Dessert wine is a drink that has a strictly defined focus. Even its name speaks about it.

Application rules

In life, products with self-explanatory names are often found. This is very convenient for two reasons. Firstly, it is always clear what the speech is about. And secondly, there is a guarantee against the possibility of making a mistake in the choice. In fact, dessert wine is not confirmed by any international classification. This concept exists only in Russia. Based on the name itself, it is customary to use it as a dessert or after any dish that is. Some people mistakenly believe that the prefix "dessert" provides for serving this product along with any dessert (fruits, sweets, etc.). Quite the opposite is true. It must be clearly remembered that dessert wine should never be served with any other dish. This is completely unacceptable. It in itself is a separate dish that does not tolerate any additives. Before using it, you must:

1) Cool first, preferably up to 10-15 degrees.

2) Then pour into a special decanter.

3) And only after that, serve to the table complete with a set of small ("Madeira") glasses.

It is accepted to drink such wine in small quantities (no more than 150 milliliters), slowly, enjoying every sip.

Product feature

By its composition, dessert wine is a product with certain characteristics. It includes any natural or which contains:

• sugar - from 2 to 35 percent;
• alcohol - from 12 to 17 percent.

At one time, the following wines of this category were produced in the former USSR.

Conditional classification of dessert wines in the USSR:

For such wines, special A is usually used, it is harvested only when the berry reaches its maximum ripeness. At this time, the amount of sugar is extremely high, which is especially important to get a really tasty drink. In addition, winemakers use various methods of preliminary processing of raw materials (pulp) to improve the aroma. As a rule, it is warmed up, insisted or slightly fermented. All this allows you to make a more harmonious combination of taste, color and aroma.

Red wines

Depending on the type of grapes used, dessert wines are divided into white and red. Each of them is unique in its own way. Red dessert wine is usually made from dark grape varieties. These include: Saperavi, Isabella, Cabernet and Black Muscat. The finished drink has a rich red color and a pleasant characteristic aroma. This wine is a little thick and quite sweet in taste. The technology of its preparation plays an important role here. Ripe grapes (sometimes even slightly rotten) are harvested at the beginning of winter. After the first frost, the water inside the berries turns into ice and the juice remains as the only liquid fraction. Then the raw material is crushed. The resulting wort (extracted juice) is fermented and infused on the pulp (peel of berries) for three to four days. Sometimes, in order to achieve the best taste and color, short-term heating of the pulp to 75 degrees is used. Then it is cooled again and passed through a press, and the wort is left to ferment for 20-30 days. After that, it remains only to add alcohol and the product can be poured into barrels. In them, the wine is kept for at least three years, after which it is packed in bottles and sent for storage, and then for sale. Among the most famous dessert red wines is Cahors. It is better known as a church drink and is produced at the best factories in Crimea, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Armenia.

White liquid dessert

By analogy, dessert is made from light grape varieties. The rest of the process technology remains the same. Passing through all the intermediate stages, the raw material gradually turns into a fragrant drink of amber-golden color. The specific taste and aroma of the drink are due to certain grape varieties (Tokay, Muscat). Many of these wines are pre-blended. By mixing completely different wine materials, it becomes possible to obtain a unique taste, desired tone and unique bouquet. This is what distinguishes this category of wines from ordinary table or dry wines. In the CIS, one of the largest enterprises for the production of such products is the Massandra Association. They produce white wine: Kokur, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Old Nectar, Tokay and others. They are distinguished by a mild, harmonious taste, a characteristic aroma and a delicate, pronounced aftertaste. The wines are aged in oak barrels for at least two years. This time is quite enough to achieve the required characteristics.

Talking names

Recently, it is dessert wines that have been very popular all over the world. The names usually indicate the type of raw material or the area where a particular product is produced. For example, "Muscat" says that a special grape variety called White Muscat was used to prepare the drink. The wines "Bastardo", "Kokur" and "Pedro" have the same history. But the wine "Golden Field" is called a state farm, on the territory of which vineyards are located, where, among others, the famous Alicante variety grows. It is he who is used as a raw material for this wonderful drink with a pleasant velvety aroma and a light hint of chocolate in the taste. In contrast, Tokaj is not only a grape variety, but also a city in Hungary, as well as a region where white varieties are produced.

