The Tawny Times

What is dessert wine? Well, it depends on who you ask. According to the U.K. wine trade, dessert wine is any sweet wine drunk with a meal as opposed to fortified wines drunk before a meal (sherry) or after a meal (port). According to the U.S. TTB, it is any wine over 14% alcohol by volume (ABV) which it taxes at a higher rate. This is a relic dating back decades when wines typically averaged 12-13% ABV.  Considering that it is quite common for many dry table wines to exceed 15% these days, and many dessert wines (such as those from Germany) have ABVs naturally well below that threshold, dessert wines are really much more.

So, how do we at The Tawny Times define dessert wine? We feel that a dessert wine is any wine that is produced in a way that sets it aside from your typical table wine, with the express intention of producing a sweet or fortified wine. Basically, there are three general forms of producing dessert wines:

1. Allowing the grapes to ripen naturally to such a degree that there is plenty of sugar to produce both alcohol and sweetness.
2. Arresting fermentation either through the addition of a distilled spirit (usually brandy) making a “fortified” wine, or through some other means such as chilling or adding CO2.
3. Removing water from the process to concentrate sugar, such as drying grapes like Amarone, freezing grapes like Icewine, or allowing Botrytis Cinerea to dissicate the grapes like Sauternes.

We will explain whichever method in more detail when we cover specific types of wines, as well as offer serving and pairing suggestions.