Sweet wines: an introduction to these unfashionable gems

August 26, 2011

Sadly sweet wines have had bad PR over recent decades, and it’s now seen as a social faux pas in many circles to admit to liking your wine in anything other than a bone dry style. So sweet wines get a raw deal, relegated to the end of meals accompanying dessert, or forgotten altogether. But they’re worth discovering in their own right, and represent some of the wine world’s most interesting, exciting and down-right tasty gems. And they are not just for maiden aunts or portly academics, either. Here’s my personal guide to some of the sweet wines that are worth checking out.

Let’s begin with Port, possibly the world’s most famous sweet wine. Hailing from the spectacular Douro valley in Portugal, it’s made by stopping the fermentation of red wine part way through by the addition of brandy, thus retaining some natural sweetness from the grapes. This spirit addition also raises the alcohol to around 20%, which helps preserve the wine against microbial contamination (hence the term ‘fortified’).

There are a confusing number of Port styles and categories. It’s probably best to avoid Ruby and Vintage Character, the cheapest styles. A step up the quality ladder is Late Bottled Vintage (LBV): of these, I’d recommend looking for wines labelled ‘traditional’ or ‘crusted’ LBVs, because these wines often give the character of true Vintage Port at a fraction of the price. At the top of the tree is Vintage Port, the top wines from particularly good vintages bottled after just a couple of years in cask. These need long ageing (although some people quite like them young) and will throw a thick deposit in the bottle, so need decanting. As a slightly cheaper alternative, Single Quinta Ports are wines from individual estates that are made in years that haven’t been declared as vintage. They can often be just as good, and also require decanting. Leading producers include Taylor, Fonseca, Niepoort, Warre, Dow, Graham, Noval and Churchill.

In a different style, Tawny ports are those that have been aged for a long time in wood. With age they attain a mellow nutty, spicy character: particularly worth seeking out are the 10 year old and 20 year old tawnies, and also the Colheitas (vintage dated Tawny wines that are particularly popular in Portugal). As a general rule, the longer they spend in wood, the lighter in colour they become and the more mellow and complex the resulting wine. Port is the classic after dinner drink, when it typically comes out with the cheese course, but it’s also something that can be drunk alone any time.

Staying in the Iberian peninsula but switching countries to Spain, Sherry is another fortified wine style that’s worth getting to know. Most top sherries are dry, but there are a few sweet styles worth investigating. Sherries labelled Pedro Ximenez, made from air-dried grapes, are extremely sweet and viscous with flavours of liquidized raisins. These remarkable, unctuous wines are incredible, but won’t be to everyone’s taste. They work well poured over ice cream. Hidalgo, Valdespino and Gonzalez Byas make really good examples. Other seriously tasty sweet sherries include Gonzalez Byas’ Matusalem and Lustau’s Old East India. The great thing about sherry is that it is undervalued, and you usually get a lot more than you pay for.

If you like these sweet sherry styles, then you’ll probably also like the famous Rutherglen Muscats from Australia. These are ultra-sweet, complex raisiny wines that take on a deep brown colour from extended ageing in casks. They’re lovely, but because they are so rich and intense you’d probably feel as sick as a pig if you drank a whole bottle. Perfect with rich fruit cake.

If you want something sweet but a bit lighter, perhaps suitable for matching with fruity desserts, then sweet muscats from the south of France might be the answer. These are usually fresh, grapey, aromatic wines with a lovely freshness that counteracts the sweetness well. They’re very affordable, too. Muscat de Baumes de Venise is the most famous, but Muscat de Frontignan, Muscat de Rivesaltes and Muscat de St Jean de Minervois are also good.

Botrytis is the key to the success of many of the world’s most famous sweet wines. Also known as ‘noble rot’, Botrytis cinerea is a fungus that under the right conditions attacks already-ripe grapes, shrivelling them, concentrating the sweetness and acidity. The grapes end up looking disgusting but they make profound sweet white wines, of which Sauternes is the most famous example. The resulting wines are sweet and quite viscous, with complex apricot, honey and spice flavours and good balancing acidity. If you can’t stretch to good Sauternes, then the best wines of Saussignac and Monbazillac can offer the same sorts of flavours. I find these wines show best on their own: most desserts overwhelm the subtleties that you are paying all your money for.

Also relying on botrytis for its complexity but made in a different way is Hungary’s famous sweet wine, Tokaji. The nobly rotted grapes are made into a paste that is then added to the base wine, adding sweetness and flavour. Wines from Tokaji aren’t cheap, but they are unique with complex honey, marmalade and raisiny flavours, often with a hint of oxidation.

