Sweet White Wine

Sweet white wines are made all over the world, from the famous Tokajis of Hungary to the historic Vin de Constance of South Africa. Among the most renowned are the Sauternes of Bordeaux, where production harnesses the so-called ‘noble rot’, or botrytis, of the grapes to concentrate the sugars and deliver a wonderfully intense sweetness. France’s other great haven for ‘stickies’ is the Loire Valley, where similar late-harvest techniques are employed, notably in such appellations as Coteaux de Layon and Vouvray. In Germany, meanwhile, Riesling is harnessed to yield wonderfully light, delicate wines, often by stopping the fermentation midway through, before all the sugar is converted to alcohol, thereby producing not just a captivating sweetness, but a lower level of alcohol.