Best Halloween Wines: From Mulled to Bloody Bottles
As the grapevine leaves turn golden and the air takes on a crisp chill, the time for Halloween festivities draws near. While ghouls and goblins prepare their costumes, wine enthusiasts embark on a quest for the best Halloween wines to delight their guests. The best Halloween wines are Port for chocolate lovers, fortified sweet dessert […]
10 Types of Fortified Wine
Trying to figure out fortified wine types? These wines have a storied place in wine history and in your glass! There are 10 well-known types of fortified wines: Sherry, Port, Madeira, Vin Doux Naturel, Vermouth, Marsala, Commandaria, Pineau des Charentes, Malaga, and Rutherglen Muscat. Fortified wines come in two styles: sweet or dry. Comparing fortified […]
Fortified vs Unfortified Wine: What’s the Difference?
You’ve heard of fortified wines before, but just how are they different from regular table wines? Fortified wines have distilled spirits added during the winemaking process and are higher in alcohol than unfortified wines, often 17%+ versus 11%-15% abv for traditional wine. No additional alcohol is added to unfortified wines. Both fortified and unfortified wines […]
Which White Wine Is Sweet: 14 Great Options
Individual tastes in wine are, well, individual. One of the enduring challenges when it comes to buying wine is that you have no idea what’s in the bottle if you’re new to wine. Here to help. There are sweet white wines like Liebfraumilch, Moscato d’Asti, Riesling, and Demi-sec Vouvray. Late harvest Riesling, Icewine, Sauternes, Passito […]
What Is a Good Sweet Wine for Beginners?
New wine drinkers figure out pretty quickly that the liquid in their wine glass doesn’t taste anything like grape juice. Good sweet wines for beginners include: Moscato d’Asti, White Zinfandel, Cabernet d’Anjou, off-dry Riesling, Vin Doux Naturel, Demi-Sec and Doux Champagne, Port, and Sauternes. Wines come in a range of sweetness levels, so you have […]
What’s the Bitter Taste After Wine?
It’s an unpleasant surprise to sniff a rich bouquet of fruits in your glass of wine and take a confident sip that delivers an intensive burst of flavor, only to have a nasty bitterness settle in your mouth. What’s going on? Why’s your wine bitter? If you taste bitterness after you swallow a sip of […]
What Is Vin Doux Naturel Wine?
Sweet wines have something of a tarnished reputation in today’s popular drinking culture. Perhaps it’s an unfortunate hangover from the cheap sweet plonk that flooded the markets in the ‘70s and ‘80s. But not all sweet wines should be so easily dismissed. Vin doux naturel, or ‘natural sweet wine’, is a traditional sweet wine from […]