This is just a brief introduction to the variety of sweet wine styles. There are many other worthy wines that have not been mentioned here, including the great German noble-rotted Riesling Trockenbeerenauslesen, sweet Loire Chenin Blancs, and the rare Eisweins. My advice? Buy yourself something sweet and give your tastebuds something they’ve always wanted.

Source: http://www.wineanorak.com/sweet_wine.htm

Although wines are widely available in most Asian countries, especially in Hong Kong which has eliminated import tariff on wines altogether, the availability of fine vintage wines is still very scarce. Most wine merchants offer big names, young vintages and cheaper wines for everyday consumption. Wine lovers and connoisseurs looking for something special often travel to Clark Pampanga Philippines to do their shopping at this Wine Shop in Manila.

At Yats Wine Cellars we believe that a little bit of knowledge in wine goes a long way to developing expectations in the wines we choose to buy or drink. Without expectation, it is difficult to really enjoy wine to its fullest. With this in mind, efforts are made by Yats Wine Cellars to make it as easy and enjoyable as possible for our clients to learn more about wine.

Birthday wine gifts is one of the most popular birthday gifts to give someone living in the Philippines. Fine Vintage wine from Yats Wine Cellars is a sure winner and it does not have to cost a great deal to send someone a bottle in Philippines

To avail of wine catering service of Yats Wine Cellars, just contact this wine supplier in Manila or Angeles Clark Philippines for a meeting to design a theme for the event. The venue for a wine event can be in the privacy of a home, the convenience of an office in Manila for example or in a clubhouse of a subdivision. Wine glasses and accessories necessary for wine service are included in the wine catering service. Moreover, interesting wine notes accompany the wine to help participants enjoy the event even more by learning a little bit about wine while enjoying the party. A wine steward will be present to serve the wine.

There is also an exciting collection of white wine from Burgundy at this wine shop in Clark Pampanga such as Meursault, Chablis, Chassagne Montrachet, Puligny Montrachet, Corton-Charlemagne and St. Aubin. Red wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux and Rhone are also available with a good depth of back vintages too. Visitors buy wine in Manila and Pampanga should not miss stopping at this wine shop for a few bottles of fine vintage wines to bring home.

http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila
Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple: after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave. From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City. From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.

Clark Wine Center
Bldg 6460 Clark Observatory Building
Manuel A. Roxas Highway corner A Bonifacio Ave,
Angeles Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga 2023
(045) 841 4006 / 0922-870-5173 / 0917-826-8790 (ask for Ana Fe)

Wine@Yats-International.com

YATS Wine Cellars
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 ask for Rea or Chay

Best place to buy wine in Clark Pampanga outside Manila near Subic and Angeles City Philippines is Clark Wine Center.

Wedding couples looking for wedding reception venues and beach wedding venues can log on to this Philippines Wedding Venue web site for free information and assistance:

http://www.PhilippinesWeddingVenue.com

While in Clark, it might be a good idea to enjoy an evening of wine-and-dine in the fine dining Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar that features an award winning 2700-line wine list. It is located in Mimosa Leisure Estate of Clark Freeport Zone. For more information, visit http://www.YatsRestaurant.com

YATS Leisure Philippines is a developer and operator of clubs, resorts and high-class restaurants and wine shops in Clark Angeles Philippines http://www.yatsleisure.com

Looking for famous tourists spots, places to visit and see, relax and unwind in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines? You may want to check out these sites also:

http://www.LondonPubClark.com

http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com

http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com

http://www.YatsWineCellars.com

Yats Restaurant is the best restaurant for special dinner, best restaurant for dinner with friends near Manila, also the best place to celebrate special events.

Famous Restaurant in Pampanga, a place to dine with friends in Clark, cozy restaurant with a nice ambience, a nice function place for special occasions

Are you looking for an attractive restaurant or a nice place to eat with friends in Clark, Angeles City Pampanga? Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar is a restaurant with good food and good wines for dinner located at Clark Angeles City Pampanga. Perfect for exclusive dinner venues for groups, recommended for private dinner in Philippines. A Restaurant in Clark for business dinner meeting. Private dinner place or dinner restaurant in Clark Subic Near Manila Angeles City Pampanga. Yats Restaurant is one of the Good Restaurant in Pampanga Angeles City Clark near Manila.

www.YatsRestaurant.com
Looking for interesting hotels near Manila Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga?
Trouble free hotels and well recognized hotels in Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga
Clearwater Resort and Country Club offers a good place to stay in Subic Clark Angeles City Pampanga. In offers nice place to have rest in Subic Pampanga outside Manila.
One of the Philippines top hotels in north Luzon.

Where to go in Clark? Hotel Clark Philippines is a De Luxe Hotel in Clark and Subic, a risk free place to stay, cozy and nice ambience, a nice function place for special occassion

www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com