The secret of sweet endings - dessert wine

Sunset, Nov, 1997 by Karen MacNeil

* For several years - until I knew better-1 thought of dessert wine as overkill. From cake to creme brulee, dessert was just fine all by itself. Who needed something sweet to drink besides?

Clearly, I didn't know what I was missing: one of the most indulgent pleasures on the planet.

Absolutely nothing compares to the deliciousness of a noble sweet wine. Today, if I had to make a choice between the two, I'd drink the dessert wine and skip the dessert.

Thankfully, though, the two are not mutually exclusive, for the marriage of a great dessert and a great dessert wine ranks as one of the most hedonistic experiences a wine drinker can have.

What makes a sweet wine great, ironically, is not the sweetness. There are dozens of sweet wines that are about as compelling as a lollipop. That's because sweetness alone can taste unpleasantly sugary and monodimensional.

As pastry chefs know, sweet things need a counterpoint. So although it seems counterintuitive, a dessert wine needs good acidity. Without it, the wine will seem like a big sugar bomb in your mouth.

Achieving that perfect tension between sweetness and acidity is anything but easy. In fact, great dessert wines are some of the most difficult wines to make. And despite the common misconception, none of the methods involves adding processed sugar. As it happens, the sweetness is simply the grapes' natural sugar.

So how does a dessert wine come to be? The grapes can be:

* picked after the regular harvest at a point where they are very full of natural sugar (these are usually called "late-harvest" wines).

* allowed to "raisin," thereby concentrating the sugars.

* allowed to freeze (as in German icewine), so that when the grapes are pressed, the water remains as ice, leaving just the syrupy concentrated sugar.

* attacked by a fungus such as botrytis cinerea (the "noble rot" that makes French Sauternes), which sucks out the water, shriveling the grapes and concentrating the sugars.

All of these processes are difficult, and they carry with them countless risks: deer, birds, wild boars, and other animals love to eat sweet grapes: the grapes may be attacked by unfavorable molds or other diseases; weather may destroy the crop first; and so on. Dessert wines, as a result, are produced in small quantities and are almost universally expensive.

Almost every country that makes wine makes dessert wines, and some countries - such as France, Germany, Austria, and Italy - are treasure troves of luscious finds.

Theoretically, almost any grape variety could be made into a dessert wine. In practice, however, about a dozen varietals seem to possess just the right potential. Among the most popular of these are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Semillon, and the whole family of Muscats, including Muscat Canelli, Muscat of Alexandria, Orange Muscat, and Muscat de Frontignan.

Finally, dessert wines range in intensity from light-bodied and almost sheer in their sweetness to rich, syrupy, and superconcentrated. In general, the Muscats are the lightest, while wines such as French Sauternes (made from botrytis-affected Semillon) and German beerenausleses and trockenbeerenausleses are the richest.

The latter are widely considered the most devastatingly delicious dessert wines in the world - and they are an experience every wine drinker should have more than once. For other fine choices, see our list above. (All are sold as 375-ml. half-bottles.)

WINE DICTIONARY

Cloying

Descriptive term for a wine with unbearable candylike sweetness. Dessert wines should not be cloying.

BEST BETS

* Bonny Doon Muscat "Vin de Glaciere" 1996, $15 (California). Utter elegance. The essence of apricot coalesced with the essence of peach.

* Chateau St. Jean Special Select Late-Harvest Johannisberg Riesling 1992, $ 25 (Alexander Valley). Voluptuously rich. Try with tarte Tatin.

* Joseph Phelps Late-Harvest Johannisberg Riesling 1995, $20 (California). The liquid equivalent of a luscious pear-and-apricot tart.

* Madrona Select Harvest Riesling 1995, $16.50 (El Dorado). A really zesty dessert wine evocative of pears drizzled with vanilla.

* Navarro Cluster Select Late-Harvest White Riesling 1994, $19.50 (Mendocino). Made only in exceptional years. Pure spun honey.

* Quady Elysium 1996, $8 (California). Complex litchi and rose flavors. Great with dark chocolate.

* Robert Pecota Moscato d'Andrea 1996, $9 (Napa Valley). A fresh, lively Moscato (Italian for Muscat). Pour it over poached fruits and drink a glass alongside.