Italian Dessert Wine
Discovering Italy’s Sweeter Side…
Sweet, Syrupy, and Sophisticated…
Exploring the Charm of Italian Dessert Wine…
After exploring the white and red wines of Piedmont, we’re now uncovering Italy’s sweeter side with a dive into its exceptional Italian dessert wines. With a dessert wine to perfectly pair with every cheese, pudding, and mood, it’s no surprise we couldn’t resist this tasting. We chose five delectable dessert wines to sample and match with three desserts.
This wine flight revealed new gems for some, while others rediscovered beloved favourites – each sip showcasing the delicate balance between sugar and acid that makes these wines so special. To better understand this balance, we conducted a fun experiment with citric, malic, and tartaric acids. The results were eye-opening, and let’s just say we’ll be thinking about those sour faces for a while! From Moscato d’Asti’s refreshing sweetness to the rich complexity of Recioto della Valpolicella, these wines were a delicious way to wrap up our Italian journey.
Stay tuned for updates – and if you’re as passionate about wine as we are, we’d love to have you join us on our journey.
Or, explore more about our wine bar in Cornwall.
Three Bold Flavours To Pair…
To see how our five dessert wines would hold up, we asked our talented pâtissier to craft three of delectable desserts, each with distinct flavours to really explore how these sweet wines would pair.
We tasted the wines on their own first, then paired them with our desserts to see how their flavours evolved and which combinations worked best.
The desserts:
Chocolate & cherry, key lime pie, and vanilla & pear panna cotta. And, of course, we couldn’t resist pairing them with some rich dark chocolate too – because who needs an excuse to enjoy chocolate?
An Experiment With Acid…
How is it that dessert wines can be loaded with residual sugar, yet not leave you feeling like you’re drinking syrup straight from the bottle?
The answer: acid.
Those organic acids naturally found in wine work in perfect harmony with the sugar, also naturally present, to create that sweet balance. Wine producers can tweak this relationship by deciding when to harvest the grapes and how to craft the wine. The acid levels not only determine how sour or tart a wine tastes, but also how long it’ll stay fresh once it’s bottled!
So, to understand the key to a sensational Italian dessert wines, we decided to dive deeper into this sugar-acid balancing act. We conducted a little experiment with three different acids – citric, malic, and tartaric – dissolving them into water at varying amounts so we could taste how each affects the wine. To be honest, it could potentially take a few more attempts to nail this!
You should’ve seen the sour faces we pulled when we tried the strongest batch… priceless.
Citric
Not to surprise you, but citric acid is naturally found in citrus fruits, such as lemons and limes, and is naturally present in wines – though not too often. When it’s present, it brings a bright, zesty freshness to the wine, kind of like a citrusy punch that keeps things lively. It’s that crisp, refreshing vibe you get in some dessert wines, giving them a nice lift without being too intense.
Malic
Found most commonly in apples and – shocker – grapes! Have you ever had a wine that tastes ‘flat’ or ‘sour’? If so, then this could be due to the levels of malic acid!
Too little = flat. Too much = sour.
Think of it like biting into a tart green apple – refreshing but with a sharp twist.
Tartaric
Again, naturally occurring in many fruits such as grapes, bananas and citrus. Read on if you want a very short, very basic science lesson… if a wine is chilled to below 40 degrees, then any tartaric acid remaining in the wine will bind with the potassium naturally occurring in the wine to create tartrates. These tartrates are often referred to as ‘wine diamonds’ and provide structure, balance and flavour!
Our Chosen Wines from Piedmont:
Contero, Moscato d’Asti DOC 2020
Pieropan, ‘Le Colombare’ Recioto di Soave, classico DOCG 2017
Donnafugata, ‘Ben Ryé’ Passito di Pantelleria 2019
Isole e Olena, Vin Santo, del Chianti classico 2009
Corte Giara, Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG 2019
Our thoughts From The Tasting…
Ben Ryé
From the little island of Pantelleria just off the coast of Africa, this gives Italian dessert wine a good name.
It easily held up with the chocolate and cherry dessert! Considered Donnafugata’s ‘Masterpiece’ (at least we would say so), it’s a modern take on the classic Moscato Passito. Perfectly balanced with great minerality and fresh acidity, it was complex, intense and wonderfully fresh.
Moscato d’Asti:
The Contero estate of 11 hectares is one of the best producers of Moscato d’Asti and it’s easy to see why. The invigoratingly delicious bouquet that this wine gives off would make it easy to pick out blind.
We identified flavours of rose petal, green grape, pear and lychee. More of an explosion of flavour. Despite its recent reputation, it was a clear favourite of the group – easy to drink without an accompanying dessert, as well as pairing perfectly with a sweet treat! No wonder why some of the most famous rappers have mentioned it in their songs, some might say it’s a … rapper’s delight.
Soave Classico:
A very well balanced wine… just the right level of delicate sweetness offset by fresh acidity, at the moment this will definitely be one for our final wine list. With the relationship between sugar and acid working in perfect harmony, it’s no wonder that the Pieropan family have been perfecting their recipes since the 1890s.
If you enjoy honeysuckle, dried apricot and almond notes, then this could be the sweet wine for you. Not to forget the gorgeous amber colour that makes you think of liquid gold! If it’s good enough for Gordon Ramsay, then it’s good enough for us.
Vin Santo:
Made with appassimento grapes, this aromatic wine is definitely another for the final list. Otherwise known as ‘holy wine’ – people theorising this is due to its production cycles linking to religious holidays, but we preferred the nickname to represent how god damn good it is!
It’s been said that a lot of producers make a few barrels per year but tend to keep them for themselves. This makes perfect sense since the beautiful dried fruit flavours seemed like they could have gone on forever, leaving a luscious palate behind. It seems the longer it’s bottled, the longer the more flavour and aroma, leaving a delightfully complex wine.
Valpolicella:
Now, this was strange. A sweet red wine with smooth tannins.
Upon first taste without any accompanying desserts, it wasn’t a fan favourite, but the second it was paired with the rich dark chocolate and the cherry & chocolate dessert…. talk about a match made in heaven.
The first nose revealed blueberries, raisins, and mulberries. And once it had opened, these aromas were joined by notes of its barrel ageing and nuances of balsamic.
Stunning.
The takeaway from the day is… we love dessert wine. Easy as that.
One thing we discussed at the end was… how would these wines pair with cheese, blue cheese especially… maybe another tasting is due?
You can sample the sweeter side of Italy at our wine bar in Cornwall.
