Choosing a Dessert Wine

Choosing a Dessert Wine

Choosing a Dessert Wine

Most people know you should choose white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat, but what about dessert wine? Is there a protocol for choosing a dessert wine? One of the most important things to remember is to not serve desserts that are so sweet that they give the wine an overpowering taste. You want to choose a wine that will complement your dessert and add to an already elegant taste. If you do anything less you are not doing a service to your dessert, wine or guests.
Candy CORE Dessert WineOne of the dessert wines is that of port and comes in tawny, ruby, and vintage varieties. These wines are usually very sweet and are a good pairing for fruit desserts including pumpkin pie and cobblers. The tawny ports have a nutty flavor and are a good pairing for anything in the milk

chocolate variety while vintage ports work well with dark chocolate. Some of the French wines that have a very high fruity taste are recommended with cheeses, creamy desserts, and fruity creamy desserts. Ice wines are a good pairing with grapes, light-flesh fruits, tropical fruits, and hazelnuts. They are also a very good complement to nutty or desserts containing Carmel.

There are other varieties of dessert wines as well that you may wish to pair with different desserts you may be serving. You may want to take the time to try the wine on your guests by having them over for a tasting party before you actually serve any of the dessert wines. Choose one or two that you feel would be good matches and get the opinions of some people you normally invite to your dinner parties. Getting some opinions before you pair any dessert wine with a dessert will allow you time to make another selection if your first selection is not well received. You may even want to have a few different dessert choices in order to discover which ones your guests feel may go the best with the wine you plan to serve.

Keep in mind that dessert wines are not like ordinary wines—they are much sweeter and as such will have a much stronger flavor if you serve a dessert that is too sweet. You are much better off staying with fruity desserts and choose a dessert wine that will complement your dessert rather than overpower it.