Dessert wines are the best-kept secret of wine. They have a unique personality and very particular methods of production. Discover the three dessert wines and their characteristics: 

This is a wine made from frozen grapes with a strong concentration of sugar. The technique to achieve this grape involves letting it over-ripen and harvesting it until the first frost occurs. 

When the grape freezes, the water expands and breaks its skin. Thus, more water is lost and the sugar is more concentrated.

Ice wines have an extraordinary aromatic richness due to their concentration and have an unusual acidity. They are fresh, medium-high bodied, with a long and persistent finish. Sommelier Tere Delgado recommends serving them between 8 and 10ºC, preferably young, and pairing them with ice creams, mousses, and cheesecakes for sweetness, as well as with aged cheeses with intense flavors. 

These wines are expensive due to their production process, requiring 4 to 5 times more grapes than a regular wine, and are hand-harvested.

This is a fungus that affects vegetables, flowers, and fruits, but in grapes, it results in something beneficial for the wine. This fungus intensifies the sweetness of the grape by dehydrating them. Its must is more viscous and sweet, with a hint of beeswax and ginger.

These are sweet wines produced by leaving the grape on the vine longer to begin dehydrating, thus concentrating its sugar.

These wines have so much sugar that the yeasts used during fermentation cannot convert all of it into alcohol.

Generally, white grapes are used for their production; however, red grapes can also be used. They are much thicker than regular white wines. Their color is almost always an intense golden tone. Their aromas, while dependent on each varietal, tend to be floral and fruity.

Generally, late harvest wines are a bit more expensive than other sweet wines, as more grapes are needed to produce a liter of wine. Approximately, what were 1,000 kg of grapes at their ideal harvest time is reduced to 550 kg after over-ripening, which after pressing only produces 300 liters of sweet wine. These are much thicker than any ordinary wine.

Source: Tere Delgado, sommelier of Vinos y Maz Club