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  |  Drinks  |  Wine, champagne & spirits  |  Choosing a sweet wine
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Choosing a sweet wine

by Alice King

question
My girlfriend only seems to like sweet white wines. I myself only drink red and have no experience of whites except for the dry variety. I was wondering if you could recommend any sweet whites to me?

answer
You've got lots of lusciously sweet tasty treats in store! There are plenty of really good sweet wines available now. The key to a good-quality sweet wine is that it has intense, sticky sweet fruit balanced by an aftertaste with a kick of citrus-like acidity.

In a supermarket, these rich, sweet wines will be termed anything from 5 to 9 on the 1-9 sweetness scale, where 1 denotes the driest wine – look on the back labels.

While Sauternes is the most famous French sweet white, there are lots of others that are similar in style but much better value. Look out for Barsac from Bordeaux, Coteaux du Layon and Vouray from the Loire Valley, and the rich raisin-like Muscat de Beaumes de Venise from the sunny South of France.

If you prefer New World wines, look out for the words "Late Harvest" on the label. One of the best I've tasted recently is Brown Brothers Late Harvest Muscat which is around £6 a bottle at Tesco.

Hope the girlfriend approves!

Alice

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