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Wine trends: sweet is advancing
Gazeta.ru, 8 June 2010

Fashion in wine changes slowly, but it does change.

Over a century ago Mosel, Tokaji and other sweet wines were in high esteem and cost more than dry wines. Since then the pendulum swung in the opposite direction: dry styles are now the world’s favourite. It is a great shame that sweet production has lost its cache as wines with high residual sugar often mean labour intensive production, complex flavours and a long life in a bottle.

Jerez-de-la-Frontera is the centre of a famous winemaking region in Spain. Its fortified wines are aged in a solera system. What is it? Imagine several connected vertical columns of barrels. The barrel at the top is filled with young wine which gradually moves down. A distinctive wine which is a blend of various years is collected at the bottom, in the solera barrel. There are eight Jerez styles, from light and dry to sweet and concentrated: Manzanilla, Fino, Amontillado, Oloroso, Palo Cortado, Cream, Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez.

Jerez-de-la-Frontera is also an unofficial capital of fortified, dessert and naturally sweet wines. Every two years the town hosts The International Salon of Noble Wines dedicated solely to the beverages of this genre. The fair, also known as Vinoble, takes place in the Arab castle called El Alcázar that has preserved its imposing and impregnable look throughout centuries and has literally become a bastion of sweet winemaking.

This year producers were fighting with all possible means against the stereotype that sweet wines are suitable only for desserts.

Nowadays sweet wine styles lose to dry also because people do not really know their real gastronomic potential. By inertia sweet wines are perceived only as beverages with higher sugar content, and are served like sweet dishes.

To widen enogastronomic horizons was one of the key messages of Vinoble 2010. It was presented in various formats — from master classes by Michelin chefs to tastings and to themed lunches and dinners with producers.

Montilla-Moriles in the south of Spain makes dessert Pedro Ximenez. Grapes are dried, musts are fortified and then aged in a solera system, like sherry.

The wines are very sweet, almost like honey: minimal levels of sugar are around 300 grammes per litre. It seems extreme to serve them for aperitif, but things become different when an aperitif comes with light snacks. Pedro Ximenez and puff pastries with Roquefort or pate stimulate appetite, or successfully fulfil their task.

Sweet wines are also more actively promoted as ingredients in dishes, but not necessarily in desserts.

A Pedro Ximenez tasting folder at Vinoble 2010 included many pages of recipes, half of which were for savoury dishes, including grills and lasagne.

Italian cook Ernst Knam surprised the public by another unexpected yet spectacular pairing several weeks before Vinoble, at another wine fair. He served fried beef fillet with sweet Asti, a popular sparkling wine made with Moscato grapes in Italian Piedmont. Knam believes that unconventional elements can be successfully paired if common taste links are created between them. Beef worked with Asti because meat had been previously marinated in the same wine.

Dessert wine producers take notice of new gastronomic influences. One of them is about an unconventional order of serving dishes. Classical hierarchy "starter — main course — dessert" is being transformed. Dishes with elements of sweet, salty, spicy and bitter tastes can be served at any moment.

This also changes a traditional scheme of serving wines: off-dry and sweet styles can precede dry wines.

Lunch at Emilio Lustau, producer of artisanal sherry, was exemplary. After dry Manzanilla and Amontillado guests were offered rich dessert East India with a millefeuille of foie gras with caramelised cheese and green apple; this was followed by a tuna dish with drier Palo Cortado. The dinner finished traditionally — red fruit and ice cream with sherry vinegar was served with sticky Pedro Ximenez.

Spanish cuisine has lately enjoyed a great following thanks to the avant-garde Ferran Adria and other creative chefs. High end restaurants are great ambassadors for wines, including sweet. Representatives of leading Jerez producer Gonzalez Byass note that Spanish restaurants in London made sherry fashionable again.

Britain is a traditionally important market for sweet and fortified wines. The British have invented at least two wines in this category, Port and Marsala. The wines have suffered lately from the image of an old man’s drink, but this appears to be changing. First sherry bar was recently opened in London where high quality wines are served. Customers can taste through the main range of styles, from dry Fino to dessert Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez.

Polarisation of consumer tastes is another growing trend noted by producers.

Sherries in the mid-sweet range were in demand before, especially all variations of Cream (Pale Cream, Medium Cream). Now the preferences are for opposite styles. People choose either very dry — Fino and Manzanilla, or very sweet wines — Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel. Leading Jerez expert Jesus Barquin notes that intermediary styles of Cream have never represented a genuine class of sherry as they were created artificially to suit the market.

There is more interest in niche categories such as VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry, aging over 30 years), and vintage sherry, as well as limited release wines with collection value. Addressing the new trend, Emilio Lustau will introduce a new VORS range this year which consists of Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez, with only 1,000 bottles to be released, as well as vintage Oloroso-1997.

Dominic Symington, from Port producer Symington Family Estates, also confirms growing interest to premium drinks.

“The more expensive wines have been increasing in volume, and the standard, or the entry-level, Ports have been reducing in volume which means that the consumer is trading up”. The expert notes two categories which drive sales: 10-year Tawny Ports and premium Ruby Ports.

New destinations for mass tourism also help to create demand for sweet wines.

British bought much more fortified Madeira in the past months than before which is explained by the fact that low-cost airlines opened flights to the Madeira Island.

Waitrose, a leading supermarket chain known for a good wine selection, announced that Madeira sales increased by 20% in the past year. The range was expanded from 5 to 17 labels. A Waitrose shop in London’s financial district even sells a century-old Madeira D’Oliveiras 1910 Sercia at 250 pounds sterling.

And, finally, sweet wines were included for the Master of Wine tasting exam.

The Institute of Masters of Wine is known as the most prestigious educational institution in the wine sector. Though dessert styles are unlikely to ever reach the peak of their historic fame, this sign confirms that they are at least taken seriously again.