Pairings

A sweet drop
"Gastronom" №12 (47) December 2005

Dessert wines are usually served in the end of the meal.

They ideally match sweet dishes or even replace them. But to leave these wines only for the end means to deprive you of many other gastronomic pleasures.

The level of sweetness of dessert wines is different. That is why they can pair well with starters and main courses, too.

For aperitif wines with little sugar content are offered. Suitable options are light German Rieslings from Mosel, sparkling frizzante and spumante from Italy. The note of sweetness in them is balanced by bright acidity. Such wines refresh and do a good job of opening a meal. If the menu features Japanese or Chinese dishes, the guests can be offered sour-sweet plum wine. It can also be transformed in aperitif cocktails — with tonic or soda.

Semisweet and sweet wines go well with cold and hot meat starters. Some matches, such as foie gras and Sauternes, have become classic. By the way, in France foie gras is produced not only in the South-West, but also in Alsace, where it is traditionally served with sweet late harvested Riesling. Hungary is another country in which goose liver is the object of culinary pride. The Hungarians have it with the best dessert wine from Tokaj.

Rich meat pates only benefit from the presence of sweet wines. Especially pleasant are combinations with the Loire wines — Vouvray and Coteaux du Layon made of Chenin Blanc grapes. It is a common point of view that meat pates reach ideal harmony of taste with Alsatian wines Vendange Tardive, from Riesling, Gewurztraminer or Pinot Gris.

In Veneto they can offer semisweet sparkling prosecco for cold meat cuts. The Italians are convinced that this light wine with apple and pear flavours has no equals when it is paired with mortadella sausage.

Dessert wines can suit main meat dishes, if the latter have elements of sweetness — such as fruit stuffing or sauce. Such dishes can be matched by naturally-semisweet red wines of Georgia. Another well known for us pairing of Georgian wines is with barbequed meat.

Only semisweet wines successfully manage a complex array of flavours in Asian dishes and fusion cuisine. For that you need to choose wines with good acidity — Riesling, Chenin Blanc. The sweetness of German auslese Rieslings highlights dishes with coconut milk. Exotic notes of litchis and spices in Alsatian Gewurztraminer beautifully match with flavours of Asian dishes. Light versions of Riesling go well with sushi. Plum wines logically continue sour and sweet taste of Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

Cheese plates are served with red dry wines, but there are exceptions from the rule. Ripe hard cheeses such as Cheddar pair nicely with lighter styles of port. Salty blue cheeses — Roquefort, Fourme d’Amber, Stilton — make great combinations with several dessert wines. Roquefort and Sauternes, Stilton and port are classic examples. Blue cheeses with mild flavours are better served with Chenin Blanc and Riesling. For sharper tasting cheeses the choice should lie with port and fortified wines of the southern France, such as Banyuls, Maury, Rasteau.

Pairings of chocolate and dessert wines are also varied. Suitable companions for white are aromatic wines Moscato d’Asti and Moscato di Pantelleria from Italy and Muscat de Beaume-de-Venise from France.

Milk chocolate can be highlighted by French Sauternes, German Riesling auslese, Italian vin santo. Bitter chocolate demands strong sweet fortified wines, such as vintage port, Madera, Banyuls or Marsala.

Quite naturally, sweet wines are most often served with desserts. The simplest pairings are fresh fruit and semisweet wines with refreshing acidity, such as Italian asti. For fruit and fruit mousses one can successfully serve French semisweet white wines from the Loire Valley, German Riesling spatlese. If it is a special celebration, guests can be offered strawberries and cream and demi-sec champagne.

Rich fruit cakes and pies require intense wines. A worthy choice are the Vouvray wines from the Louir, Bordeaux Sauternes, German and Austrian beerenauslese. The famous French dessert tarte tatin of caramelized apples which was first made in the Loire, ideally goes with the local Quarts de Chaume. In Tuscany hard cantucci biscuits are traditionally dipped in sweet vin santo. A renowned Hungarian dessert — crepes with filling of nuts and raisins and chocolate sauce — makes a brilliant pairing with Tokaji Aszu.

Sweet wines are often served instead of desserts. It is especially true of such rarities as German and Canadian ice wines, Alsatian Selection de grains nobles, Austrian and German trockenbeerenauslese, aged French Sauternes. Their flavours are so refined and noble, that desserts seem inappropriate in their company.