The Wines Behind the Candy

A wide range of wines to try with your favorite sweets

Posted: October 31, 2002

		Wine and Candy Challenge It's scary how well wine and candy can go together

For our Halloween tasting, we selected a wide variety of wines to try with candy, ranging from a dry white St.-Joseph to a sweet, nutty Madeira. Here is a rundown of each style we tried, with a few recently reviewed examples.

-- Alison Napjus


Chilean Chardonnay

Chardonnay, probably the most well-known white wine grape, is made in a wide variety of styles in many wine-producing areas. Malolactic fermentation and oak fermentation and/or aging are frequently used techniques that have a notable effect on the finished wines. Many of Chile's top Chardonnays undergo these treatments, resulting in smooth wines that integrate white fruit flavors with toast and spice notes.

Sauvignon Blanc from Sancerre

The Loire Valley, in France, produces some of the world's best Sauvignon Blancs, hidden behind the names of the region's appellations, including Sancerre. While the grape is identical to its New World counterparts from New Zealand and California, Sancerres are typically less fruit-forward, with more prevalent herbal and mineral notes.

White St.-Joseph

St.-Joseph is an appellation in the northern part of France's Rhône Valley that is best-known for its red wines. However, about 10 percent of the area's production is white wine, made from the Marsanne and Roussanne grapes. These whites are typically dry and medium- to full-bodied.

German Eiswein

Eiswein (the German term for "ice wine") can be made in many wine-producing areas, but the best-known examples come from Germany. Each year, winemakers leave a small portion of their grapes on the vines, waiting for the first frost. When it arrives, they act quickly, harvesting the grapes while frozen. The grapes are also pressed while still frozen, leaving most of the water behind with the skins of the grape. The result is an unctuous wine with extremely concentrated flavors.

Madeira

These fortified wines come from the island of Madeira, off the coast of Portugal. A variety of techniques are used to continuously heat the wine for three months or more, resulting in an array of rich flavors. This slow "cooking" process also contributes to Madeira's ageability -- it is an extremely long-lived style of wine, and even an opened bottle will retain its flavors almost indefinitely.

Oloroso Sherry

Sherry is a fortified wine produced in the Andalusia region of southwestern Spain. A system of fractional blending, known as solera, is used to make the wine. In the solera system, a portion of Sherry from the oldest cask in the cellar is drawn off and replaced with Sherry from the next oldest cask, which is replaced with Sherry from the next oldest cask, and so on. While a small number of Sherries labeled "oloroso" are dry wines, the majority are dessert-style wines ranging from off-dry to very sweet.