Best dessert wines in Paso Robles for the holidays
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. Serve them after your holiday meal with a dessert or as the dessert. They also pair wonderfully with cheeses. These wines make perfect holiday gifts from Paso Robles. Enjoy!
Top local dessert wine recommendations
Broken Earth Vin de Vie, $24
This unique non-vintage sweet treat, sold in a decorative bottle, is made by blending fresh grenache juice with barrel-aged brandy. It’s like nothing I’ve ever had, but worth trying. It has a nose of coconut and pineapple and tastes a bit like a pina colada. It’s sweet with 17.7-percent alcohol. It will make a great holiday day gift or fun dessert wine.
Broken Earth Miss Stella – $20
This is a Mistella-style dessert wine fortified grape juice made from black Muscat. It is pungent on the nose with a floral character. The juice is not fermented so it is very sweet but has 16.5-percent alcohol due to the addition of fortifying spirits.
Bushong Sweet Illusions – $31
A triple cream sherry with flavors of maple pecan, caramel, and Marcona almonds will coat your pallet and make you forget about dessert. It’s high in alcohol and comes in a 375ml bottle. It earned 98 points from the OC Wine Society.
Four Sisters Ranch 2014 Kekoa – $34
A 100-percent negrette port-style wine. It has silky flavors of fig and dried berries, ripe currant, tobacco, and sweet raspberry. Will pair well with flourless chocolate cake, brie, almonds and walnuts. It earned a gold medal from the International Port and Fortified Wine Competition.
ONX 2014 Post Script – $24
A delicious dessert wine made from 62-percent sauvignon blanc and 38-percent viognier. It offers aromas of apricots, ginger, and vanilla bean, with a sweet finish of honeycomb. It has 17-percent alcohol.
Opolo Vineyards Tryst – $33
A Port-style red wine, Tryst combines the grapes from Opolo’s finest vineyards with their estate brandy for the perfect after-dinner experience. It is 18.5-percent alcohol and comes in a 375ml bottle.
Peachy Canyon Port XVII – $32
Dusty brown brick red color with aromas and flavors of buttery praline and toffee, honeyed berries and citrus, tangy, and moderately sweet medium-to-full-bodied Port-style dessert wine. It has 19-percent alcohol.
Tobin James 2016 Liquid Love – $18
A late-harvest zinfandel that’s left on the vines for one or two months longer to develop an intense, rich, sweet dessert wine. It offers flavors of ripe plum, black cherry, and hints of chocolate. Pairs well with chocolate truffles, caramels, and fruit cobblers.
Victor Hugo 2018 Quasi – $32
An intense late harvest zinfandel is packed with flavors of stewed strawberries and raspberries. It’s sweet but pleasantly not syrupy. It will make a perfect dessert by itself or pair with anything chocolate. A cheese pairing would work well too.
Vista Del Rey 2018 Barbera Dessert Wine – $25
Winemaker Dave King took a little barbera and made a dessert wine in a port style. The result is a superb and sticky dessert wine. It tastes like dark berries, dark chocolate, and spices. It is 19-percent alcohol and comes in a 375ml bottle.
See more wine recommendations
• Best local sparkling wines for the holidays
• Best local rosé wines for the holidays
• Best local white wines for the holidays
• Best local zinfandel wines for the holidays
• Best local Rhone-style red wines and red blends for the holidays
• Best cabernet, Bordeaux-style, and red wines in Paso Robles for the holidays
• Best local dessert wines for the holidays
Publisher’s note: For the seventh year in a row we thought it would be a great idea to recommend local wines for the holidays. Once again, we received an amazing amount of participation from our local wineries. Over the last two weeks, we received more than 100 entries. After tasting and tasting and tasting, there were many solid, well-made wines to recommend. We have created several lists of top local wines into categories. The recommended wines above are in alphabetical order.
Comments
