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.



--
Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.
http://dwacon.blogspot.com

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.
>
>
>

Dolce is a sweet wine produced by Far Niente winery in Napa, an outfit
not known for their value pricing ;-) Dessert-type wines are generally
more expensive than table wine because they are usually made from very
ripe or dried grapes that are harder to obtain. The richest source of
sweet wines is generally considered to be Germany, but their labeling
often puts customers off. Sweeter German wines are usually labeled as
"Spätlese," "Auslese," "Trockenbeerenauslese" or "Eiswein." The last
two, however, are almost always quite expensive owing to their rarity.
One can often find less expensive Auslesen made from Scheurebe or
Sylvaner rather than the more prestigious Riesling variety.

In France, the most famous (and expensive) sweet wine is Sauternes, but
there are also Barsac, Monbazillac and Coteaux du Layon, which generally
sell for less (but are still expensive and harder to find).

The one problem with sweeter wines is that they need to have an
increasing amount of acidity to avoid coming across as sickly sweet to
most people. The better wines will have this, of course, but you run the
risk with cheaper dessert wines of getting one that is unbalanced and
cloyingly sweet. This is where having a knowledgeable retailer can pay
big dividends: they can steer you to good examples.

HTH
Mark Lipton

Jose wrote on Wed, 19 Jul 2006 22:40:15 GMT:

??>> The only question that I still have -- are these type
??>> wines [late harvest] always so expensive?

> enough to fill the bill. I recently had a late harvest
J> Viognier, which was very nice but reminded me of
J> Liebfraumilch.

Ow!

I'm glad I tend be more extravagant for electronic toys than
overpriced wines :-)

James Silverton.

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

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

On Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:18:57 -0400
"DWACON" > wrote:

> 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.

Since no one else has mentioned it, I'll just point out that your brother is
not entirely wrong to cool the wine, especially if you're in a hot climate. By
way of example Guide Hachette suggests a service temperature of ~ 42 F
for "liquoreux" (dessert wines generally).

I like them a bit chilled too, so I might do like your brother.

All this said I am unlikely to ever buy a Far Niente product...

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies

On 20 Jul 2006 02:06:57 -0700, "Lionel" >
wrote:

>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.
>
Ice wine ("Eiswien" in Germany and an official classification there)
is a " late harvest" wine in the general sense of the term, but any
winemaker that goes to the trouble required to make an ice wine is
certainly going to call it that. As you say, the grapes are left on
the vine but more than just "catching a frost" is required. The
temperature must be low enough for the grapes to freeze rock solid
before they are harvested and processed. In the processing the frozen
grapes are crushed. Only the water in the grapes actually freezes and
the frozen water (aka "ice") is trapped, allowing the other components
to drain out. Again, this is a very concentrated solution and is what
the wine is made from.

A similar (some would say identical) product can be made by simply
harvesting grapes in the normal manner, freezing them in a freezer,
and then putting them through the process described above. My
understanding that it is now illegal in the USA to label such a
product "ice wine". The only places in the USA that I am aware of that
are ever successful in producing true ice wine are New York and
Washington State. Even in the latter it is a hit or miss proposition.
I recall having read somewhere that Canada produces more ice wine than
the rest of the world combined.

Vino

Vino wrote:
> Sauternes is made
> from semillon and most German LH (although they don't use the term
> there) wines are made from riesling.

Well, the meaning of spätlese is pretty much late harvest. For the record:

spätlese = late harvest
auslese = selected late harvest
beerenauslese = selected grape late harvest
trockenbeerenauslese = selected dried (i.e., botrytised) grape LH

IIRC, Ch. St. Jean in the '70s produced a dessert wine that was labeled
with something close to the literal translation of TBA.

Mark Lipton

On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 05:01:51 GMT, Vino > wrote:

>
>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

What I meant to say was that the sugar content of the juice (harvest
brix) used to make the wine must be on the label. The sugar content of
the wine itself may also be there. Again, I am open to correction on
the legal point here.

Vino

In article >,
says...
>
>On Wed, 19 Jul 2006 18:18:57 -0400
>"DWACON" > wrote:
>
>> 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.
>
>Since no one else has mentioned it, I'll just point out that your brother is
>not entirely wrong to cool the wine, especially if you're in a hot climate.
By
>way of example Guide Hachette suggests a service temperature of ~ 42 F
>for "liquoreux" (dessert wines generally).
>
>I like them a bit chilled too, so I might do like your brother.
>
>All this said I am unlikely to ever buy a Far Niente product...
>
>-E
>--
>Emery Davis

Most folk, who appreciate a good dessert wine will chill it a fair amount.

And, Emery, what is the problem with the Far Niente products?

Hunt
>You can reply to ecom
>by removing the well known companies
>

On 20 Jul 2006 22:13:51 GMT
(Hunt) wrote:

> Most folk, who appreciate a good dessert wine will chill it a fair amount.
>
> And, Emery, what is the problem with the Far Niente products?

Hi Hunt,

No _real_ problem I suppose. I've only had (was served) a Far Niente cab
once, by someone who was far more interested in price and status than
the actual quality of it. I guess I mentally class with Opus 1, as being a
bit representative of the over-priced calcab.

Also, I can't really afford it! YMMV of course, and I bow to those with
better knowledge of this vineyard.

-E
--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies