Thursday 8 December 2011

Dessert Wine Nutrition Facts


A fine meal...is a delight in itself; add a glass of wine--gleaming red or translucent greenish gold--and delectation will be doubled." ~ Alexis Lichine's New Encyclopedia of Wine and Spirits

There are some foods that are meant to complement each other in flavor and so enhance the consumer's pleasure in having them. For example, the crisp potent bite and crunch of nachos is complemented by the gooey, thick sauce of cheese drizzled over it. And such a relationship is even extended to certain beverages and foods going hand-in-hand. Ever notice how you chow down a cheeseburger and large fries, but still only a soda will quench your taste? The same applies to afternoon tea time, whereas with the tea, you need a biscuit, crumpet or pastry cake. A similar but winning combination is that of wine and desserts.

What are Dessert Wines?
Wine is perhaps the most cosmopolitan and versatile of all alcoholic beverages. It suits large gatherings and parties as a party beverage, it is a beverage in which one can drown one's sorrows in and its taste can suit the easiest and the fussiest of palates. While there is wine for socializing and wine for the main course, one type of wine is dessert wine, which is wine reserved for consumption with dessert or sweet dishes. Such wines are even sweet and filling enough to serve as liquid substitutes for a dessert. Dessert wines are noted for their rich, thicker and much sweeter taste over regular wines. In fact, while planning a menu, one must pick a dessert wine that is sweeter in taste, than the dessert it will be accompanying.

Dessert wines can be served with bite-sized treats like biscuits, petit-fours and tarts and with fruits as well. For large desserts with a chocolate or toffee base, the choice of dessert wine has to be precise and fitting, as these desserts are sweet enough on their own. Also the wine must be served in small glasses, to be sipped and savored while eating, instead of drinking it or gulping. There are different types and brands of dessert wine, such as port, sherry, Madeira, Sauternes and late harvest wines.

Why are dessert wines so much sweeter than their regular counterparts? Their high sugar content can be due to the type of grape used. Some grape species like Muscat, are naturally richer in sugar, as compared to other grapes. Then there are techniques like sussreserve, a German wine-making technique, where unfermented grape juice is added to fermented wine, to increase the amount of sugar in the wine. Another technique is making ice wine, where the wine grapes are only used after the frost of winter has frozen the grapes on the vine.

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