Sweet Wines for Sweethearts
Port, Passito, Icewine, and more! 5 superb sweet wines for Valentine's Day.
As I pondered which wines to recommend for Valentine’s Day, I remembered how much my significant other and I recently enjoyed an excellent bottle of Isole e Olena Vin Santo del Chianti Classico as a nightcap. Sweet wines often get a bad rap and are mistakenly characterized as less sophisticated and complex. What a shame! Some of the finest wines in the world are unabashedly sweet, their sugary nature balanced by vibrant acidity so they are not treacly or cloying.
And don’t let their sweetness trick you into thinking that these wines are quick and easy to make. My five suggested sips include a wine made from frozen grapes harvested in brutally cold conditions and another made from grapes slowly dried under the Mediterranean sun. Please note the wines listed below are half-bottles (375 ml); a little bit goes a long way with these quality sweet wines.
In an increasingly bitter world, couldn’t we all use a little more sweetness? Happy Valentine’s Day!
Isole e Olena Vin Santo del Chianti Classico 2011
Tuscany, Italy
$85
This sublime sweet wine is crafted from Malvasia and Trebbiano grapes that were dried on straw mats for 3 months before being gently pressed and aged in caratelli (small wooden kegs) for a leisurely 11 years. The delicious result is a beguiling, amber-hued wine with rich apricot, honey, candied orange peel, and nut flavors.
Donnafugata Ben Ryé Passito di Pantelleria 2021
Sicily, Italy
$52
I’ll never forget my visit to the seductive island of Pantelleria with the Donnafugata winery team. Known as the black pearl of the Mediterranean, Pantelleria is a volcanic island located between Sicily and Africa — on a clear day, you can see Tunisia! The name Ben Ryé is inspired by the Arabic term “son of the wind” because the wind constantly sweeps around the grape clusters on Pantelleria.
Ben Ryé is an award-winning sweet wine made from Zibibbo grapes, which were naturally dried in the sun and wind for several weeks to concentrate their sugars and flavors. Hints of hazelnuts, Mediterranean herbs, and vibrant acidity balance rich flavors of apricot, figs, orange zest, and honey.
Barboursville Vineyards Paxxito 2021
Barboursville, Virginia
$40
Winemaker Luca Paschina was inspired by the sweet wines of his native Italy when he created the award-winning Paxxito in Virginia. Paschina applied the Passito method and air-dried Moscato Ottonel and Vidal grapes to create a luscious sweet elixir. And because the grapes were harvested young, Paxxito has a lively acidity that uplifts its tropical fruit, apricot, pineapple, pear, honey, and almond flavors. A taste of la dolce vita with a Virginia twist!
Inniskillin Vidal Gold Icewine 2022
Ontario, Canada
$75
Has anyone considered making icewine production a category in the Winter Olympics? Inspired by traditional German icewines, the team at Inniskillin displays impressive skill and endurance when they harvest rock-hard frozen grapes at their Canadian estate in December and January, when temperatures dip to around -10°C. But it’s worth it - pressing the frozen grapes extracts small amounts of sweet juice from the fully-ripened fruit. The thick-skinned Vidal grape is hardy enough to withstand extreme cold and also produces a lively, elegant, sweet wine with sunny flavors of apricot and citrus, accentuated by sultry hints of spice.
Warre’s Otima 10-Year-Old Tawny Port
Douro, Portugal
$27
Founded in 1670, Warre’s was the first British Port company established in Portugal, and their Otima 10-Year-Old Tawny is a tasty introduction to port and the fortified wine category. Once the grape must was fermented to the desired level of sweetness, it was fortified with grape brandy to halt fermentation and preserve the delicious natural sugars.
A blend of wines from several harvests that have aged for an extended period in oak, Otima’s 10-year age indication refers to the average age of the component wines. As the wines matured in wood, they gradually shed their deep ruby color and developed a charming tawny hue. The result is a pretty and sweet wine that is both fresh and nuanced, with satisfying flavors of dried fruits and nuts.