Author: Dirk Chan
Many of us pair food and wine together, and I often find that the most stunning pairing of the evening can be the last course: dessert. Stickies, or sweet dessert wines are often relegated or dismissed when it comes to food & wine pairing and that is an opportunity lost for discovery. I have a sweet tooth myself, and often this is the first thing I pair up when planning a dinner menu. You don’t have to go to great lengths with this, sometimes a dessert wine like French Sauterne can be dessert all by itself, to be sipped with some blue cheese. There are the usual pairings: Ruby Port and Stilton and assorted nuts, Tawny Port and Creme Brulee but here a few of my true and tried favourites: Sauterne and a ripe Phillipino mango, Callibaut chocolate fondue and Tannat, Chenin Blanc and fruit flan or fruit salad,
Crepe Suzette and Vin Santo, Ice Cider and Granny Smith tart, Fresh Strawberries and Moscato d’Asti or a fresh peach with Canadian Ice Wine. Experimentation is the way to go, just remember the golden rule that your dessert wine should be sweeter than your dessert. It could be the culmination of a great evening!
- 1999 Warre’s Late Bottle Vintage Port (Douro, Portugal) – $39.99
- Quinta do Portal 10 Year Old Tawy (Douro, Portugal) – $49.99
- 2005 Chateau Roumieu – 375mL (Sauterne, France) – $23.99
- 2005 Pisano EtXe Oneko Tannat Liqueur – 375mL (Progreso, Uruguay) – $31.99
- 2007 Château Princé (Coteaux de l’Aubance, France) – $28.99
- 2000 Isole e Olena Vin Santo – 375mL (Tuscany, Italy) – $54.99
- 2007 Domaine Pinnacle Sparkling Ice Cider – 375mL (Niagara, Ontario) – $32.99
- 2006 La Spinetta Bricco Quaglia Moscato d’Asti (Piedmont, Italy) – $24.49
- 2006 Inniskillin Vidal Icewine – 375mL (Niagara, Ontario) – $59.99