While visiting the Finger Lakes a couple of years ago, we were
introduced to "ice wine" which tasted a lot like the Dolce you mention
here. We loved it and, if memory serves correctly, I believe it was
made by letting the grapes stay on the vines until they caught a frost
and then processing them. I've since seen ice wines in stores but I am
more a sherry fan. Canadians, have recently been exporting some to the
US.

Here is some rudimentary information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiswein

Lionel

www.vino.5thwind.com

Vino wrote:
> On Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:18:57 -0400, "DWACON" >
> wrote:
>
> >Went to the store to stock up on some wines and saw this tiny bottle of
> >white wine that went for $90 (but was on sale for $79.99). It was called
> >Dolce and labeled as "Late Harvest Wine," a descriptor that I was not
> >familiar with.
> >
> >Curiousity got the best of me and I purchased a bottle. Pleasant... but
> >incredibly sweet -- almost TOO sweet. Now, I generally prefer dry wines --
> >my older brother is the sweet wine drinker (and plunks every bottle I bring
> >to his house in a tub of ice... to my horror!) Still, I think this might be
> >a new favorite.
> >
> >Pleased that my experimentation yielded such results, I googled to find out
> >what the characteristics of late harvest wines were and what made them so
> >thick and sweet. After reading the wikipedia entry, I realized I had a
> >similar (albiet red) wine while visiting a friend in Germany.
> >
> >I was a kid at the time and my palate was not quite where it is now. All I
> >remember was that it was like drinking alcoholic Aunt Jemima syrup that made
> >the ground spin at varying angles.
> >
> >The only question that I still have -- are these type wines always so
> >expensive?
> >
> >This was the only late harvest wine in the store and the dearth of
> >knowledgeable clerks left my interrogatories unanswered. I plan on
> >searching for some other varieties and will add the occasional bottle as a
> >change of pace from my usual libational habits.
>
> "Late Harvest" ("vendage tardive" jn French) wines are made from
> grapes that are left on the vine beyond the normal, or regular,
> harvest, hence their name. Often they are allowed to develop, or are
> innoculated with, botrytis cinera, or "noble rot", a fungus that
> attacks the grape skins and perforates them, allowing the water in the
> berries to evaporate. What is left is a very concentrated solution,
> perhaps 35 brix or above, and this is what the wine is made from. The
> trick is to handle the fermentation in such a way that the sweetness
> is balanced by the other characteristics, primarily the acidity. In
> theory, a LH wine can be made with any varietal. Sauternes is made
> from semillon and most German LH (although they don't use the term
> there) wines are made from riesling.
>
> As I recall, the only legal requirement for using the term in the USA
> is that the sugar content (in brix) must be on the label. I am open to
> correction on this point, however.
>
> Vino