Dessert wine red and white, sweet, fortified, grape. Dessert wines: names

Dessert wine is a drink that has a strictly defined focus. This is evidenced even by its name.

Application rules

In life, products with speaking names are often found. This is very convenient for two reasons. Firstly, it is always clear what is at stake. And secondly, there is a guarantee against the possibility of a wrong choice. In fact, dessert wine is not supported by any international classification. Such a concept exists only in Russia. Based on the name itself, it is customary to use it as a dessert or after any dish that is one. Some people mistakenly believe that the prefix "dessert" provides for the supply of this product along with any dessert (fruits, sweets, and so on). Quite the opposite. It must be clearly remembered that dessert wine should never be served with any other dish. This is completely unacceptable. It is in itself a separate dish that does not tolerate any additives. Before use, it is necessary:

1) First cool, preferably up to 10-15 degrees.

2) Then pour into a special carafe.

3) And only after that, bring to the table complete with a set of small ("Madeira") glasses.

It is customary to drink such wine in small quantities (not more than 150 milliliters), slowly, enjoying every sip.

Product feature

In its composition, dessert wine is a product with certain characteristics. It can include any natural or fortified wine, which contains:

• sugar - from 2 to 35 percent;
• alcohol - from 12 to 17 percent.

At one time, the following wines of this category were produced in the former USSR.

Conditional classification of dessert wines in the USSR:

For such wines, special grapes are usually used . And they collect it only when the berry reaches its maximum ripeness. At this time, the amount of sugar is extremely large, which is especially important to get a really tasty drink. In addition, winemakers use various methods of pre-processing of raw materials (pulp) to improve flavor. It is usually heated, insisted, or slightly agitated. All this allows you to make a more harmonious combination of taste, color and aroma of a good wine.

Red wines

Dessert wines are divided into white and red, depending on the type of grape used. Each of them is unique in its own way. Red dessert wine is usually made from dark grape varieties. These include: Saperavi, Isabella, Cabernet and black Muscat. The finished drink has a rich red color and a pleasant characteristic aroma. This wine is a little thick and quite sweet in taste. Here, the technology of its preparation plays an important role. Ripe grapes (sometimes even slightly rotten) are harvested at the beginning of winter. After the first frosts, the water inside the berries turns into ice and the juice remains as the only liquid fraction. Then the raw materials are crushed. The resulting wort (extracted juice) is fermented and insisted on pulp (peel of berries) for three to four days. Sometimes, to achieve the best taste and color, they use short-term heating of the pulp up to 75 degrees. Then it is again cooled and passed through a press, and the wort is left to ferment for 20-30 days. After this, it remains only to add alcohol and the product can be poured into barrels. In them the wine stands for at least three years, after which it is packaged in bottles and sent for storage, and then for sale. Among the most famous dessert red wines can be distinguished "Cahors". It is better known as a church drink and is produced at the best factories of the Crimea, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Armenia.

White Liquid Dessert

By analogy, dessert white wine is made from light grape varieties. Otherwise, the process technology remains the same. Passing through all the intermediate stages, the raw material gradually turns into an amber-golden aromatic drink. The specific taste and aroma of the drink are determined by certain grape varieties (Tokai, Muscat). Many of these wines are made by prior blending. By mixing completely different wine materials, it becomes possible to obtain a unique taste, desired tone and unique bouquet. This is the difference between wines of this category from ordinary table or dry. In the CIS, the Massandra association is considered one of the largest enterprises producing such products. They produce white wine: Kokur, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Old Nectar, Tokai and others. They are distinguished by a soft harmonious taste, a characteristic aroma and a gentle, pronounced aftertaste. The wines are aged in oak barrels for at least two years. This time is enough to achieve the desired characteristics.

Talking names

Recently, dessert wines have been very popular all over the world. Names, as a rule, indicate the type of raw material or the area where a particular product is produced. For example, “Muscat” suggests that a special grape variety called White Muscat was used to make the drink. Wines "Bastardo", "Kokur" and "Pedro" have the same story. But the Golden Field wine is called the state farm, on the territory of which there are vineyards, where the famous Alicante variety grows among others. It is he who is used as raw material for this wonderful drink with a pleasant velvety aroma and a light touch of chocolate on the palate. In contrast, Tokaj is not only a grape variety, but also a city in Hungary, as well as a region where white wines are produced.

In addition, the name may be the type of drink. For example, fortified dessert products from wine production include sherry, port, marsala and madeira. Hence the names of many wines: “Crimean Sherry”, “White Port”, “Madera Massandra”. When buying such a product in a store, it immediately becomes clear which particular product is being discussed.

Golden middle

Among the wide selection, sweet dessert wines occupy a special place. They are in the approved classification that occupy an intermediate place between liquor and semisweet wines of dessert quality. This is a fairly energy-intensive product, in 100 grams of which about 160.2 kilocalories are contained. It contains virtually no fats (0%), and proteins (0.2%) and vitamins in such a small amount that it can even be ignored. At the same time, it contains many macro- and microelements, as well as B vitamins. Together with the absence of cholesterol and low sodium content, all this can be attributed to the positive properties of the product. But there are negative qualities, such as the presence of alcohol and high sugar. All this indicates a limited use of this product. Many categories of people (patients with diabetes mellitus and various gastric disorders) should use it with caution and rarely enter it into their diet. Some scientists also believe that wine in general can contribute to the development of cancer in the human body.

Interesting details

Alcohol is a product with the help of which it is produced not only vodka, whiskey, cognac, but also various kinds of tinctures and liquors. It is also one of the components used by winemakers around the world to make fortified dessert wines. This is a fairly popular type of product. As you know, all fortified wines are divided into strong and dessert drinks. Therefore, any dessert (semi-sweet, sweet or liquor) wine, in fact, is fortified. This is confirmed by production technology and the mandatory presence of alcohol. In Russia, such wines began to be made only by the end of the nineteenth century. Their appearance on the market was a real revolution in the history of domestic winemaking. What gives the product alcohol? It turns out that its introduction at the stage of fermentation of the wort is able to suspend the process. As a result, some sugar remains unfermented. Specialists have learned to control this phenomenon and get wines with a predetermined sugar and alcohol content in the finished product.

Do it yourself

It turns out that you can make dessert grape wine yourself. This will require grapes, sugar, as well as a little time and patience. The process technology is quite simple:

1. Clusters of grapes and separate the berries from the branches.
2. Place the product in a wide bowl, knead it thoroughly and leave it in this condition at normal room temperature for 4 days.
3. Squeeze out the fermented product.
4. To the resulting juice add plain water (2: 1 ratio).
5. Pour sugar in it (2.5 kilograms per 10 liters).
6. Pour the liquid into the bottles and put on each of them a rubber household glove. At first she puffed up a lot. A product is considered finished when the glove falls off. Now the wine can be filtered and tasted. If sugar is not enough, then you must do the following:

1) Pour in a separate dish part of the finished product.

2) Lightly heat it and add sugar.

3) Stir until completely dissolved.

4) Add the resulting composition to the initial mixture.

Now you just need to pour the prepared wine into clean bottles, close them tightly and leave for another 1 month. The finished product will certainly pleasantly surprise a home winemaker.