4. How is dessert wine made?

How is dessert wine made?

All sweet wines keep sugar that yeast did not turn into alcohol. The main methods, as described by Wine Spectator, are below.

1. Late harvest

Grapes stay on the vine longer to build sugar, sometimes until shriveled. These wines keep residual sugar, with alcohol usually around 8 percent. In Germany, terms such as Spatlese and Auslese reflect sugar in the grapes at harvest, not the wine’s final sweetness, so a wine can still be dry or nearly dry.

2. Noble rot (botrytis)

The fungus Botrytis cinerea grows on white grapes, thins their skins and lets water evaporate, which concentrates sugar and adds honeyed complexity. Yields are very low. Examples: Sauternes, German beerenauslese and trockenbeerenauslese, and Tokaji Aszu.

3. Dried grapes

Grapes are dried on the vine, on mats or hung indoors, a technique thousands of years old. Examples include Vin Santo, Recioto, Commandaria and vin de paille.

4. Frozen grapes (ice wine)

Grapes are harvested and pressed while frozen, so the water stays in the ice and the sugar-rich juice runs out. Canada and Germany set strict freezing temperatures.

5. Fortification

Neutral grape spirit is added during fermentation, which kills the yeast and leaves residual sugar. Port, at about 18 to 20 percent alcohol, is the main example. Madeira is fortified mid-fermentation and then heated and oxidized during aging. Sweet Sherries are made by adding sweetening to dry Sherry.

What about added sugar?

Top regions forbid adding sugar in making fine dessert wine. Chaptalization, where permitted, is generally not used to sweeten a wine.

How to choose

• Honeyed and rich: noble rot wines.
• Nutty and oxidized: dried-grape wines and Madeira.
• Strong and sweet: fortified wines like Port.

Look for the method on the label or maker’s notes. Sweetness varies by producer.