Deconstructing Dessert Wines
When a recent Santa Fe wine tasting concluded with a dessert wine, a participant remarked, “I never buy dessert wine. By the end of a meal I’ve had enough.” It was suggested the dilemma might be resolved by drinking sweet wine at the beginning of the repast—many of these wines, lively and satisfying on their own, combine wonderfully with cheese, fruit, nuts, and pâté as well as dessert. After all, one of the classic food pairings is the sweet wine of Sauternes and foie gras. New Mexicans may wish to start new holiday traditions by embracing high-desert dessert wines—with dinner.
Sweet wines are either fortified—like port, sherry, and Madeira—by adding brandy to stop fermentation and prevent yeast from consuming sugar; or vinified, enhancing the natural sweetness of grapes by harvesting late, when sugar content is highest, as in late-harvest Riesling. In New Mexico, where grapes have been cultivated since the late 1600s, many of our vintners are producing award-winning sweet wines in styles both traditional and unique.
Ports are either “ruby” or “tawny.” D.H. Lescombes, in the Mimbres Valley, makes a stellar ruby port—a lively accompaniment to Stilton or blue cheese. Partner label St. Clair Vineyards, as well as Casa Rondeña, of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, produce lighter-bodied, aged tawny varieties, ideal before dinner with mature cheddar or pecorino—and after, with pumpkin pie. Heady alone or in the company of chocolate, port can elevate any evening with its deep warmth. Black Mesa Winery, of Velarde, combines both flavors in Black Beauty, their chocolate-infused sweet red wine, a top seller. Lescombes also concocts a worldly potion called Ratafia, a fruit-based, fortified liqueur sold in hand-painted bottles. With lemon over ice, this is a bracing aperitif to share with roasted nuts in front of a fire. D.H. Lescombes, 505-546-9324; St. Clair Vineyards, 505-243-9916, stclairvineyards.com; Casa Rondeña, 505-344-5911, casarondena.com; Black Mesa Winery, 505-852-2820, blackmesawinery.com
Then there is sweet, late-harvest Riesling, with concentrated flavors of honey and apricot. La Chiripada Winery, of Dixon, makes a lush, nectar-tinged version, and Deming newcomer Luna Rossa bottles an aromatic, peach-like muscat, from a grape used to make dessert wines in many styles and regions throughout the world. Because these are rich, intensely flavored wines, pairing them with a multicourse meal of smaller portions, such as roast pork and apple compote, works best. For a first-course salad of fennel, apples, and Cabrales cheese, Albuquerque’s renowned Gruet Winery makes demi-sec—a French term meaning “half dry”—an extremely adaptable sparkler. La Chiripada Winery, 505-579-4437,
lachiripada.com; Luna Rossa, 505-544-1160, lunarossawinery.com; Gruet Winery, 505-821-0055, gruetwinery.com
There are a few spirits generally sipped solo or with sorbet, such as brandy and eau-de-vie (“water of life”), which are made from fruit. Don Quixote Distillery, New Mexico’s first and only licensed distillery, concocts exquisite handcrafted versions of pisco brandy (a traditional Chilean spirit) and eau-de-vie, as well as grappa—an unaged spirit produced from the skins and seeds of grapes. These could also double as palate cleansers after a bite of duck and hoisin sauce. How sweet is that? Don Quixote Distillery, available through Southern Wine and Spirits of New Mexico, 505-247-4186
