Very rich and sweet

[brasilfan]

I'm looking for an extremely rich,bold and sweet tasting wine. Can anyone advise?

[Drew]

Brasilfan, welcome. Your question is a little to broad. Are you looking for a table wine or desert wine? Red or white? Are you pairing with food and if so what? Plenty of experts here drooling with anticipation of answering your question.

Drew

[brasilfan]

Even though I seem to prefer the dark wines color is optional and I am looking for desert wines as well as wines that go well with prime rib or steak dinners with or without lobster. The main thing is that they be extremely rich, bold, and sweet. The kind that kind of tingles as you sip it.

[Menua]

Bras: most of my (limited) experience with dessert wines makes me say that you don't want to cross those with a regular meal. Drink them thar suckers by theirelves, and pair a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah/Shiraz with the steak*. As for with the lobster, I haven't the slightest clue.

When you say sweet, could you mean "fruity"? Fruity and sweet are not the same thing. Sweet, as in dessert wine, I generally associate with a sugary taste. A wine can be fruity and at the same time not be sweet.

* I have a hard time finding a decent full-bodied cab from Cali for under $15+ (if you're willing to splurge, try the 1997 Bighorn Ridge [Napa Valley] Cab. Sauv., $30 - thick, fruity, and little bit of an alcohol burn. Decant that sucker for a half hour first, I was told). Try to find an Australian cab, shiraz, or cab/shiraz blend. Nine bucks will get you some pretty heavy stuff.

[Menua]

Correction! That should be 'Bighorn Ranch' instead of 'Ridge'.

[brasilfan]

Thanks for your help. I'm totally wine ignorant however while traveling through Brazil many years ago While at a large party thrown by a local politician, I tried a dark wine that was very rich,fruity,sweet and bold. Don't know what kind it was but it tasted very good.I have since tried to find something that came close. The individual throwing the party had a vineyard where they grew very juicy and sweet purple grapes and occassionaly he threw a wine making party and made some of his own wines but he also kept a stock of good bought wines.

[Menua]

Port, maybe?!?

The only thing I can think of that's both fruity and sweet would probably have to be a dessert wine, and to be red at that leads me to think of Port. Then again, I have never had port, indeed, have tried very few dessert wines (just a very bad sherry I bought in a supermarket whose cork come out when I cut the capsule off and an excellent sweet rose wine called "Rosato" by Barboursville Vineyards in the Piedmont of Virginia). But it's worth a shot.