Sweet Afton Vin de Baies Glacees

Leave it to me, CPA Mom, to do the extra credit first. Tonight, my husband "HP" and I tried a new dessert wine: a 2005 Monticello Table Wine ("made from grapes frozen after harvest"). In the interest of "keeping it real" I made a delicious Blueberry Streusel Cobbler to accompany the dessert wine. Just for research purposes, of course (Karla, this dessert is "to-die for" good. Heaven on a plate. Thanks for the recipe).

A little research about dessert wines for those who have not indulged: (IWG) Any wine greater than 17% and less than 24% alcohol content is classified as a dessert wine in the USA. This would also be a fortified wine. Dessert wines can vary from dry to very sweet as well as be fortified. In a general context, the term dessert wines is also used to describe a sweet or very sweet wine of any alcohol level that is served at the end of a meal.

We had purchased the wine (2005 Sweet Afton Monticello (Muscat of Alexandria, Gewurztraminer) 375ml, $20.00) at our last local wine festival. I consider myself to be somewhat of a connoisseur of dessert wines as invariably, Riesling wine is the driest wine I will typically imbibe in.

This wine, failed to live up the the sweet expectations set by the blueberry dessert. We both thought the wine had a bitter taste to it - I swear I tasted licorice. It was thicker than your normal white wine, tending towards the Late Harvest varieties that I love, but it was still less than satisfying. I doubt we would buy it again. But if you are a person who dislikes intensely sweet dessert wines, this would be a good one for you to try.