Sweet White Wine

There are a variety of good sweet wines produced in wineries around the globe. A good dessert wine refers simply to the fact that there is a level of sugar which is residual in the wine which makes the wine taste quite sweet compared to a "dry" white wine such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc.

The sweetness varies between being just slightly sweet like many wines from Italy to really sweet like ice wine and many selections in between. There are many different methods of producing sweet white wines. Some of the wines that have the highest concentration are made from grapes affected by the Botrytis fungus. It is a scary name but it is not all bad, here is why.

There is a wine making method called Botrytis Cinerea, which is called a ‘noble rot’ and as the grapes grow, they become dehydrated and result in concentrated, rich sweet wine.

Ice Wine, another method of making white sweet wine is from harvesting frozen grapes on a very cold morning. After pressing the grapes, ice crystals are filtered out, which results in concentrations of sugar and flavor. This results in a vibrant, intense wine with sweetness that is unmatched. Some of the best ice wines are made in Canada.

Fortified wines such as port are wines in which the process of fermenting has been interrupted by adding alcohol. These types of wine are sweet due to the fact that they are not fully fermented and the typical taste is sweet because the presence of unfermented sugar is apparent. Portugal has historically made the best ports but in recent years the United States has produced ports that are rated as very good too.

Late harvest wines are picked in late in the season when there is more sugar in the grapes. When the end of the fermentation of alcohol occurs intentionally by the vintner or naturally, considerable residual sugar is left over and this results in a sweet white wine. The white grape varieties of Riesling and Gewürztraminer are often used for making this type of white and good examples are available through wine clubs.

As a general rule, white wines from Italy and Germany are often sweet compared to other wines. Riesling, Moscato and Gewürztraminer will have qualities that are pleasing and have dominating flavors of fruit like gooseberry and black currant. Like many good red wines, the price of the above are generally below 15 USD per bottle.

Sweet Red Wine

Dessert Wines

Sweet Italian Wine

Semi Sweet Wines

Top Sweet Wines

Sweet German Wines

Very Sweet Wines

Ice Wine Online

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