Sweeten your wine sales.

02 December 2021 - Justin Sims

The dessert and sweet fortified wine categories are probably the most overlooked within the on-trade, often resembling an afterthought on a wine list rather than a worthwhile addition to compliment or round off a meal. As new wine drinkers drive the desire to experiment with their wine choices, whether at home or when they eat out, there’s an opportunity to bring some of these great wines to their attention and gain incremental sales.

Presenting Sweet Wines to your Customers

One of the benefits of serving sweet wines is that they have a much longer drinking window than dry wines once they’ve been opened, so they’re ideal to offer by the glass. The high sugar levels help to slow down oxidation and sweet fortified wines like tawny port, which are made in an oxidative way, can last up to 2 months once opened.

Due to the way many dessert wines are made and the limited quantities produced, they’re bottled in smaller formats from 50cl down to 18.7cl, with half bottles (37.5cl) being the most widely used. This is another benefit to the on-trade as it enables a quicker turnover of stock.

The ideal serving measure for dessert and fortified wines is 75ml and there’s no shortage of glassware that accommodates this, but larger measures could equally be offered, especially if it’s a lighter sweet wine like a sparkling Moscato.

Rather than lose your dessert wine options at the back end of your wine list, why not feature them with your desserts on the menu and even offer a set price for say a cheese platter with a nominated glass of port or dessert wine. It’s also worth offering the wine or port on its own, as one of the dessert options, as it can make a great talking point at the end of the meal.

Classic pairings

There’s a golden rule when it comes to sweet wine pairings and that is make sure the dish doesn’t overpower the wine in terms of sweetness or flavour. More often than not, a sweet wine will pair just as well or better with something savoury so it’s worth keeping this in mind too. For a little inspiration, here are some of our favourite pairings:

Moscato d’Asti & Christmas Cake

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Lightly sparkling and naturally low in alcohol (usually around 5%), Moscato d’Asti is the gluggable sweetie from Italy’s Piedmont region. Araldica make a fab example under their Alasia label which has the ideal balance between grapey sweetness and energetic freshness. It’s a Christmas staple as it pairs perfectly with Italian Christmas cakes like panettone and pandoro. It also works with warm, light sponges and fresh fruit tarts that haven’t been over-sweetened.

Sauternes & Crème Caramel

One of the richest dessert wines affected by the famous ‘noble rot’ or botrytis, Sauternes is a classic dessert wine from the Bordeaux region of France. Noble rot is a natural fungus that thrives in humid conditions, attacking the skins of the grapes and causing them to shrivel to raisins. These raisined grapes are picked by hand over several different trips through the vineyards and the nectar is squeezed out to make lusciously sweet wines with an amazing golden colour. Ginestet’s Sauternesis a great value wine in a handy 50cl bottle that pairs brilliantly with crème caramel or crème brûlée as well as with Roquefort and Saint Agur cheeses. It’s also highly popular with rich pâtés.

Port & Stilton

Another Christmas indulgence is Ruby-style Port and good quality Stilton like Colston Bassett or Cropwell Bishop. Ruby Ports are essentially young Vintage Ports that have done most of their ageing in bottle rather than in cask. Taylor’s are one of the most famous family houses in the Douro and are the market leaders in the UK for Late Bottled Vintage Port (LBV). This along with their Fine Ruby Port make ideal partners for blue cheese but the LBV can also pair with chocolate and berry desserts. The key difference between these two styles of port is ageing. Fine Ruby spends around 2 years in large oak vats while LBV spends between 4-6 years maturing. Both can be enjoyed straight from the bottle without the need to decant.

Tawny Port & Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter

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The alter ego to Vintage Ports, Tawny Ports achieve their colour and intense nutty flavours through extended ageing in cask as opposed to bottle and are much more mellow by the time they’re bottled. The age on the label references the average age of the ports in the blend, so there will be some older ports as well as younger but it’s indicative of the style. Taylor’s 10 Year Old is the best-selling 10 year-old tawny in the UK market and makes a great combination with a chocolate torte as well as with a plate of walnuts or roasted almonds. Their 20 Year Old has the intensity and complexity to stand up to Christmas Pudding and can even handle brandy butter, which is notoriously difficult with other sweet wines.

The festive period is a key time when dessert wines and fortified wines are consumed. And this year, of all years will see consumers really letting their hair down, so don’t miss out on this golden opportunity to upsell and sweeten your punters! If you’d like more information on our dessert and fortified wines, please get in touch.