Served after dinner or paired with a dessert can be misleading. Dessert wines are not always sweet and are not always consumed after dinner. Because dessert wines are usually rich and brooding, and sometimes treasured like a glass of premium scotch, I like to open a bottle to consume with an entrée or with cheeses just to enjoy the tongue pleasing experience and the pronounced flavour and added strength.
As a rule, dessert wines are produced from white grapes and come in a variety of styles that range from still to sparkling and from sweet to dry, with riesling grapes being the most popular. And even with the rising popularity of dry wines signalling the death knell for sweet and fortified wines there will always be a place for dessert wines.
From a winemaker’s prospective, the aim is to produce dessert wines that are complex and layered with high levels of sugar. To achieve this, the grapes are left on the vines for much longer to allow them to dehydrate to improve the sweetness and flavour.
Dessert wines mostly come in half bottles because there is less juice per grape and because they can be costly to produce. As a result, it takes a lot more to fill the bottle. Best served in a small glass, chilled, but not too cold, here is a selection at similar price points that will not disappoint.
’18 Villa Maria Estate Reserve Noble Riesling Botrytis
An award-winning, well-balanced wine with densely concentrated, flavoursome fruit oozing with fresh citrus that gives a long lingering finish on the palate. $40
’18 Riverby Estate
Ripe and bold in colour, this exceptional wine is driven by intense concentration of fruit, with moreish aromas and a rich sweetness that enlivens the palate. The perfect ending to an evening meal. $35
‘17 Babich Winemakers Reserve Late Harvest Riesling
This finely balanced rich and sweet wine, with its pure and intense mouth-filling citrus gives a persistently refreshing finish on the palate. $35
‘19 Pegasus Bay Reserve Finale Noble Semillon Sauvignon
Enticingly delicious, with a long and sweet vibrant finish of intensive aromas on the palate, this beautifully balanced wine will instantly appeal. $42
