La Vino Dolce

I’ve been trying to put together another article about one of my favorite dessert wines, but my day job has gotten in the way of that. I do want to publish something, so I’ve put together another sweet wine news roundup for you. I like this article format, so I might make it a regular occurrence on the site. It gives me a chance to research and to keep abreast of what’s going on in the sweet wine world.

Without further ado, here are the interesting articles I found this week;

• Leah Koenig discovers that Austria makes a lot more than just Gruner Veltliner. Like its neighbor, Germany, Austria makes some amazing sweet wines. Many of these wines are made in the province of Burgenland and are affected with noble rot. If you’re familiar with Germany’s sweet wines, Austria’s use of similar terminology should help guide your explorations.

• Another up and coming area for dessert wine production is located in one of America’s original 13 Colonies; New York State. “Up and Coming” is a bit of a misnomer, as people have been making wine in the Finger Lakes Region since the early 1800s. That said, only recently has the area become known for its amazing sweet wines. A local website takes a look at some reasonably priced selections from Standing Stone Vineyards while the New York Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua held an Ice Wine Tasting last Saturday as part of the Fourth Annual nICE Festival.

• Sticking with the American sweet wine theme, you should also know that some of Virginia’s wineries are making good sweet wine. One Charlottesville restaurant and food blogger recently visited Barboursville Vineyards (great website!) and discovered they make a delicious and reasonably priced passito-styled dessert wine called the Maxlavio Passito. Passito-style wine making involves drying the grapes on straw mats as a way to concentrate their sugars and was probably invented in ancient Carthage. The most renowned (and expensive) style of passito dessert wine is Tuscany’s Vin Santo, while Amarone della Valpolicella is a famous passito wine that’s fermented dry. Before dropping $100+ on a 1/2 bottle of Vin Santo, perhaps you should try the offering from Barboursville?

• Finally, wine blogger Meg Tiffany takes a look at a fad that I really hope dies a quick and painful death: Chocolate Wine. Ms. Tiffany is a lot more kind than I would be if I ever actually reviewed this product.