In addition, the name can also be the type of drink. For example, fortified dessert products of the wine industry include sherry, port, Marsala and Madeira. Hence the names of many wines: "Crimean Sherry", "White Port", "Madera Massandra". When buying such a product in a store, it immediately becomes clear which particular product is in question.

Golden mean

Sweet dessert wines occupy a special place among the rich selection. It is they who, in the approved classification, occupy an intermediate place between liqueur and semi-sweet wines of dessert quality. This is a fairly energy-intensive product, 100 grams of which contains about 160.2 kilocalories. It contains practically no fats (0%), and proteins (0.2%) and vitamins in such small quantities that it can even be ignored. At the same time, it contains many macro- and microelements, as well as vitamins of group B. Together with the absence of cholesterol and low sodium content, all this can be attributed to the positive properties of the product. But there are also negative qualities, such as the presence of alcohol and high sugar. All this speaks of the limitation of the use of this product. Many categories of people (patients with diabetes mellitus and various gastric disorders) should use it with caution and rarely introduce it into their diet. Some scientists also believe that wine in general can contribute to the development of cancer in the human body.

Alcohol is a product that is used to produce not only vodka, whiskey, cognac, but also various kinds of liqueurs and liqueurs. It is also one of the ingredients used by winemakers around the world to make fortified dessert wines. This is a fairly popular type of product. As you know, all fortified wines are divided into spirits and dessert drinks. Therefore, any dessert (semi-sweet, sweet or liqueur) wine, in fact, is fortified. This is confirmed by the production technology and the mandatory presence of alcohol in the composition. In Russia, such wines began to be made only towards the end of the nineteenth century. Their appearance on the market has become a real revolution in the history of domestic winemaking. What does alcohol give to the product? It turns out that its introduction at the stage of wort fermentation can stop the process. As a result, some of the sugar remains unfermented. Experts have learned to control this phenomenon and get wines with a predetermined sugar and alcohol content in the finished product.

With your own hands

It turns out that you can cook the dessert yourself. This will require grapes, sugar, and a little time and patience. The process technology is quite simple:

1. Sort the bunches of grapes and separate the berries from the branches.
2. Place the product in a wide bowl, knead it thoroughly and leave in this state at normal room temperature for 4 days.
3. Squeeze the fermented product.
4. Add plain water to the resulting juice (ratio 2: 1).
5. Pour sugar there (2.5 kilograms per 10 liters).
6. Pour the liquid into bottles and put rubber on each of them. At first, it will puff up very strongly. The product is considered finished when the glove falls off by itself. Now the wine can be filtered and tasted. If there is not enough sugar, then you need to do the following:

1) Pour part of the finished product into a separate bowl.

2) Heat it slightly and add sugar.

3) Stir until completely dissolved.

4) Add the resulting composition to the original mixture.

Now the prepared wine only needs to be poured into clean bottles, tightly closed and left for another 1 month. The finished product will certainly pleasantly surprise the home winemaker.

Sauternes is a white dessert wine from the Graves region of Bordeaux. It differs from the rest of the wines of the famous wine-making region of Sauternes by its unique production technology. It is prepared exclusively from grape varieties Semillon (70-80%), Sauvignon Blanc (20-30%) and less often Muscadelle (Muscadelle), exposed to the so-called "noble mold" Botrytis cinerea and nothing else. Botrytis leads to "dehydration" of the berries and they gradually become raisin, which, in turn, leads to the concentration of sugar and flavoring substances in them. The climate of the wine region where Sauternes is produced does not allow the development of other microflora (fogs at night, sun in the morning). The result is a very rich dessert drink with an expressive aroma. The minimum strength is 13% alcohol, residual sugar is 120-220 g / l.

Wow. Can you give more details?

Why not, you can. Botrytis mold works selectively, so the bunches ripen unevenly and pickers have to literally harvest one berry. Possessed people. True, their obsession pays off a hundredfold - the price of a more or less good Sauternes starts at $ 30 + for a half-bottle (375 ml), and for vintage wines from Chateau d'Yquem you will have to pay off $ 500 or more (for a copy of 1976 they will ask for more than $ 2000). Sauternes is the most expensive wine in Bordeaux. The situation is further aggravated by the unstable growth of Botrytis from year to year, so a good Sauternes is not always prepared. In the 80s there were only 4 "fresh" years (1983, 1986, 1988 and 1988), in the 90s there were 3 in general (1990, 1996 and 1997), but the zero years were completely successful (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009- 2011, 2013-2016).

