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Just Desserts

Maybe it’s a sign of middle age, but I seem to have lost my passion for desserts. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy an occasional apple tart or crème brulee; however, I prefer these sweets, and more elaborate confections, as mid-afternoon treats rather than as a coda to a fine dinner. Indeed, when I’m in charge of the menu, I always end the meal with fruit and cheese.

But I fear I’m in the minority. These days, especially in the tony temples of haute cuisine, graced by award winning pastry chefs, dessert samplers, with three, four, even five miniature creations, seem to be in vogue. In fact, I recently saw appear, on one “death-by chocolate” sampler, a mini malted milkshake.

I doubt that many home chefs, except perhaps for Martha Stewart, have the time, the talent, or even the inclination to indulge their guests with such visions of sugarplums. So if you’re like me and would like to conclude your dinner party in a novel way that makes your guests feel tastefully indulged, I’d like to suggest offering them a glass of dessert wine at the table, reserving coffee and sweets for later in the evening.

What exactly is a dessert wine? American regulations dictate that a dessert wine is a fortified wine, either dry or sweet; that is, it’s a wine to which alcohol has been added to stop fermentation; such wines include Sherry, Port, Vermouth, Marsala, and similar wines. For this feature, however, we are discussing only sweet wines, wines that after fermentation have a considerable amount of residual sugar.

If you’ve been turned off by dessert wines in the past that have either reeked of sulfur or were just simply too sweet, or if, like many consumers, you’ve been intimidated by them, I hope the following discussion of some terms associated with these wines might encourage you to take another look and, even, another taste.

Fortified wines. This category comprises Ports and Madeiras. Their sweet character is derived from adding brandy to the grape juice after approximately half of the sugar has turned to alcohol. The brandy stops the fermentation, preserving the sweetness. These wines are then aged in wooden casks for various amounts of time. In the case of Madeira, the wine is actually baked. The different styles of Port (tawny, ruby, late bottled vintage, vintage) and the varieties of Madeira (Sercial, Verdelho, Bual, Malmsey) present a complex subject that’s beyond the scope of this feature. Needless to say, both types of wines are wonderful after dinner, served simply by themselves. Although vintage Port is often paired with blue cheese, I prefer it served solo.

Vins doux naturels. As in the case of Ports and Madeiras, extra alcohol is added to grape juice so that the yeasts are stopped dead in their tracks leaving behind residual sugar and relatively high levels of alcohol. However, the spirit used to make France’s vins doux is stronger than that used for port. Consequently, the wines are lower in alcohol. This category of wine includes the Muscats from the Languedoc, namely Muscat de Frontignan, Muscat de Lunel, Muscat de Mireval, and Muscat de St-Jean-de-Minervois. Perhaps the best known, and most widely available, example of a vin doux in the United States, however, is the light and delicate Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise from the Cotes-du-Rhone. Another example of this variety is Banuyls from Roussillion, which is often suggested as an accompaniment for chocolate-based desserts.

Partial fermentation. In making these wines, fermentation is halted with the wine being low in alcohol, high in sugar, and containing some carbon dioxide left over from the fermentation, which contributes a small degree of fizz. Italy’s Moscato d’Asti from the Piedmont region is an excellent example of this wine. It has a musky nose, is sweet on the palate with a gentle fizz, and is quite low in alcohol, approximately 5.5%. It is so delicate that it’s best served alone, or with fruit, or perhaps even as an aperitif. Because of its delicate nature, it has been sometimes referred to in jest as “the perfect breakfast wine.”

Late harvest. You’ll find this term applied to wines made from grapes that are extremely ripe and that are picked late into the harvest. These grapes are indeed almost raisin like, with concentrated sugars. Some less expensive French Sauternes are made in this fashion as are German spatlese and auslese wines. Although Alsatian wines labeled “Vendange Tardive” are late picked, and quite delicious, there’s no indication on their labels as to how sweet they are. In fact, some can be bone dry. Increasingly in the United States, wine makers are producing some extraordinary Gewurztraminers, Rieslings, and Zinfandels labeled “Late Harvest” that are truly beautiful dessert wines. Here again, however, these wines, in my opinion, are best enjoyed on their own merits—especially the rich, viscous Late Harvest Zinfandels.

Botrytis cinerea. This fungus also known as “noble rot” penetrates the grape skins late in the harvest, reducing water content and concentrating both sugar and acidity. To benefit from this fungus, grapes must enjoy the right climactic conditions. Specifically, their mornings must be damp and their afternoons, warm and sunny. To ensure that only healthy ones are selected, these grapes have to be harvested by hand. The finest French Sauternes are made in this fashion, as are some Loire valley wines labeled “moelleux.” Alsatian wines labeled “Selection de Grain Nobles,” Hungarian Tokays, and German Trockenbeerenauseles and Beerenausleses can also fall into this category. In Australia and the United States, there have been attempts to emulate the effect of botrytis by spraying the grapes with spores and controlling climactic conditions. The best examples of these wines are extremely expensive and works of the winemaker’s art. Blue cheese is often suggested as an accompaniment, but it would be almost sacrilege, in my credo, to let anything interfere with a perfect Sauternes.

Eiswein or Ice Wine. These are specialty wines from Germany and Canada. They’re made from grapes that are literally frozen on the vine and picked in November or even as late as the following January. These grapes must be pressed immediately after harvesting so that most of the water is left behind in the form of frozen water crystals. The grape juice, which has a lower freezing temperature, runs from the press with concentrated sugar and acidity. As might be expected, this is a costly process, and the wines, even by the glass, are well beyond the price point of TableWine.

