How do you make a sweet wine?

We have to be honest, it is the wine that we taste the least often. Very sweet, rather expensive, sweet wine is a "little pleasure" that we offer ourselves for an occasion, at the end of a meal or during the festive season.

There are several methods to elaborate it, according to the tastes, the regions, the winegrowers. Basically, it is a wine made with very ripe grapes and therefore rich in sugar. During fermentation, some of the sugars are transformed into alcohol, while the rest remains in the wine and is called residual sugars. In order to obtain a sweet wine, the fermentation is stopped when the sugar content between water and alcohol is estimated to be sufficient. For this wine to be called "sweet" its sugar content must be higher than 50 grams per litre of wine.

THE PASSERILLAGE

This technique consists in drying the grapes naturally, on the vine or on wooden racks after the harvest. The aim is that all the water present in the berry evaporates to keep only the sugars that will later be found in the wine.

BOTRYTIS

This is not a futuristic tool or device but a mushroom! The botrytis cinerea appears on several agricultural products such as vine, sunflower, tomato or strawberry. It takes on the appearance of a dust or "grey rot" that completely ravages the fruit but which can also curiously sublimate it, it is "noble rot". It is this stage that interests the winegrowers who make sweet wines.

This botrytis will bring new aromas to the grapes and not only sugar. During the harvest, the grapes will be harvested one by one with particular attention. For great liqueurs such as Sauternes, the grape berries are sorted by hand by several people in order to keep only the best, a goldsmith's work that is found at the tasting. These are the noble grains.

FORTIFIED WINES

This is the case for Banyuls, Maury, Rivesaltes Porto or Madeira. Different from the first techniques evoked here, during the alcoholic fermentation of the grapes the winemakers will add wine brandy. This stops the alcoholic fermentation and preserves some of the sugars in the wine (those that had not yet been transformed into alcohol). The high sugar content of the wines is therefore obtained through the winemaking process and not through the sugar in the grapes alone.

THE REGIONS WHERE THE SWEET WINES ARE MADE

In the Southwest:

• Aquitaine, with the following grape varieties: Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle Bergeracois, Bordeaux, Côtes de Duras, Sauternes.
• Pyrenees, with the following grape varieties: Small and large manseng Jurançon and Pacherenc-du-vic-bilh
• Gaillac, with the following vines: Mauzac and far from the eye

In Alsace:

With the following grape varieties: Riesling, pinot gris, gewurztraminer, muscat.

Alsace and Alsace grand cru selection of noble grapes

In the Loire:

Grape variety: chenin.

Anjou, Côteaux de la Loire,Bonnezeaux, Chaume, Coteaux de l'Aubance, Côteaux du Layon, Côteaux de Saumur, Jasnières, Montlouis, Quarts de Chaume and Vouvray.

In the Jura:

Grape variety: Savagnin.

Vin de paille, Côtes du Jura, l'Étoile.

AND TASTING

The syrupy wine develops aromas of honey, spices, white fruits and grapes in alcohol, candied citrus fruits (grapefruit, orange), exotic fruits, hazelnuts, almonds, toasted...

Often, old sweet wines evolve towards notes of beeswax, spices and rancio (walnut).

A good liqueur has a respected balance between sugar/acidity/alcohol. If too much sugar is present, the wine will be heavy and not very elegant, whereas a balanced acidity will bring freshness, fruitiness and a very long aromatic finish.

SOME CHORDS...

Difficult to match wines rich in sugar at the table, yet beautiful combinations are absolutely to be tested!

Starter: Fresh liver, asparagus, parma ham and melon.

Dishes: Warm foie gras with apples, pigeon with sauterne, chicken with mild Gaillac, poultry with cream and orange, Chinese, Indian or Thai cuisine.

Fish too: grilled lobster and lobsters, seafood gratin, monkfish in orange sauce, turbot with sauterne.

Cheeses and especially blue-veined pasta go very well with sweet wines such as Roquefort, Fourme d'Ambert, Bleu de Bresse or Auvergne.

Finally for dessert, a plate of exotic fruits, iced vacherin or fruit sorbets will marry perfectly.

SEE ALL SWEET WINES