Sweet Wine List

And water is on the Bishop's board and the Higher Thinker's shrine,
But I don't care where the water goes if it doesn't get into the wine.
~ G. K. Chesterton

Wine - the bottled legacy of human civilization and hospitality, the elixir of socialization and the result of an elevated sense of cultural refinement that refused to come to terms with the fact that grapes were meant to be consumed merely as fruits! Being something of an avid oenophile myself, I find it difficult to picture a world deprived of the material and spiritual pleasures of experiencing the company of a glass of fine wine along with such gourmand magnets as bittersweet chocolate, French cheese, truffle and caviar! Proceeding towards sweet wine, these wines are also known as Dessert Wines and typically have a higher sugar and lower tannin content than regular varietals. These types of wine are best paired with fruits, sweets or traditional desserts. However, their taste can be best appreciated when consumed alone, unaccompanied by any other food item.

Although often used interchangeably, sweet wine and dessert wine do not refer to the same type of liquor. While sweet wine includes any wine which has a higher sugar content than regular varietals, dessert wine includes only those wines that are paired with meals and this term excludes fortified and white wines that are high on sugar and low on tannins (the chemical that imparts the dry taste to the palate after sipping wine). Having said that, let's take a brief tour of a comprehensive sweet wine list and check out the intoxicatingly wide variety of options therein.

List of Sweet Wines

The following segment is being further segregated into two separate lists of white and red sweet wines to make understanding easier for wine virgins - those who intent to get initiated to the arts of oenology and wine tasting.

Sweet White Wine List

The following white wines are considered sweet and are popular as white dessert wines for pairing with gourmet meals.

• Sauvignon Blanc
• Chardonnay
• Riesling
• Muscat
• Semillon
• Gewürztraminer
• Chenin Blanc
• White Zinfandel
• Pinot Gris
• Pinot Blanc
• White Burgundy
• Chablis
• Marsanne
• Grasă de Cotnari
• Coteaux du Layon
• Monbazillac
• Traminer
• Marsanne
• Italian White
• Scheurebe
• Verdelho
• White Bordeaux
• Rkatsiteli
• Furmint
• Hárslevelü
• Auxerrois Blanc
• Kerner

Sweet Red Wine List

The following list lays out the varieties of red as well as reddish hued wines (color ranging anywhere between light pink and dark crimson) that have a sweeter taste than the dry varietals.

• Beaujolais Nouveau
• Port
• Rosé
• Merlot
• Zinfandel
• Shiraz/Syrah
• Chianti
• Dornfelder
• Barbera
• Grenache
• Madeira
• Lambrusco
• Kiddush Wine (Jewish sweet red wine, often made from raisins instead of grapes)
• Recioto della Valpolicella
• Brachetto
• Vin Santo
• Aleatico
• Cagnina di Romagna
• Fragolino

Since sweet wines undergo special harvesting and fermenting processes and most are aged for a longer duration than the regular dry varieties, these wines are somewhat on the expensive side. However, a relatively cheap sweet wine list would typically include the Zinfandel varietals and port. Rosé is also relatively cheaper than most other high-end sweet varietals such as Shiraz or Merlot.

Recently, I tried this Cabernet-Shiraz variety that has a great, full-bodied feel without being too dry on the palate. The price, however, is Northbound but mind you, once you taste it, you'll agree that every dollar spent on it was worth it! That concludes the list of various varieties of sweet wine - both red and white. These are the primary varieties/varietals of sweet/dessert wines that are extremely popular with wine enthusiasts and seasoned sommeliers. However, the degree of sweetness of each variety/varietal varies and what may appear sweet enough to one may not suffice for another. Therefore, the best way to judge a wine's sweetness is to let your taste buds take over and allow your palate to decide.