Best local dessert wines for the holidays
Top Paso Robles dessert wines
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. These wines would also make perfect holiday gifts from Paso Robles. Enjoy!
Bianchi PI5 Port – $28
A traditional blend of dark and fruity Portuguese varieties with Bianchi’s American flair adding deep color, berry flavors, and complexity.
Broken Earth 2009 Ragpickers Dream – $28
This sweet and luscious dessert wine brings ripe berries, balanced with a silky smooth finish. It’s a great compliment to any holiday dessert course.
Cass 2013 Roussanne Late Harvest Limited Release – $29
This wine leads with aromas of white peach and orange blossom greet the nose. A vicious texture coats the palate accompanied by rich flavors of honeycomb and lemon meringue. Whispers of orange rind zest and minerality nuances linger throughout the persisting finish.
Castoro Cellars 2016 Late Harvest Muscat Canelli – $26
This is an aromatic wine with dried apricot, peach, crystallized ginger, raw honey, and orange blossom in perfect balance. Enjoy after dinner as a dessert or paired with fruit desserts.
Opolo Tryst – $33
This is a non-vintage Port-style sweet red wine. Tryst combines the grapes from Opolo’s finest vineyards with a splash of estate brandy for the perfect after dinner experience.
Peachy Canyon XIV Zinfandel Port – $32
This rich-tasting 14-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.
Rockin’ R 2008 Suite: Judy Blue Eyes dessert wine – $28
This Port-style red dessert wine is perfectly round and flavorful with hints of fall spices and berries. It is delicious with blue cheeses, dried fruits, and chocolate.
Victor Hugo 2014 Quasi – $32
This lighter-style 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 will too.
Vina Robles 2012 Segredo – $35
Segredo is a limited-production, fortified red dessert wine inspired by traditional ports. The “secret” is the use of petite sirah which lends itself to producing age-worthy wines with layers of richness. Aged for 20 months in French and American oak barrels, Segredo is the perfect dessert wine or can be enjoyed together with chocolate, cheese or nuts.
Vista Del Rey 2012 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.
Paso Robles 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 and Italian-style wines for the holiday
• Best local cabernet sauvignon and Bordeaux-style wines for the holidays
• Best local Rhone-style red wines for the holidays
• Best local dessert wines for the holidays
Publisher’s note: For the fourth year in a row we thought it would be a great idea to recommend local wines for upcoming holiday parties and dinners. Once again, we received an amazing amount of participation from our local wineries. Over the last few 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.
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