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Sweet Wines for Valentines

SWEET WINES FOR VALENTINES
better than chocolates, more clever than roses

Have you been around the Valentines block and back again bearing the same, tired box of chocolates and dozen red roses?

Guys, have you bought so many little trinkets and baubles and dinners out that they just don't mean anything anymore?

Ladies, have you given him every conceivable romantic version of golf stuff, cute boxers, silk ties, and yourself all dolled up?

It's past time to do something different; something special that you will both enjoy now and in the future, and that can be loaded with so much more meaning. Something unique that tells them you care, and that you took the time to think of something different this year.

This Valentines, give a bottle of great sweet wine.

Not sweet wine like wine that is sweetish and cloying and kind of awful. Not, say, a bottle of Blue Nun (not that there's anything wrong with that). But a bottle of world-class dessert wine, the finest of which are as rare as a yellow diamond and can age for decades.

Don't know a thing about dessert wines? Don't panic. You probably know more than you think, and even if you don't, you're about to find out and it's going to be painless.

Most wine producing countries produce some version of dessert wine, and each can be as different as the culture they come from. Perhaps you have heard of the great Sauternes wines from France? Port from Portugal? Tokaji from Hungary? Ice Wine from Austria? These are but a few examples.

In general, dessert wines are created by using grapes that have been left to hang on the vines until very late in the season (which is why you will also see them called "late harvest wines"). Depending upon the climate, these grapes are then either harvested and laid out to air dry on straw or reed mats, or they have been affected by the noble fungus "botrytis cinerea" (aka "noble rot"), or they freeze and are harvested while still frozen to create Ice Wine.

Straw or reed wines are usually made from grapes that are healthy when harvested, and are then laid out to air dry on the mats for at least three months. In Italy, these wines are called Vin Santo. In Austria, they are called Strohwein or Schilfwein. Because the grapes are healthy at harvest (that is, not affected by the noble rot) they are a bit like an Ice Wine in their taste.

Wines made from grapes that have been affected by noble rot are quite rare because it takes a very special set of climatic conditions to produce them. It must be a warm summer, a mild autumn, and there must be moisture in the form of mists or fog that rolls over the vineyards from a nearby lake or river. For the noble wines from France (Sauternes) and Germany, these conditions do not occur every year. In Austria, there is an area called the Burgenland region around the Neusiedler Lake that creates nobly rotted grapes every year. These wines require several pickings at harvest time, and in Germany and Austria these different harvests produce wines that are different levels of sweetness, the lesser being called Beerenauslese, and the sweeter being called Trockenbeerenauslese. In Austria and Hungary, there is then an even sweeter wine called Ausbruch, which is so labor intensive and rare that a half bottle can cost thousands of dollars. However, there are many Ausbruch wines from the town of Rust (called Ruster Ausbruch) that are ranked as among the best in the world and can be bought for between $30 and upwards for a half-bottle. Two producers of these Ruster Ausbruch wines to look for are Wenzel and Feiler-Artinger. Great producers of other noble sweet wines include Chateau d'Yquem and Chateau Climens (both from France) and Kracher, Velich, and Heiss (from Austria).

True Ice Wines are made when the grapes freeze on the vine, and are harvested while still frozen. Some producers in countries with less strict wine laws create "Ice Wines" by tossing the grapes into a commercial freezer, but these are not seriously considered to be world class. The best true Ice Wines come from Germany, Austria (where they are called Eiswein) and Canada. A particularly great Eiswein for Valentines day would be one made from the Traminer grape, as it is known for having aromas of roses and rosewood. A fine example would be the Heiss Eiswein Traminer 2001, which is truly like having a bouquet of roses in your wineglass.

The final thing that makes giving a great bottle of dessert wine for Valentines a meaningful gift is the way that it speaks to your future together. The best of these wines can be put away to cellar for 10, 20, even 50 years. How wonderful to give your beloved a half-case of six of these wines, one to enjoy right away and the rest to open, say, one every ten years? What other gift can keep on creating beautiful moments like this can? What other gift says I love you and I will be there for you as we travel through this life together? Not a bunch of flowers, which may last a week if you're lucky. Not a piece of clothing or anything of that ilk. And not a piece of jewelry, which may last, but isn't something you keep enjoying together as time goes by. This is the year to do something different. This is the year of sweet wines for Valentines.

About the Author

Emily Schindler is a fine wine importer based in Los Angeles. You can find more of her wine writing, as well as world-class dessert wines, at http://www.winemonger.com

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After writing all this matter on Wine Guide , we have undergone a sense of a gratification on its completion. If this information is utilized, we will feel even better.

Today's Wine Guide Article

Wine Glasses Are Not The End Of The World

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Perhaps one of the most troubling problems which usually occurs that takes the enjoyment out of having a glass of wine is when even though your glasses are clean, look very foggy. We have all encountered it at one time or another and probably all can agree that there is something detracting about a foggy wine glass. Before you decide to throw out your glasses or invest in a set of inexpensive ones with the thought that fogging is inevitable so you might as well be ready to throw them away when the time comes, there are a few things that you can do to prevent fogging and bring back the glorious sparkle and shine to foggy glasses that you remember from when they were first purchased.

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I know that some think that it's perfectly all right to put wine glasses in the dishwasher, and some machines even have special sections on the top rack to hold wine glass stems in place. We all know that crystal should never be put in the dishwasher, so I assume said stem holders are for everyday glasses. My dishwasher has them and I still won't use it to wash wine glasses. Why? There are two main reasons for this, the first is that dishwasher detergent tends to be a lot more harsh and abrasive and can etch your wine glasses making it fog with repeated washing, and second is that the temperature in a dishwasher can become so hot that it can actually cause a glass to crack.

With that being said, when washing wine glasses by hand the best method is actually quite simple, especially since you should be able to simply rinse out yours glasses to clean them. First, it is important to remember to use lukewarm water and not hot water. Abrasive cleaning agents should be avoided at all costs; and if you feel the need to use soap it is best to only use mild liquid dish soap. Remember to never use hard scrubbing sponges and cloths and to rinse the glasses thoroughly or the soap will leave a film deposit which will fog with build up and time and thus defeats the purpose of taking care when washing your glasses.

If you have taken care of your glasses and hand-washed them and still find they are starting to fog, there is still something you can do. Soak the foggy glasses in straight white vinegar for two to three hours. Then wash with warm water and mild liquid dish soap and repeat the soaking process if necessary to remove the remaining residue. It might be a bit of a time consuming process, but it will be worth it in the end when you have sparkling glasses that look beautiful!

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