Classic examples of sweet fortified wine include port, sweet vermouth, and certain styles of sherry. If the latter method is used, and there's still some unfermented sugar left in the juice, the spirit will kill the yeast and halt fermentation, resulting in a higher-alcohol wine with elevated sweetness levels. A "fortified" wine is a style of wine in which spirit (typically either grape brandy or neutral grain spirit) is added to wine-either once fermentation is done, and the wine is finished, or before fermentation has been completed. Wine attains its alcohol through fermentation, the process by which yeast turns sugar in the grape juice into alcohol. Generally, though, sweet wines rely on the natural sugars in the grapes themselves to achieve their final sweetness. A notable exception is Champagne (of which there are sweet examples such as sec and doux), which attain their sweetness through the addition of a dosage of sugar to aid in secondary fermentation. While certain cheaper bottlings may achieve their sweetness through the addition of sugar to finished wine, this is generally not a classic production technique-and none of the bottles featured in this lineup employ this method. For a more accessible journey into the realm of sweet red wines, seek out the Philip Togni Ca' Togni Sweet Red ( view on Drizly) and enjoy some organic California elegance at an approachable price point.įAQs Are sweet wines made by adding sugar to dry wine? Make a memo to yourself to pair this well-structured stunner with rich meats and cheeses when you open it in ten years or more.įor a one-of-a-kind sweet red wine experience, the sublime Dal Forno Romano Vigna Seré Veneto Passito Rosso ( view on ) offers a beautiful example of a classic and rare style.
The palate is jam-packed with attractive notes of berry, licorice, and mahogany that will only become more elegant with additional years of aging. Hailing from a winery that dates back to the mid-1500s, the 2017 Capela from Quinta de Vesuvio is a vintage port that fits squarely into the latter category: many industry experts recommend holding off on cracking open this bottle until 2030, and others predict that it will continue to improve for an additional two or three decades after that.Ĭlearly, this isn’t a maybe-we’ll-drink-it-this-Tuesday bottle, but those with a generation’s worth of patience will be rewarded with gorgeous aromas of black tea, lavender, blueberry, and quince. Port, the sweet fortified wine that’s long been the standard-bearer of the Portuguese wine industry, comes in many styles-including some meant to be consumed young and others intended for prolonged aging. Region: Douro, Portugal | ABV: 20% | Tasting Notes: Black tea, Quince, Licorice, Mahogany Like any other wine, the choices are overwhelming, so here are the best sweet wines that prove that they're just another part of the wine family. With decadent notes of plum and chocolate, Dal Forno Romano Vigna Seré Veneto Passito Rosso is our top choice when it comes to sweet wines. There are myriad winemakers who specialize in making delicious sweet wines that you can pair with savory dishes, share with your date on a romantic evening, or even stand in for a birthday cake. The truth, however, is that wine comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors-including sweet.Įven more, those who think they don’t like sweet wine are missing out on exceptional bottles. While sweet bottles made up the majority of American wine production as recently as a half-century ago, the shift toward dry wines modeled after their "classic" European forebears was fairly complete by the 1980s and hasn't retreated since. There’s an unspoken misconception that wine, a drink made by fermenting grape juice, isn’t meant to be sweet.
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