Quick Guide to Dessert Wine

There are no official guidelines as such that outline exactly what a dessert wine is! We view dessert wines (or pudding wines as they are sometimes known) as sweet wines which are best served at the end of a meal. Many will complement desserts or cheese boards or can simply be enjoyed by themselves as an alternative to dessert. 

Because of the sweetness, and sometimes higher alcohol levels, dessert wines are normally served in smaller measures in smaller glasses. 

Different types of dessert wine go better with different types of dessert. In most cases it’s best for sweeter wines to be drunk with sweeter foods. Making sure that the flavours of the wine and dessert complement or match one another is also key, for example white dessert wines with honeyed, nutty flavours are great with white chocolate and nutty desserts.

• Tokaji wines are mentioned in the Hungarian national anthem! 
• Grapes with high acidity make the best dessert wines as they give structure and backbone. 
• Tokaji Eszencia is so sweet and unctuous it is normally eaten off a spoon rather than drunk from a glass. 

Dessert wines are massively influenced by how they are made so it’s useful to find out the different methods that winemakers use before exploring the different styles. Most dessert wines are made by concentrating natural sugars found in grapes so that there is some sugar remaining at the end of the fermentation process. There are a many ways that winemakers achieve this.

Late Harvest

If wine grapes are left on the vine for longer than usual then they will start to dry out, concentrating the sugars. This method is known as ‘late harvest’ so you may see this on wine labels for some dessert wines. 

Noble Rot

Noble rot, aka Botrytis Cinerea, is a type of fungus that attacks wine grapes and causes the water inside them to evaporate. This again will cause the grapes to dry up and the sugars to concentrate. 

Ice Wines

If wine grapes are picked and crushed when frozen, this reduces the amount of water and increases the amount of sugar in them. Wines made in this way are known as ice wines. As you may expect there are only certain places where conditions are good to make ice wines, for example in Canada.

Straw Wines / Raisin Wines

Sometimes grapes are harvested at the usual time and then dried out before fermentation causing the grapes to become raisins. There are several traditional methods to drying out grapes which depend on the region; for example, in Greece this is often done on straw mats which is where the term ‘straw wines’ comes from.

Fortification

Some dessert wines are fortified, so a small amount of fortified grape spirit is added to the wine either during or after fermentation. Fortified wines such as Port and Sherry do fall under the category of dessert wines however because of their popularity and because they can be made in dry styles, they have their own separate fortified guide. 

There are various styles and types of dessert wine which are influenced by how they’re made, what grapes they use and where they’re made. Here is a bit of an overview on some of the most popular ones: 

Sauternes

Sauternes is a French wine region in Bordeaux and is probably the most famous type of dessert wine in the world. It’s made using Sémillon affected by noble rot and the result is a rich white wine with delicious stone fruit and honeyed flavours.

Tokaji 

Tokaji wines hail from the Tokaj wine region in Hungary (and a small part of Slovakia). Dry wines are made here, however, the sweet wines are renowned worldwide for their deliciousness. Prior to the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy, Tokaji Eszencia (the sweetest and most expensive) wines were so highly desired that they were reserved exclusively for the imperial cellars.  

Eiswein

This is the German and Austrian version of ice wine which involves harvesting and crushing frozen grapes. Riesling is the most commonly used grape for Eiswein, so these are usually sweet white wines. 

Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese

German wines are categorised according to their level of sweetness. Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines are the second sweetest and sweetest types, usually made with Riesling by noble rot affected grapes.  

Muscat

The muscat grape is used to make dessert wines in many countries over the winemaking world, often by fortification. Particular regions to note include Rutherglen in Australia and the Rhône in France. 

What is the best dessert wine? 

As always this is down to individual taste! If you prefer golden, honeyed styles then a traditional Tokaji sounds up your street. On the other hand if you like the rich, tawny coloured, nutty styles then try a Rutherglen Muscat.  

What are the best dessert wine and dessert pairings? 

To learn more about which dessert wines go best with which desserts, we go into great detail on this in our desserts pairing guide. 

Why are dessert wines sold in smaller bottles? 

Most dessert wines are sold in half bottles. This is mainly because you should only consume them in small measures, a serving size of around 60ml should be just right! Some types of dessert wine, such as ice wine are very expensive to produce so sometimes it makes more sense from a price point of view to sell in half bottles.

Can you drink dessert wines on their own? 

Yes of course! Sometimes after a sizeable meal it’s actually really nice to enjoy a glass of sweet wine in place of a dessert.  

Should dessert wine be drunk cold? 

Most dessert wines are best when chilled to around 7 degrees Celsius. Take a deep dive into the best serving temperatures for all wines in our serving temperature guide.