Elite Wine Reviews Eve’s Wine 101

Make it Sweet élite

by Eve Bushman

When I was told during a recent meeting of élite editors that a column on dessert wine was suggested, my snobbier side retaliated at the idea.  I’ve had a few sweet wines at classes so that I could, at the very least, identify them.  But I still felt that sweet dessert wines were for my mom and her quilting club.  Or so I thought.  Every day I receive e-mails regarding the latest wine news.  Maybe the editors at élite Magazine get the same emails because that day, as chance would have it, I received a very informative article about sweet wines.
Sweet Wine History
From the Western Farm Press I learned that not only had sweet Madeira wine been a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, but that it was also used to toast the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  Even “George Washington drank a pint a day and Betsy Ross sipped Madeira as she stitched the first American flag.”
How to Pair Your Sweet Wine
A reader recently queried me about what dessert to pair his sweet wine with to bring to a dinner party.  He wanted to make a statement about pairing a dessert wine with a dessert, but he also didn’t want anything too sweet, or, too filling.  As is often the case with dinner parties, guests are so laden down between the appetizer and the main course – not to mention all of the wine – that most have difficulty managing a heavy dessert.  
I told him to skip the traditional dessert, and to bring his favorite sweet wine paired with a paper-wrapped gourmet cheese alone, Stilton Blue preferably.  (Wax paper keeps cheeses from drying out and plastic imparts flavors onto the cheese.  Most people recognize the Dubliner cheddar cheese sold in supermarkets by its loose paper wrapper.)
If you’re not sure about this, think about pairing coke with a piece of candy.  Now, think again, this time with a dessert wine and a sharp cheese.  The balance of a honeyed wine against a biting cheese brings out the best in both as it lengthens the finish of the wine, and, can turn a nutty cheese to butter in your mouth.
Sweet Wine and Cheese Pairings
Sweet red wines (Port) with Gorgonzola, Roquefort and Stilton.
White wines (Madeira and Sherry) with Roquefort.  Gewurztraminer is a favorite cheese-pairing wine for Camembert, Muenster and Roquefort. Or be more adventuresome and try pairing a cheese with a different sweet white wine: Sake!
Ice wines (Rieslings made from frozen grapes) with soft cheese and Stilton Blue.
Late harvest wines with Roquefort, goat, and salty cheeses.
Noble Rot or Botrytis wines (This is the name of the fungus that can grow on grape skins which causes the grapes to dehydrate, and intensifies the sugar) like an Hungarian Tokaji or a French Sauterne, with blue cheeses.

Yours, in wine and out,
Eve

You may contact Eve at ebushman@earthlink.net for questions and comments. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, evewine101.blogspot.com and www.westranchbeacon.com