Best local dessert wines for the holidays

Posted: 7:01 am, November 29, 2016 by Publisher Scott Brennan

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!

Almond Hill Vineyard 2012 Late Harvest Syrah Dessert Wine – $40
This wine was handcrafted from estate-grown syrah and aged for 24 month in a single oak barrel. It is complex, fruity, jammy, and full-bodied. It is excellent with anything chocolate and provides a beautiful end to any holiday gathering.

Eberle Winery 2011 – Vintage Port – $60
This vintage port is made with three classic Portuguese varietals and then barreled n 25-year-old cognac puncheons for added flavor. The port offers deep plum flavors, stewed raspberries and dark cherry. The port is 20-percent alcohol.

Hunt Cellars 2010 Sauvignon Blanc ‘Good Vibration de Blanc’ – $40
This decadent dessert wine would make a perfect companion to a holiday dessert. Intense caramel flavors and notes of dulche de leche give way to a slightly acidic finish. Very sweet.

Midnight Cellars Hannah & Joe’s Gemini Port – $36
This is a rich and thick blend of zinfandel, cabernet, malbec, merlot and petite sirah. It has dark flavors of cherry, cola, anise and leather with a touch of caramel.

Nadeau 2013 Late Harvest Zinfandel – $19
This a deep, dense late harvest zinfandel wine. It has flavors of clack berries with raspberry aromas. It will pair well with chocolates and cheeses or perhaps a fine cigar.

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.

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.

River Star 2012 Estrella Brilliante – $18
This is from the Touriga Nacional varietal. It’s a fortified dessert wine, dense with blackberry and floral aromas, black fruit flavors, and a velvety finish. Pairs well with chocolate, or poured over vanilla bean ice cream. It’s 18.5-percent alcohol.

Robert Hall 2013 Vintage Port – $36
This is a traditional blend of four Portuguese grapes that produces the true essence of a Paso Robles port. It is fortified with brandy to perfection. It is a rich dessert all by itself.

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.

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

Publisher’s note: For the third year in a row we thought it would be a great idea to recommend local wines for upcoming holiday parties and dinners. Once again, I had no idea how much participation we would receive from our local wineries. Over the last few weeks we received more than 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.