|
Dessert Wine
General Wine Term
|
|
Generally speaking, a dessert wine is a sweet, sometimes syrupy, smooth wine meant to be drunk after a meal. It can be paired with a dessert or served on its own.
In US legal terms, a dessert wine is any fortified wine with over 14% alcohol. As such, under these conditions, a dessert wine is not necessarily going to be sweet.
The general definition is more accepted today, especially since the US legal definition has been outdated by new cultivation and fermentation processes that can increase the alcohol level of a wine above the 14% ceiling without fortification.
Grapes used in dessert wines are picked late in the harvest period so that more water can evaporate from within the grape, leaving a more concentrated amount of sugar. Because of the resulting high level of residual sugar, a dessert wine is often sold and served in much smaller amounts than table wine. The typical bottle of dessert wine holds 375ml instead of 750ml, and the typical serving is only 2oz, instead of 5oz - 6oz.
Examples of dessert wines include Port, Sherry, Vermouth, Late Harvest and Ice wines.
|