Surely there are difficulties with the classification, these are the French.

Not really. The AOC (certificate, appellations, you understand) indicates that Sauternes can be called a wine for which grapes were grown on the territory of only 5 indicated communes: Sauternes, Barsac, Bomme, Farg and Pregnac. It is noteworthy that Barsak wines can be labeled not only as "Sauternes", but also as "Barsak appellation". Fargues, by the way, was added to the Sauternes communes only in 1921. There are no other rules regarding Sauternes in the AOC, except that the maximum amount of wine produced from 1 hectare of vineyard is 25 hectoliters (only 100 liters, and it would seem that HECTOLITER), as well as the initial sugar level in juice - 221 g / l.

In 1855, Napoleon III instructed winemakers from Bordeaux to come up with a classification for their wines for the World Exhibition (we will certainly tell about this in the following articles of this cycle). So, all Medoc white wines, after being evaluated, were divided into three levels: Premier Cru Supérieur ("first highest crus"), Premiers Crus ("first crus") and Deuxièmes Crus ("second cru"). Only Chateau d'Iquem (a wine estate in the commune of Sauternes) of all Sauternes estates, which, by the way, were assessed separately from all others in Bordeaux, received the highest level. The commune Barsak received the largest number of classified crus.

So, this is understandable. Is it tasty?

And how. You can expect from Sauternes intense notes of honey apricot, peach, caramel, toffee, coconut, mango, ginger, marmalade, citrus line. The light Sauternes of Barsac are very aromatic, while the wines of the Sauternes are distinguished by a greater concentration of taste. The taste also changes from aging, which can last from 5 to 30+ years. Aged Sauternes change color - from dry straw to old gold, more reminiscent of sherry tones. In the taste, however, shades of pastries and even chocolate begin to prevail. And, of course, Sauternes are very sweet, often sweeter than Cola. That is why giving more than 30 bucks for a bottle is not such a bad idea - you can savor wine for a week, satiated with its unique taste.

Well, yes, it's sweet. And how is Sauternes to drink then?

Firstly, Sauternes are drunk neat chilled, to about 11 o C. Vintage aged specimens are not cooled so much, to about 15 o C. Secondly, unlike other dessert wines, which are usually used to accompany desserts, Sauternes is very sweet drink and it is better to accompany it with products that are not sweeter than itself, but rather salty and spicy cuisine. The most classic Sauternes dish is, of course, foie gras. But there is something simpler: blue cheeses, fruit not sweet desserts, cheesecakes without chocolate, shellfish, poultry pate, the same bird baked in herbs. Sour and spicy Asian cuisine will not go badly. You can try pork or beef cooked in a sour and spicy sauce.

Sounds good, but expensive. Is there an alternative?

Of course there is, it's alcohol. First, the Hungarians have been preparing Tokay wines for a couple of centuries using a similar technology (perhaps they are older than the Sauternes). Secondly, Botrytis helps winemakers in other regions of France. For example, in the neighborhood of Bordeaux there is the Monbazillac AOC region, where lesser known and not expensive white dessert wines are prepared. And in Bordeaux itself, sweet wines have not been so bad in recent years. You can safely hunt for bottles that bear the inscription: Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur, Cadillac, Cerons, Cotes de Bergerac, Graves Superieurs, Haut-Benauge, Loupiac, Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux, Sainte Croix du Mont, Sainte Foy and Saint Macaire. They are much cheaper than Sauternes.

Cool, of course, but why am I reading this on Rum?

At least in these few minutes you have become a little more educated. I, of course, am not the Anointed one, who spoke about more succulently, and, and, I hope, you did not get too bored. In general, an amazing tincture is prepared with Sauternes, the recipe for which you will learn in the next article. Intrigued? Nothing wrong, .

Calories, kcal:

Proteins, g:

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White dessert wine is made by full or partial fermentation of alcohol based on fruit and berry or. In some cases, alcohols and other substances are added to the recipe for this drink. As a rule, the strength of white dessert wine ranges from 9% to 16%, there are also fortified wines of this variety with an strength of up to 22%.

