After finishing a delicious meal, there is no better feeling than ordering a little dessert. Sure, you might not need a slice of Death By Chocolate bundt cake or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, but there’s something about a little touch of sweetness that rounds out a meal perfectly.
And if you don’t have that much room left over—there’s always the option to drink your dessert.
With transcendent tip-of-the-tongue sugary sweetness (and a high alcohol content), dessert wines are aperitifs best served in sips. These are the world’s three favorites:
Sherry
Sherry is a fortified white wine from southern Spain. Fortified wines are created when winemakers add additional spirits to the grapes during the fermentation process. In sherry wine’s case, a grape brandy called “Brandy de Jerez” gives every glass its extra kick.
Flavor Profile: Sometimes sweet, sometimes dry, sherry boasts a diverse profile of flavors.
On the dryer side, Fino sherry features a pleasantly tart, nutty taste similar to a Sauvignon Blanc.
On the sweeter end, Pedro Ximénez sherry is hyper-sweet with a heavy body, tasting of figs and honey.
Growing Region:
- Andalusia, Spain
Recommended Food Pairings: Sweeter sherries are best enjoyed as an after-dinner treat, and pair best with dessert. Consider pairing Pedro Ximénez sherry with:
- Neapolitan ice cream
- Crème brûlée
- Flavored macarons
Fun Fact: For a glass of sherry to be 100% authentic, it must originate from the Andalusia region in southern Spain.
Port
In popular culture, you might think of port as a pirate’s second drink of choice (trailing behind rum, of course). In the everyday world, port is a full-bodied, sweet, fortified red wine that makes the perfect follow-up to any meal.
Flavor Profile: Similar to sherry, ports come in several varieties that affect the sweetness, body, and flavor of the final product.
On the lighter end, you’ll find rosé ports that taste like your favorite jam: strawberry, raspberry, and cranberry.
On the sweeter, heavier end, there’s ruby port, tasting of chocolate, blackberry, and cinnamon.
Growing Region:
- Douro Valley, Portugal
Recommended Food Pairings: When it comes to your palate, like attracts like. If you’re sipping port, your best pairing options will be sweet:
- German chocolate cake
- Apple pie
- Tiramisu
Fun Fact: Similar to sherry, port has a zip code. If a “port” is grown in a region other than Portugal's Douro Valley, it’s not a port (but may be called “port-style wine”).
Ice Wine (Eiswein)
Ice wine (sometimes called eiswein) is any wine that is produced by fermenting the juice of frozen grapes. The process is truly a labor of love, but the effort (and price point) is worth it for wine lovers looking to sip something sweeter than candy.
Flavor Profile: Ice wine can be produced from any wine grape that can survive a freeze, making it one of the most varied dessert wines on our list. Typically, winemakers prefer to make ice wine from white grapes.
Young ice wines have a pale yellow complexion, are medium to heavy-bodied, and taste like exotic fruits: pineapple, lychee, and apricot.
Ice wines aged 5+ years develop a heavy, almost syrupy body with a rich maple color. These older ice wines taste like molasses, hazelnut, and maple.
Growing Regions:
- Ontario, Canada
- Rheingau Region, Germany
- Holland, Michigan, United States
Recommended Food Pairings: Ice wine pairs best with rich desserts such as:
- Lemon meringue pie
- Pound cake with strawberries and cream
- Salted caramel pudding
Fun Fact: Wines produced with artificially-frozen grapes do not meet the same, high standards as natural ice wine. In the United States, these decoy wines might be labeled “dessert wine” or “iced wine.” Don’t get tricked!
Dessert Wine, Delivered
Dreaming of trying a dessert wine out for yourself? You can receive hard-to-find dessert wines, white wines, red wines, and special wines delivered right to your door with wine clubs.
Wine clubs send their customer's hand-selected wines each month, plucked from the finest growing regions in the world. Find a Portuguese port, Spanish sherry, and Canadian ice wine all in the same delivery box when you join one of the wine clubs on our site.
