Dessert wines are wines that come from extra sweet grapes. To make sweet wine the fermentation is stopped before all of the grapes sugars turn to alcohol. There are different ways to stop fermentation one of which is adding brandy. This results in a rich wine sweetened with the natural grape sugars.
At Schmidt Family Vineyards we currently have two Dessert Wines. A late harvest style white and port styled red.
A Late Harvest wine is wine made from a grape that hangs on the vine longer to become even sweeter and starting to dry by the sun (think concentrated sweetness of raisins).
A Port styled wine is traditionally made in Portugal. These sweet red wines are made from traditional Portuguese grapes such as Touriga or Tempranillo and finished with neutral brandy.
Dessert wines are meant to be sipping wines enjoyed in small glasses of 3oz. Perfect as an after dinner treat.