Dessert white wine is produced not only from what is considered the most traditional product, but also from various kinds of berries and fruits (calorizer). In the second case, we are talking about cheaper wine varieties.

Caloric content of white dessert wine 16%

The calorie content of white dessert wine 16% is 153 kcal per 100 grams of product.

Composition and useful properties of white dessert wine 16%

This drink is extremely rich in carbohydrates, mainly in the form of fructose and glucose. It also contains polysaccharides.

The main beneficial properties of the drink can be called the ability to tone up small and large vessels, which indicates its benefits (of course, in moderation) for various kinds of diseases of the cardiovascular system, which occur with a decrease in the general tone of blood vessels. Also, white wine is excellent for helping the lungs, because it can increase the tone of the bronchioles and bronchi.

The harm of white dessert wine 16%

It is worth noting that white grape wine can also contain methyl alcohol (a very toxic element). In white wine, its concentration is 0.2-1.1 grams per liter (calorizator). If we talk about the content of polyhydric alcohols in dessert white wine, they are represented here mainly by glycerin.

Dessert wine contains at least 12-17% alcohol and 16-20% sugar. These wines, as the name implies, are recommended for dessert. They go well with various fruits, ice cream, cakes and other sweets. This wine is served in a decanter. They drink it from special glasses, which have the name - Madeira. White dessert wines, before use, are pre-cooled to 10 - 16 degrees.

Dessert wine is used as a component for various soft and tonic drinks, such as punch, punch, mulled wine.

Dessert wines differ in the way of preparation, aroma and taste, among them are: Muscat, Cahors and Tokay wines. And also they are divided by sugar content into - semi-sweet, sweet and liqueur dessert wine.

How dessert wines are made

To obtain high-quality dessert wine, producers use special techniques that allow at a certain stage to slow down the fermentation process. This manipulation preserves the required percentage of sugar in the wine, the indicator of which in dessert wines should be in the range of 10 - 20%. To stop fermentation, alcohol is added to the fermented wort. After that, the drink becomes strong enough without losing its sweetness, wonderful aroma, pleasant taste and color.

In the production of dessert wine, a method is used in which the must is infused on the pulp. When the fermentation stage reaches the required point, the pulp is heated and alcoholic. The wines obtained in this way have a rich bouquet and delicate velvety taste. This drink is aged for 2 - 3 years in oak barrels. After that, the drink acquires a unique aroma and taste.

Dessert wine has a strength of 17 to 18%. These wines have such a wonderful feature - they do not age with age, and their taste improves markedly.

White dessert

This wine is a variety of fortified sweet wines. The amount of alcohol contained in its composition reaches 17%. It is sweeter than strong wine. This drink originates from the Ancient East, according to many scientists who have studied ancient manuscripts, plates and scrolls.

Manufacturers use the sweetest grape varieties to make dessert white wine. The basis for the production of this drink is grape juice and alcohol. By fermenting these simple components, a white dessert wine is formed. For their production, dried grapes are often used. White dessert wine is divided into sweet, semi-sweet and liqueur.

Dessert white wine production technology

Wine can be produced from different grape varieties: red, white, pink. Berries should be high in sugar and medium acidity.

Stages of white dessert wine production:

• First, choose good, undamaged berries without rot.
• Juice is squeezed out of them.
• Wait until the grape juice settles.
• Sulfur dioxide is introduced into the juice at the rate of -1 g per 10 liters.
• The drink ferments.
• After fermentation is over, the wine is separated from the yeast.
• The wine is settled and removed from the sediment.

In this way, dessert white wine is produced, but each winery has its own secrets that they do not reveal to anyone.

The best white dessert wines

France is the country where the best white dessert wine is produced. But good drinks are not only produced there. Excellent wine is produced in Romania, Moldova and Hungary, and of course Armenia is famous for the production of white dessert wine.

Sauternes (Sauternes, France) - Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes are used for the production of this wine. To make this drink, the berries are partially raisin, thanks to this, the wine acquires a pronounced aroma. In the Apelacion Sauternes region, the botrytis mold often covers the grapes, and it provokes the rash of berries.

