Just as in life, at table too, pairings – save for the occasional exception – work through affinity or contrast. When choosing a sweet wine, one usually acts through affinity. Sweet with sweet: this is the first rule to follow when choosing a wine to pair with a dessert.
The reason is physiological: if we eat a sweet mouthful and drink a sip of dry wine, we would notice the acidic and bitter components in an accentuated way, and the next mouthful would taste even sweeter. If instead we pair a sweet wine, the sugar is less evident and we will perceive the aromas better; the next mouthful of cake, moreover, will not be cloying, but enhanced by the wine.
Among the most loved and well-known Italian dessert wines is certainly Vin Santo, which deserves particular mention because it makes a fixed pairing with cantucci, but not only. Cantine Leonardo da Vinci produces Vin Santo Villa da Vinci, obtained from grapes harvested in a small hilly area in the municipality of Vinci, left to shrivel all winter before being pressed and left to rest in the characteristic caratelli, small oak barrels specifically used for sweet wines.
The Vin Santo from the Villa da Vinci collection brings out its intense aromas and rich taste.
Velvety and fresh, it is excellent at the end of a meal, especially if paired with Tuscan dry pastries, but also with creams, for example a Catalan cream that balances the acidity
of this wine.
There is a vast production of Italian dessert wines, obtained from different grape varieties.
Some main categories can be identified: sweet wines such as Moscato d’Asti or Moscato di Volpara, white, or Brachetto d’Acqui, which is a red dessert wine. These are wines with a low alcohol content, whose sweetness is inherent to the grape from which they are obtained, which is harvested at the right degree of maturity and processed in a way that leaves sugar residues in the wine. They are suitable for accompanying dry sweets, biscuits or fruit, but also hazelnut-based preparations.
Passito wines, on the other hand, such as Passito di Pantelleria, Malvasia di Lipari and Torcolato, Erbaluce di Caluso and many others, are obtained from overripe grapes, that is, left longer on the vine, or harvested and then left to shrivel on special racks and mats before being processed, to concentrate the sugars in the berries. Passito wines have a higher alcohol content and aromaticity:
they pair with richer and more aromatic sweets, such as jams or fruit, like tarts or strudel, or spiced ones like panforte. Sweet fortified wines, finally, such as Marsala,
are obtained with the addition of alcohol during fermentation: the result is a very alcoholic wine, which usually must age for a long time before being drunk.
These wines, which can also be tasted alone, are very aromatic and complex, so much so that they can support the pairing even with chocolate, usually not accompanied by wines, and also venture into the union with some aged cheese.
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