As I may have intimated above, I believe that most of these wines are best enjoyed at the end of the meal, on their own. When served with dessert, or even with cheese, there’s just too much competition on the palate. Save coffee and dessert for later in the evening—perhaps even after your guests have left the table and are arguing politics in the living room.

Because high quality dessert wines are generally expensive, exceeding our normal price point, we stretched the rules for this feature, and decided to review wines sold in half bottles that retail for under $20.00. Nevertheless, because these wines are so rich, a little goes a long way. If poured judiciously, you can get about four dessert-size servings from a half bottle.

For this tasting, we tasted each wine on its own and then with a variety of pastries, crème brulee, nuts, and a selection of cheeses.

1997 Coppo, Moncalvina, Moscato D’Asti, D.O.C.G. ($8.99)

Straw to pale gold in color, this wine has a big nose of dried fruits, like dates and figs. On the palate, it is light and slightly effervescent with luscious pear and honey flavors. Not at all complex, it has a certain elegant simplicity. This wine was good with a chocolate tart, as well as with a pear pastry, but went especially well with a dried goat cheese. This wine is also light enough to serve as an aperitif. Imported by Winebow, New York, NY.

1998 Domaine de Coyeux, Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise ($11.99)

Pale gold, this wine has an enchanting floral nose of violets. It’s sweet on entry. On the palate, it’s somewhat unctuous and coats the tongue with candied orange peel and honey flavors. It also has a pleasant bitter-orange finish. This wine was good with the goat cheeses, but I think was better by itself. Imported by Clicquot, New York, NY.

1995 Alderbrook, Late Harvest Muscat de Frontignan, Kunde Vineyard, Sonoma Valley ($17.99)

Old-gold in color with beautiful legs, this wine has a huge, deep Muscat nose redolent with honey and dried apricot. On the palate, it delivers plenty of deep honey and apricot flavor, with some lemon zest notes as well. The finish is long with honey and apricot flavors. This wine was good with blue cheese, excellent with a plain pound cake, and it nicely complemented a chocolate mousse. It’s also an example of how well some dessert wines will age.

1997 Zaca Mesa, Late Harvest Viognier, Santa Barbara County ($17.99)

18kt-gold in color, this wine has a complex nose, with hints of chestnuts, nut oil, vanilla, and cypress. It spreads unctuously on the palate, delivering honey, nutmeg, and baking-spice flavors with notes of sultana raisins. It has a nutlike finish. Some tasters thought this to be a real complement to sweet desserts. It was good with the chocolate tart and excellent with the crème brulee.

1996 Chateau Ste Michelle, Late Harvest White Riesling, Columbia Valley ($17.99)

Pale gold in color, this wine has a subtle nose of dried roses with some resin notes as well. The flavors are bigger than the nose, with hints of honey, burnt sugar, and rose water. Subtle all the way through, it has an interesting finish, with green apples and spice. This wine lent itself well to a variety of the desserts, but was best with an apple tart.

1989 Chateau Bastour-Lamontagne, Sauternes ($17.99)

Gold in color, with dried apricot, sulfur, and botrytis on the nose, this was a simple textbook Sauternes. The botrytis provided a nice counterpoint to the honey, apricot, and burnt orange flavors. This wine was fine with the dried goat cheese as well as with the blue, but I thought it was best on it own. Imported by Admiral Wine Merchants, Irvington, NJ.

1997 Peter Lehman, Botryris Semillon Sauternes, Barossa ($15.75)

Amber in color, this wine has a complex nose of burnt sugar and botrytis, with some mushroom notes as well. There’s also a bit of muskiness. Unfortunately, its citrus and tart-apple flavors appear diluted. It finishes with a sweet honey aftertaste. Overall, a disappointment. We did not taste this wine with any dessert. Imported by Appellation Imports LLC, Annapolis Junction, MD.

1997 Hop Kiln, Late Harvest Zinfandel, Russian River Valley ($16.99)

Orange ruby in color, this wine has a straightforward, one-note, jammy raspberry nose. On the palate, it’s almost Kir like, delivering flavors of raspberry and raisins, followed by some white-pepper notes on the finish. Over time, this wine appeared scrumptiously syrupy and was quite good with the plain pound cake.

1996 Renwood, Amador Ice Zinfandel, Amador County ($17.99)

Raisin colored, this wine has a raisiny nose with notes of stewed prunes and spice. On the palate, it delivers gobs of raisiny, jammy flavors that seem to linger. Despite all its fullness, it has a certain delicacy. It finishes well, again with raisins. It reflects, said one taster, “the quintessence of raisins.” This wine is made via cryoextraction, which attempts to imitate artificially the eiswein production method. Definitely, the star of this tasting. This wine was best on its own, but I think could be savored with thin slices of prosciutto on a summer afternoon.

Serving note: These wines are all best served well chilled and are the perfect way to end a holiday dinner.

TableWine is a personal website and does not sell any wine. However, many of the wines we review are purchased from our local wine merchant, Wine & Spirit World. Their web site may help you locate a good number of our selections. Also, if your local wine store does not carry a wine that you've read about here, don't hesitate to ask them to order a bottle or two for you. For imported wines, you may need to supply them with the name of the importer or distributor.

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