alcohol delivery service for all you good people who purchase anything that adds up to $99 and above. Get your dessert in a glass and destress in style today.