There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert
wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal. In the United
States, by contrast, a dessert wine is legally defined as any wine over
14% alcohol by volume. Dessert wines are meant to be enjoyed in small
glasses and treasured like a glass of Scotch.
Learn more on Wikipedia
We can identify 5 major types of dessert wine:
Sparkling Dessert Wine
The carbonation and high acidity in sparkling wine makes it taste less
sweet than is actually is! Certain grape varieties smell sweeter than
others. This tricks our brain into thinking they taste sweeter too.
Lightly Sweet Dessert Wine
Lightly sweet wines are refreshingly sweet. They are best enjoyed as
close to the vintage date as possible.
Richly Sweet Dessert Wine
Richly sweet wines are made with the highest quality grapes in an
unfortified style. Many of these wines can age 50+ years because
sweetness and acidity preserve their fresh flavor.
There are several ways to produce richly sweet dessert wines such
as:
Late Harvest
Noble Rot
Straw Mat
Ice Wine
Sweet Red Wine
Sweet reds are on decline except for cheap commercial production.
However, there are still a few well-made historically interesting sweet
reds worth trying. The majority of these awesome sweet red wines are
from Italy using esoteric grapes.
Fortified Wine
Fortified wines are made when grape brandy is added to a wine and can
either be dry or sweet. Most fortified wines are higher in alcohol
content (about 17-20% ABV) and have a longer shelf life after they are
opened.
There are 4 types of fortified wines:
