Sweet and fruity wines are appealing to young people, but are often considered less sophisticated. Also known as late-harvest or dessert wine, they are available at Cornucopia on 295 W. 17th St.
If you are just becoming acquainted with wine, the taste of heavy, red table wine can bring on the equivalent of a bitter beer face. But don’t give up — sweeter choices are out there. Like Smirnoff Ice is to beer, dessert wines are easier-to-swallow alternatives to their dry wine counterparts.
Dessert wines are a popular selection
among college-age folk, since many are
in the just-turned-21 stage and starting
to learn about the world of wine. Wines that are sweet, syrupy or fruity are a good place to
start because they can satisfy anyone
who is used to candy and not yet accustomed to wine.
“For a person who is just starting to drink wine, he or she would drink fruitier wines first,” Cornucopia Deli wine buyer Louis Rodie said. “Drier wines are an acquired taste; fruitier wines are more user-friendly.”
The sweet flavor of dessert wine varieties stems from a higher amount of residual
sugar, which is often the result of a late-
harvest grape-picking time. When grapes are
removed from the vine past their traditional harvest times, the fruit holds less water and a higher accumulation of sugar. This is why many dessert wines are called “late-harvest” wines. One popular late-harvest variety is
“ice wine,” which is made from grapes that have frozen on the vine and hold even
more sugar.
Other popular dessert wines include port and sherry; Sauternes, rich French wines that receive their sweetness from a grape-shriveling,
sugar-producing mold; and Auslese,
German wines that are also subject to
sweetening molds.
LaVelle Vineyards tasting room staff member Tiffany Ambiel said she started out liking sweeter wines and later developed a taste for drier wines. She said although many wine experts regard dessert wines as less refined than other varieties, she believes that many dessert wines are of high quality.
“There are a lot of good sweet wines,” she said. “Even though ours are sweet, they have a backbone and a smooth finish.”
LaVelle Vineyards, in Elmira, Ore., but has a wine bar and bistro in town at the Fifth Street Public Market, carries two late-harvest Reislings, an ice wine Reisling called Autumn Nectar and an off-dry Reisling, which is fruitier than its dry Reisling counterpart and is available at the wine bar for $12. The late-harvest Reislings and Autumn Nectar are only available for purchase at the vineyard.
Ambiel recommends serving dessert wines with light desserts, such as simple fruit tarts, so as not to counterbalance the wine’s flavor. If it’s super sweet, the wine can be a dessert in itself.
“I like the Autumn Nectar with ice cream,” she said. “When you eat something too sweet, it takes away from the sweetness of the wine and it’s too overpowering, unless you’re a sugar fiend. Sweet wines complement lighter desserts.”
Cornucopia Deli, at 295 W. 17th St., offers a selection of sweet wines, including a lineup from the Wasson Brothers, a winery based in Sandy, Ore. The Wasson Brothers produce syrupy wines in fruit flavors such as raspberry, rhubarb and blackberry. Also available at Cornucopia Deli are late-harvest Reislings, Muscats (a fruity wine made from Muscat grapes), meads (a wine made from fermented honey), ports and sherries. Most grocery stores carry dessert wines, although Ambiel suggests buying from a store with a reputable wine expert on staff to offer advice, such as the PC Market of Choice.
University graduate Andrea
Cowan, enjoys a glass of dessert wine after dinner on a special occasion, said sweet wines are much more popular among women than men.
“I don’t know any guys who like sweet wine,” she said. “Guys tend to stay away from the fruity stuff.
In our age group, it’s just a
mental thing.”
Regardless of the drinker’s gender, many college students like to drink after dinner, and because sweet wines don’t require food to complement them or wash them down, they are a fine choice.
“I think younger people drink wine for the effect,” sociology student Catrina Ralls said. “Since the tastes of sweet wines are smoother than dark, dry wines, it’s easier to drink more of them at once.”