This is a very expensive French wine. For its production, the grape variety is of the utmost importance. It is he who gives the unique taste, and thanks to him, the drink acquires the necessary acidity. Sauternes wine is considered one of the best in the world.

Famous wines produced in Hungary are Tokaj. They got this name thanks to the Tokaji mountain range, the main part of which is in the jurisdiction of Hungary, and a smaller part - in Slovakia. Wine aging traditions have been preserved since 1600.

Tokay wine is considered the most ancient dessert drink. The grapes from which it is produced are of light varieties. For the production of wine, it is dried while it is still on the branches. The taste of the drink is sweet with a predominant honey tone, but not cloying, it has a little sourness. The aftertaste is pleasant, the presence of alcohol in the wine is not felt.

Crimean white and Kuban blended dessert wines

Crimean dessert white wines are very popular. One of the most famous white Muscat Livadia, this dessert wine is made from Muscat grapes. It grows well in temperate warm climates.

The best Crimean, nutmeg, white dessert wine is Red Stone White Muscat. It was created at the Massandra winery in 1953. And also "Black Doctor" winery "Solnechnaya Dolina".

Kuban blended dessert wines, the names of which are known to many: "Old Nectar", "Solnechnaya Dolina", "Sun in a Glass", are no worse than the quality of the above brands. They are called blended for the reason that different grape varieties are used to make these wines.

Red dessert wine

Dessert red wine differs from others in its rich taste and astringency. For their production, grape varieties with black and red skins are used. The most famous of them: Saperavi, Mattress, Cabernet.

Even in ancient times, red dessert wine was considered an excellent sedative. Red wines have always been considered the kings of wines. This drink was very fond of monarchs and monks. They have always attributed various healing properties to dessert red wine.

Production technology

How to get red dessert wine has been known since antiquity. It is obtained by adding grape must to the juice. The drink is thick and aromatic. Wine yeast is added to the pulp, after which the drink is left to ferment. For 1 liter. wort put 50 g of sugar. Alcohol is usually added to wine. When it is fermented, it should taste dry. This wine is defended for 2 months. After that, it lightens a little. Sugar is added to the drink to enhance the sweetness. Red dessert wine is aged in oak barrels for 2-3 years.

Cahors. Dessert wine

The most popular and famous red wine is Cahors. It is considered a church drink. Cahors is a red wine produced in the city of Cahors (France). This wine was invented in France thanks to the application of a new way in which grapes are processed. In this drink, the Malbec grape, from which it is made, is 70%. The aroma and taste of the wines produced from these grapes have dried fruit, chocolate tones, and spices are felt in them. Cahors has a very dark color, which is why it was called black wine in ancient times. It is also made from Soperavi and Cabernet grape varieties.

Popular dessert red wine

Crimean wines produced by the Massandra winery are considered to be very popular red dessert wines.

Bastardo. The grape variety for its production is called Bastardo Magarachsky. Harvesting is carried out at a time when the sugar in the grapes contains at least 25%. The taste of the wine is pleasant, with hints of creamy chocolate.

Ay-Serez. For its production use grapes Cabernet Sauvignon and Bastardo Magarachsky. It is grown near Sudak. The drink has an original taste and red color.

Cahors South Coast - this variety of dessert wine is aged in barrels for 3 years. It has been produced since 1933. The grape variety from which it is made is called Saperavi. Its special production technology gives the wine a dark pomegranate color and pleasant taste. This Kahors is considered one of the best.

In addition to this brand, the best Cahors are: "Uzbekeston" (produced in Uzbekistan), "Black Doctor" (Crimea), "Chumay" (Moldova), "Shemakha" (Azeibarjan).

Is the production of dessert wine profitable?

The production of natural sweet wine is a very complex and painstaking business. Titanic efforts are being made to create it. Winemakers take a lot of risk, but when compared with producers producing dry and red table and dessert wines, one might say, they do not bring any profit. Even if we consider that the best dessert wines are quite expensive, this cannot recoup the labor costs invested in their production, and the risk that winemakers are exposed to.

In Germany, noble wines of the highest qualifications are created not for the sake of high profits, but more for the pleasure and maintenance of the high status, as well as the reputation of the economy. In fact, winemakers are very risky, leaving the best bunches of grapes on the vines, they can easily lose them, if some kind of bad weather happens in November or crows peck at the left grapes.