This week, Mark Henderson samples wines on the sweeter side.
Sweet wines come with an array of names: dessert wines, sweeties, stickies, late harvest, passito; or as the English tend to call them, "pudding wines''.
Making sweet wines requires a degree of concentration of the sugars in the grapes, which can be achieved in a number of ways. The most common is noble or botrytis wines, where a beneficial fungus ("noble rot'') grows on the grapes, literally sucking the water out, leaving shrivelled and hugely concentrated berries.
Another is Ice Wine where the grapes are not picked until well into winter after several days of sub zero temperatures. The grapes freeze solid, and when pressed, a miniscule amount of hugely concentrated juice is released, leaving the frozen water content behind.
In New Zealand, lacking sufficiently cold temperatures, the tank of grape juice is chilled until some of the water freezes solid and can be removed.
Another option is the passito method, where the grapes are stacked up in airy barns (or occasionally out in the sun) and allowed to shrivel and dry for a period of weeks or months, losing water volume in the process.
Finally, there is the late harvest method, where the grapes are left on the vine well after normal harvest, garnering whatever extra ripeness they can, while also losing water volume through desiccation and shrivelling of the berries.
When done well, the end result of these processes can be intensely sweet wines, rich and powerful viscosity and with a thrillingly zesty acid counterpoint. Never cheap, mostly in half bottles and an amazing example of the winemaker's craft.
While perhaps counter-intuitive, it is worth remembering that these styles of wines can sometimes be too sweet to pair with dessert.
Pate, cheeses (especially blue cheeses) or fresh, chopped fruit can provide a better counterpoint to the uber-sweet, lusciousness of the wine.
Price: $37
Rating: Excellent
Orange, musky botrytis, honeycomb and a balsamic note. A flavour explosion in the mouth with a ‘‘rancio'' (sherry like) element that is rather appealing. Darker, savoury aspects then super-intense sweetness with honey, orange and then toffee. A lick of acidity on the close keeps it fresh.
Very interesting wine, showing a different expression.
Price: $35
Rating: Very good
A nose of musk, beeswax, dried mint and mandarin peel. Intensely rich and mouthfilling, adding bush honey and citrus rind to the mix. Dessert wine on steroids, perhaps a hint too much sweetness to be exquisite, yet some freshening acidity and a drier end note avoids it cloying.
Would be great with blue cheese.
Price: $28
Rating: Excellent to outstanding
Honey, spearmint, apple; almost a hint of liniment on the nose. In the mouth; apple, straw and mint with honeyed notes again. While powerfully rich, that minty touch and good acidity gives real freshness and balance.
The long and intense finish is lovely: bringing in apricot nuances while the acidity is zesty.
