The Best Dessert Wines: From Sauternes to Ice Wine

The Sweet Spot

Dessert wines are often overlooked by modern wine drinkers, which is a shame — they represent some of the most complex, labor-intensive, and historically significant wines in existence. A great Sauternes or Trockenbeerenauslese can age for a century and offers a sensory experience unlike any dry wine.

How Sweet Wine Is Made

Sweet wine requires grapes with extraordinarily high sugar levels. There are several ways to achieve this:

Noble Rot (Botrytis cinerea)

A beneficial mold that punctures grape skins, causing water to evaporate and sugar to concentrate. The result is intensely sweet grapes with unique honey, apricot, and saffron flavors. Conditions must be perfect — morning fog followed by warm, dry afternoons — or the rot becomes destructive rather than noble.

Late Harvest

Grapes are left on the vine well past normal ripening, concentrating sugars through dehydration. The risk is significant — bad weather can destroy the crop.

Drying (Passito/Appassimento)

Grapes are dried on straw mats or hung in well-ventilated rooms after harvest, concentrating sugars and flavors. Used for Italian Vin Santo and Amarone (technically a dry wine from dried grapes).

Freezing (Eiswein/Ice Wine)

Grapes are left on the vine until they freeze naturally (at least -7°C/19°F). When pressed frozen, only the concentrated sugar-rich juice is extracted, leaving the water behind as ice.

Fortification

Adding grape spirit to stop fermentation preserves natural grape sugar. Used for Port, Sherry (sweet styles), and Vin Doux Naturel.

The Great Dessert Wines

Sauternes and Barsac (Bordeaux, France)

The world's most famous dessert wine. Made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle affected by noble rot. Château d'Yquem is the benchmark — honeyed, complex, and capable of aging for over a century.

Flavors: Honey, apricot, marmalade, saffron, vanilla, butterscotch

Price range: $25-$500+ (half bottles are common and more affordable)

German Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese

Made from Riesling affected by botrytis. These wines have electric acidity that balances the sweetness, creating a tension that is breathtaking. TBA is among the rarest and most expensive wines in the world.

Flavors: Honey, dried apricot, tropical fruit, petrol (with age), orange marmalade

Price range: BA $30-$150; TBA $100-$1,000+

Ice Wine (Eiswein)

Produced primarily in Canada (the world's largest producer), Germany, and Austria. The frozen harvest concentrates flavors to an almost syrupy intensity while maintaining piercing acidity.

Flavors: Concentrated peach, apricot, tropical fruit, honey

Price range: $30-$200 (for 375ml)

Tokaji Aszú (Hungary)

One of the world's oldest classified wine regions (predating Bordeaux's 1855 classification). Made from Furmint grapes affected by botrytis. Sweetness is measured in puttonyos (3-6, with 6 being the sweetest). Tokaji Eszencia is even sweeter — essentially liquid sugar with 1-2% alcohol.

Flavors: Orange peel, dried fruit, smoke, spice, marmalade

Price range: $20-$300+

Vin Santo (Tuscany, Italy)

Made from dried Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes, aged for years in small sealed barrels (caratelli). The traditional Tuscan dessert wine, traditionally served with cantucci (almond biscotti) for dipping.

Flavors: Toffee, caramel, dried fruit, nuts, orange peel

Price range: $20-$100

Moscato d'Asti (Piedmont, Italy)

Light, gently sparkling, and modestly sweet (only 5-6% alcohol). The most approachable dessert wine in the world — floral, peachy, and irresistibly refreshing.

Flavors: White peach, orange blossom, grape, pear

Price range: $12-$25

Pedro Ximénez Sherry (Jerez, Spain)

Made from sun-dried Pedro Ximénez grapes and aged in solera. Intensely sweet, dark as motor oil, with incredible concentration. Often served over vanilla ice cream.

Flavors: Raisins, figs, dates, molasses, coffee, dark chocolate

Price range: $15-$50

Food Pairing

The cardinal rule: the wine should be at least as sweet as the food. A dry wine with a sweet dessert will taste thin and sour.

• Sauternes: Foie gras (the classic), Roquefort, fruit tarts, crème brûlée
• Ice Wine/TBA: Fresh fruit desserts, cheesecake, on its own
• Tokaji: Goose liver, blue cheese, nut-based desserts
• Vin Santo: Cantucci, biscotti, almond cake
• Moscato d'Asti: Berry desserts, fruit salad, light pastries
• PX Sherry: Vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate, blue cheese

Serving Tips

• Serve well-chilled: 45-50°F (7-10°C)
• Use small glasses: Dessert wines are served in smaller quantities (2-3 oz)
• Half bottles are your friend: 375ml bottles are common and more affordable
• They age magnificently: Great Sauternes and TBA can age for 50-100+ years
• Once opened: Most dessert wines keep well for 1-2 weeks in the fridge due to their high sugar and (sometimes) alcohol content

Dessert wines are the wine world's most underappreciated treasures. If you have never explored them, start with a bottle of Moscato d'Asti or Sauternes and discover what you have been missing.