Top local dessert wines for the holidays

Posted: 10:30 am, November 23, 2014 by Publisher Scott Brennan

Sweet, sticky dessert wines can make a great accompaniment to holiday dessert selections. After tasting several Paso Robles dessert wines, these are our best recommendations. Enjoy!

Best dessert wines for the holidays

Glunz Family Winery & Cellars Mission Angelica

Glunz Family Winery & Cellars Mission Angelica – $40
This richly-hued, sweet, brandy-fortified wine is thick with flavor at 18.5-percent alcohol. It was made from mission grapes sourced from all over California and aged in a non-vintage solera style similar to port wine, Madeira, sherry and Marsala. It has butterscotch, maple syrup and prune notes. It will pair well with an after dinner plate of dried fruits, nuts and sharp cheeses like blue Stilton.

Pomar Junction 2010 Amber Moonlight – $20
This delightful dessert wine made from last harvest viognier is sweet but not overly syrupy. It’s sweetness comes from its own residual sugar. It’s 17.6-percent alcohol. It will pair nicely with pumpkin pie and other desserts.

Peachy Canyon XII Zinfandel Port – $32
This rich-tasting 11-year blend is a perfect after-dinner dessert wine. It has notes of hazelnuts, dried fruit and leather. The palate brings brown butter and mocha. It’s a stout 19.8-percent alcohol.

Derby 2006 De Facto Port – $24
This port is a blend of 59-percent syrah and 41-percent counoise. It leads with aromas of plum jam, walnut, and earthiness and follows through with traditional port flavors of prune and hints of blackberry and dark chocolate. It will pair very well with anything chocolate. It is 17.5-percent alcohol.

Vista Del Rey 2010 Barbera Dessert Wine – $25
Winemaker Dave King took some leftover grapes that didn’t go into his dry Barbera and decided to make a dessert wine in a port style. The result is a superb dessert wine. It tastes like dark berries, chocolate and spices. It is 19-percent alcohol.

Best Paso Robles wines for the holidays

Editors note: I thought it would be a great idea to recommend local wines for upcoming holiday parties and dinners, but I had no idea how much participation we would receive from wineries. Over the last week we received about 100 entries. I was originally planning a list of 10 or so of the best wines, but after tasting and tasting and tasting, there were just too many solid, well-made wines to recommend. So we decided to break up the list of top local wines into categories. The recommended wines are in alphabetical order.