January 2006

Seriously Sticky Stuff

By: Charlie Hardie (Cellar Master at Browns of Rivonia)

South Africa has a long association with dessert wines. In fact, Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance had praise heaped upon it in the writings of Jane Austen & Charles Dickens. There are basically 2 styles of dessert wines in this country, the most familiar style is the Noble Late Harvest. These are grapes that are left to hang on the vine and are attacked by a fungus, Botrytis Cinerea, which shrivels the grape and concentrates the sugars. The resultant wine is sweet and earthy with balanced acids.

The other style is called a Natural Sweet Wine, which means that the healthy grapes stay on the vine longer to ripen and are naturally high in sugar. Consequently you get a wine that is sweeter and somehow purer. Whatever your preference, these wines are a connoisseur’s delight and complete the dining experience.

Visit Browns of Rivonia to sample their extensive selection of these intriguing wines with a cheese platter or a decadent dessert.