The staff at the liquor store or wine shop are your greatest resource when pairing wine with food. Let them know the dessert that you are planning to serve or if you plan to use the wine as dessert.Stores that specialize in wine are usually better places to get help than picking up wine at a grocery store or large retailer.
 The darker the color of your dessert, the darker the color of the wine should be. Desserts can be grouped into three categories: vanilla and custards, fruit and spice, and caramels and chocolates. Common parings include:White wines (e.g. late harvest Riesling) and sparkling wines (e.g. demi-sec champagne, Asti Spumanti) pair well with custard and vanilla.
For desserts that contain fruits and spices (e.g. apple pie, fruit cobblers) white wines and pink champagne are a good choice.
For desserts containing chocolate and caramel, red wines (e.g. late harvest Pinot Noir, Grenache, Port (a fortified wine)),and Grappa are good pairings.
 As a general rule, the wine should be as sweet or sweeter than the dessert you are eating.If the dessert is sweeter than the wine, your wine will taste bitter.This requires knowledge of the sweetness of both the wine and the dessert.


Pairing with chocolate is often the most difficult because it is very sweet and tends to coat your mouth when you eat it. Ruby ports and Hungarian Tokay are usually a good pairing.Most white dessert wines will not pair well with chocolate based desserts.
If you are unsure of the sweetness of the wine, simply smell it. If you smell honey, molasses, or butterscotch, you are on the right track. If you swirl the glass of wine, sweet wines will be thicker and stick to the glass more.
 Although each wine varies, many white dessert wines have fruit and/or honey flavors. If your dessert is fruit , has fruity flavors, and/or honey flavors, a white wine would be best. If your dessert has buttery and caramel flavors, an amber colored sweet wine is a good choice..


If you do not know which wine to choose, a Port or a champagne are very versatile and pair well with most desserts.If drinking the noble rot wines, enjoy them with such desserts as sticky-toffee pudding, sweet syrup dumplings, pineapple upside down cake and custard-based desserts such as crème brulée and crème caramel.
 Dessert wines do not have to be paired with food. Wine can actually be your dessert. A Sauternes, port, or a beerenauslese wine are good choices.


If you are serving wine for dessert, fill the dessert wine glass with 3 oz of wine and sip it slowly.
Ask for help.
Match the color.
Choose a dessert wine that is sweeter than the dessert.
Look for complementary flavors.
Use wine as dessert.
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