Definition

Noun: A dessert wine is a type of wine that is characteristically sweet and is typically served with dessert or consumed after a meal. Its sweetness is a defining feature, often resulting from specific winemaking techniques like late harvesting, fortification, or the development of noble rot.

Usage

Dessert wines are served in smaller quantities than table wines, usually in smaller glasses, due to their concentrated sweetness and higher alcohol content (in the case of fortified styles). They are intended to complement the final course of a meal.

Examples

• The restaurant's menu featured a Sauternes as the dessert wine to pair with the crème brûlée.
• We enjoyed a glass of rich dessert wine with the cheese plate after dinner.
• Port and Tokaji are classic examples of dessert wine.

Advanced Usage

• As a modifier: The term can function attributively to describe other nouns (e.g., "dessert wine glass," "dessert wine selection").
• Contrast with other wines: It is categorically distinguished from dry table wines and aperitif wines, which are typically served before or during the main meal.

Variants and Related Words

• Fortified wine: A broader category that includes some dessert wines (like Port, Sherry, Madeira) where spirits are added, increasing alcohol content and often sweetness.
• Late harvest wine: A dessert wine made from grapes left on the vine longer to concentrate sugars.
• Ice wine / Eiswein: A dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen naturally on the vine.
• Noble rot wine: A dessert wine, such as Sauternes or Tokaji, made from grapes affected by the fungus, which concentrates flavors and sugars.

Synonyms

• Sweet wine
• Pudding wine (chiefly British English)

Antonyms

• Dry wine
• Table wine
• Aperitif

Related Phrases

• To pair with dessert wine: To match a food, especially a dessert, with an appropriate sweet wine.
  • The pastry chef recommends pairing the tarte tatin with a dessert wine.
• A flight of dessert wines: A tasting selection of several different dessert wines served in sequence.
  • The enoteca offered a flight of dessert wines from Italy.

Noun

1. still sweet wine often served with dessert or after a meal