Dessert wines are wonderful additions to dinner parties and festive occasions. The sweetness and acidity of these wines complement desserts very well. Let’s find out which is the best Spanish dessert wine that you can serve with your pudding at the next dinner party.
Since Pedro Ximénez is a sweet and luscious wine, a glass of this dessert wine is often served as dessert itself!
A dessert wine is a type of sweet wine that’s served along with a dessert. It’s a wine with high sugar and high alcohol levels. It isn’t as popular as its less sweet counterparts, mainly because not many bother to have wine with dessert. We often resort to a dessert and coffee combination, but the actual combination is that of wine and dessert.
A dessert wine accentuates the flavors of the dessert, thereby, enhancing the whole dessert-eating experience. When pairing wine with desserts, it’s important to remember this golden rule: “the wine must always be sweeter than the dessert.” If the wine is not sweeter, it’s going to be overshadowed by the sweetness of the dessert and will taste bland.
Moreover, the flavor intensity of the wine and dessert should complement each other. Spain is known for some of the finest varieties produced across the globe. Pedro Ximénez, Málaga, and Moscatel are the most popular Spanish dessert wines, of which Pedro Ximénez is the most famous one.
Pedro Ximénez: Best Spanish Dessert Wine
Pedro Ximénez (PX) is the King of Spanish sweet wines, and is the sweetest and most famous one. This Spanish sherry wine is produced in Southern Spain, also known as the ‘Sherry Triangle.’ This fortified wine is regarded as one of the sweetest wines in the world. It’s prepared from Pedro Ximénez grapes that have been dried under the Spanish sun, before being pressed to produce the world-famous dark, sweet, syrupy, and inky wine.
Since the grapes were raisinated before pressing, the wine produced is richer, sweeter, and syrupy. After fermentation, the wine is then fortified. The flavors are intensely concentrated, with flavors and aromas of figs, dates, raisins, toffee, caramel, chocolate, dried fruit, and even a dash of mocha. These overtones make PX taste wonderfully rich and complex. Once it hits your palate, you’re hit with an immensely fragrant and fruity wine that simply soothes your taste buds!
Pedro Ximénez and Desserts
When paired with desserts, it is always the sweeter of the two. If paired with a dessert sweeter than itself, PX can taste bland, flat, and thin. So, be careful! Here are a few pairing suggestions that you can try out!
With Vanilla Ice Cream
In southern Spain, PX is often poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoyed as dessert. The lovely caramel, toffee, and orange overtones of PX complement the simple, yet elegant flavor of vanilla. However, just because it complements vanilla ice cream well, doesn’t mean it can be likened to molasses. PX is an exquisite dessert wine appreciated by wine aficionados across the globe. You can add some dark chocolate shavings to the treat, to make it even more tantalizing! It can also be served with other flavors of ice cream, like caramel and chocolate. However, avoid the fruit-based ones. Moreover, you needn’t always pour the wine over the ice cream; you can sip it along as well.
With Christmas Cake
Now that you’ve learned so much about this wine, you simply have to serve it this Christmas. In fact, everything about PX screams Christmas; its figs, dates, roasted nuts, chocolate, toffee, caramel, and orange overtone! Serve it with a slice of Christmas cake, and your heavenly Christmas dessert is ready. Your loved ones are sure to enjoy this combination!
With Puddings
This thick, syrupy, luscious wine pairs very well with rich, decadent puddings. The flavors of dark chocolate puddings, coffee or caramel puddings, etc., simply heighten when had with a glass of this sweet dessert wine. For an out-of-the-world dessert, simply add some PX into the pudding while preparing it. It’s sure to be exotic! This wine also complements spiced chocolate puddings. So, at the next party, make sure you get rid of the coffee and dessert combination, and serve dessert and wine.
With Chocolate
The rich, complex flavor of PX complements the rich flavor of chocolate. Add a little of this sherry into your chocolate cake batter, and you’ll have a cake that simply tantalizes your taste buds! Serve it with a glass of PX, and your tempting, exquisite dessert is ready. It also goes very well with white chocolate and desserts containing white chocolate.
While the Spanish Pedro Ximénez is the best, if you can’t manage to get hold of it, or think it’s too expensive, try the Spanish Moscatel (not moscato) or Málaga. Besides these Spanish wines, there are various dessert wines you can have with your puddings and cakes. Try out different types and find out which ones you like best.