Many people claim they do not like sweet wines. This is most likely due to exposure to only poor-quality dessert wines. To really appreciate an after-dinner drink you must try quality beverages that appeal to your tastes. This post is going to supply you with an essential guide to 9 after dinner drinks that will be sure to impress. These wines and spirits come from quality producers with an ethos that results in crushable after dinner drinks. Read on to learn about the 9 drinks you will want on your roster of beverages to serve at your next dinner party.
This post is the only essential guide to after dinner drinks you need.
Alcoholic After Dinner Drinks
- Brachetto Blend Rose “Bigaro” Elio Perrone Piedmont, Italy
Grape: 50% Moscato and 50% Brachetto
Tasting Notes: orange blossom, citrus, strawberry and rose petal
This wine is naturally fizzy and the perfect amount of sweet. It is surprisingly refreshing. This should be your go to dessert pairing for your newbie wine drinkers and those who are looking for something off dry and delightfully fresh. Pair it with fruit forward desserts and cream heavy finishers.
- Petit Manseng Late Harvest Linden Middleburg, VA
Grape: 100% Petit Manseng
Tasting Notes: honey, pear, citrus, and apricot
The grape varietal Petit Manseng comes from southwest France and is the highest quality of grapes in the Manseng family. The beauty of this late harvest wine from Middleburg, Virginia is that it is 100% Petit Manseng. The means it really lets the quality and distinctive tasting notes shine through with a bit of sweetness on top. This wine is dessert itself. Try a glass on its own after dinner or try pairing it with a fresh fruit sorbet.
- Montevertine Vin Santo del Chianti Tuscany
Grape: Trebbiano and Malvasia
Tasting Notes: rich rasin, chestnut, velvety texture
For this unique Tuscan sweet wine, Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes are dried for 87 days and then fermented in a high-pressure environment. The drying of the grapes increases the fructose in the grapes and the high-pressure results in a slow fermentation process. What comes from that is sweeter grapes and a rich dessert wine. Pair this rich dessert wine with fruit or a cookie like biscotti.
- Maculan, Torcolato, Vespaiola, Breganze, Veneto
Grape: Vespaiola
Tasting Notes: nutmeg, dried apricot, honey, and ginger
This is a classic Italian dessert wine hailing from the region of Veneto. The Maculan family name goes way back in Italy. They are classic wine makers of the Veneto region. The family’s wines are pure and a great representation of the land they are cultivating. Reach for this dessert wine from the infamous Maculan family when you want something classic, rich and sweet.
- Revel Cider ‘No Stone Unturned” Vermouth Ontario Canada
Grape/Ingredients: Quince, Gewurztraminer, Apple, Pear, Plum, Burdock Root, Lemon Balm, Dandelion Greens, and Marigold Flowers
Tasting Notes: floral, citrus and a slightly bitter finish
This is a Co-Fermented vermouth coming from Revel Cider located in Ontario, Canada. Revel Cider started in 2014 by fermenter Tariq as a solo passion project. Now Revel Cider is a seven-person strong team who have a passion for wild fermentation. This vermouth is made by taking 17 bushels of quince and putting it through carbonic maceration. The CO2 rich environment results in big juicy fruit flavors coming from the quince. The quince pomace in then fortified with Gewurztraminer, apples, pears, and plums. Then the mixture is steeped with burdock root, lemon balm, dandelion greens, and marigold flowers. The result is a sweet, floral, and bright vermouth that can match up to a variety of desserts.
- Couleur Fleur Red Poppy Flower Wine Jura, France
Grape/Ingredients: 100% Red Poppy
Tasting Notes: floral, bright, and honey aromatics
This wine is made from red poopy flowers coming from Jura, France with organic sugar, water, and indigenous yeast. It is not wine, beer, or cider. It is simply a bright crushable fermented beverage. Serve it chilled before or after dinner on a hot day and you will not regret it.
Non-alcoholic After Dinner Drinks
- Casamara Club Sera, The Non-Alcoholic After-Hours Club Soda
Grape/Ingredients: sparkling Water, lemon juice, orange blossom honey, and extracts of grapefruit, cinnamon, rhubarb root, Italian chinotto, allspice berry, and anise, with Mediterranean sea salt.
Tasting Notes: lemon, strawberry, fruit, and tart acid.
This bubbly bev is a N/A take on a classic Italian spritz. These amaro style sodas are super light and refreshing. They can be used in an aperitif style N/A cocktail or as an N/A after dinner amaro drink. If you plan on enjoying Casamara Club drinks in the summertime, try it over a lot of ice and with several slices of lemon and lime. You could drink this all year round, but it is the most refreshing after dinner on a hot night.
- TÖST Manchester Vermont
Grape/Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Organic Blue Agave, White Tea, White Cranberry Concentrate, Natural Ginger Extract, Natural Citrus Extract, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Quinine.
Tasting Notes: crisp citrus with an off-dry finish
TÖST is a refreshing sparkling white tea with flavors of ginger and cranberry. A husband-and-wife chef duo came up with this N/A pairing to go with some of their beautiful food creations. It was such a success that it is now the only product they make and sell. It is lightly sweet and a great finisher to any meal. It can pair with fruit forward desserts as well as heavier custard-based desserts. Try it for your next N/A free celebratory toast.
- Wölffer Verjus, Sagaponack, NY
Grape/Ingredients: Green Grapes
Tasting Notes: gooseberry, green apple, and mellow acidity.
Verjus is the juice of unripe grapes. It can be comparable to a wine, but it is not fermented therefore it is green grape juice. It makes a great N/A after dinner drink because it is one quality ingredient that delivers big and refreshing flavors. Because it is off-dry it works well with dessert on its own or in a N/A digestive cocktail. Try it by itself with a sweet dessert and give it a go as an ingredient in a fun cocktail concoction and decide for yourself.
There you have it, an essential guide to nine after dinner drinks. You can look back to this list for all your dessert pairing needs. Having these drinks in your collection will make you a well-prepared host for your next dinner party or casual get together. Go start trying all these delicious and satisfying after dinner beverages.
