No longer relegated to the ‘what do I do with this?’ cupboard or have a capful for cooking and the rest left to gather dust, no no no. Sweet wines are back and FINALLY showing their worth to a whole new audience as the great drinky desserts they truly are, boosted by the summer trend for sweet wine cocktails and boozy puds.
Here’s your guide to some key styles of sweet wines from around the world that you can swap with sugar syrup in cocktails, simply sip chilled, or splash into your puddings.
Noble Rot Style
TRY: L’Or du Ciron Sauternes 2016
Perhaps the most famous (and expensive) sweet wine in town, Sauternes is a posh, dessert vino from Bordeaux made largely with Sémillon and Sauvignon. Here, a ‘noble rot’ fungus desiccates the grapes so what is left is super concentrated, honeyed and sweet. Think marmalade, candied peel, marzipan and spice. Great alone or with ice and loves a lemon drizzle cake.
Find here: M&S / Ocado
Price: £14.75
TRY: Château Combet Laroche Monbazillac
Often described - a tad unfairly- as ‘poor man’s Sauternes’, Monbazillac hails from just east of Bordeaux and makes wines in a similar style. Less unctuously sweet than Sauternes and often with a subtle, burned caramel flavour, this is a great, sugar syrup alternative in Old Fashioned twists and thanks to the lower price point, means less guilt when splashing it around!
Find here: Lidl
Price: £7.99 full bottle
TRY: Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh
A brilliant, price savvy Sauternes alternative, Pacherenc hails from Gascony in southwest France and uses gorgeously greengage-scented local grapes like Gros Manseng. A noble rot wine like Sauternes where affected grapes dehydrate and give a complex, marzipan note, this is a lighter, fresher version that’s crying out for citrusy cocktails. Use it to replace the vermouth and honeyed rim in the famous Oppenheimer martini cocktail.
Find here: Lidl
Price: £7.99 full bottle
Late Harvest Sweet white
TRY: Brown Brothers Orange Muscat & Flora
Late harvest wine is sweet because grapes stay longer on the vine and dry out, concentrating the sugars without the help of ‘noble rot’. This late harvest style keeps a more zesty freshness than the noble rot wines and this delicious drop hails from cool Victoria in Australia. It uses the grapey, floral Muscat grape and rare Flora grape to produce a lightly sweet vino that you’ll want to spritz on as perfume! Great in frozen cocktails and boozy brulées.
Find here: Tesco
Price: £8.50 half bottle
Moscato
TRY: Barefoot Pink Moscato
Cheap and very cheerful, Moscato wines are usually very fruity and sweet, aromatic and lower in booze than regular vino. Moscato is another name for the Muscat grape and this peachy pink from Barefoot is unashamedly ‘fun’, tasting like boozy strawberry ice lollies. It's perfect for pink, pimms-like wine cocktails. Just add peaches and strawberries with soda or lemonade!
Find here: Asda
Price: on offer £5.50 (down from £7.50)
Sweet Fortified: Muscat
TRY: Campbells of Rutherglen, Rutherglen Muscat
If you love the idea of boozy, salted caramel, then this dark, Aussie Muscat is for you! Gorgeously sweet with a salty freshness this sweetie style is unique to southern Australia’s Rutherglen area. It loves anything with spice or salt and is amazing in cocktails. Try it with fruit and cinnamon in a Rutherglen Sangria or pour it over ice cream with some coffee as an affogato. Stunning!
Find here: Waitrose
Price: £13.39
sweet fortified: Madeira
Blandy's Duke of Clarence Madeira
Madeira from the Portuguese island of the same name is the sweet-salty, nutty, fortified and aged booze that smells incredible, like fruit cake and fudge! Made with the red Negra Mole grape and white Malvasia, Bual, Verdelho and Sercial grapes, it comes in several styles from dry to lusciously sweet. And while it’s often relegated to splashing into Christmas puds, it’s actually rather wonderful in complex cocktails like a salted caramel martini or anything with chocolate in it. This one is full-on and fruity. Bold and retro.
Find here: Morrisons
Price: on offer £11.50 (down from £15) full bottle
Passito
TRY: Heaven on Earth organic, Fair Trade Muscat d’Alexandria
What is Passito wine? It’s a style of sweet wine that has been partially dried, often on straw, to allow water to evaporate before being pressed to concentrate the sugars. This golden, deliciously Autumnal wine is made with muscat grapes in South Africa and dried on a bed of Rooibos and straw. It’s grapey and peachy, all apricot and honey deliciousness! Awesome sipped alone or with blue cheese.
Find here: Ocado
Price: £10 (£8.50 on offer)
Splash out, passito: Vinsanto
Vinsanto 2002, Late release, Estate Argyros
Not to be confused with the fortified wine ‘Vin Santo’ from Tuscany, Vinsanto hails from Santorini in Greece and is made with Assyrtiko that has been aged for a significant amount of time. This 2002 late release was made with Assyrtiko grapes from over 200 year old vines and aged for at least sixteen years. It has insane complexity and is beautifully balanced. You won’t want to mix this super special one - sip it alone, over ice cream or with a nibble of dark chocolate.
Find here: Epinoia.co.uk
Price: £76.70 Link
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