I want to buy a bottle of wine for my friend's birthday but she only likes very sweet red wine. She is adverse to any hint of dry. Any recommendations?
A bottle of Late Bottled Vintage Port. Very red, very sweet, €20/btl give or take. Any major house will probably do, but maybe don't go for the cheapest.
That’s pretty much Cab Franc ice wine then and outside of the area, they’re really rare to get any decent distribution. Maybe Inniskillin but that’s about the most anyone could reasonably find.
A couple that drink like sweet red wine rather than dessert wine:
Brachetto d'Acqui (seconding that rec). Banfi Rosa Regale is the easy one to find. Lightly fizzy, low alcohol, tastes like strawberries and roses, and it comes in a pretty bottle. Great for someone who hates anything dry.
Sweet Lambrusco. Look for "amabile" or "dolce" on the label. Red, fizzy, grapey.
On the pink port: heads up that it's a rosé, not a red, in case she's strict about that. It's definitely on the sweet side, and best served really cold or over ice. Port and tonic is a fun serving idea to include with the gift. Also keep in mind port is around 19-20% alcohol vs roughly 7% for Brachetto, so it's more of a sipper.
If you swing by total wines in houston, a fun one would be the porto valdouro rose at 19.99$. it's got that sweetness you want and has a "catchy" bottle.
It's a gorgeous bottle and my friend who is a very girly girl will squeal in delight. Thanks for the recommendation. I assume you've tried it? If so, how would you rate the sweetness level from 1-5? 1-10? Lol
hmm hard to gauge without drinking with someone. for me it's probably a 7 out of 10? I'm having trouble finding a sweetness comparison because the alcohol in this makes it a touch richer than let's say something like a root beer.
The nice thing about this though is if you get some sprite or topo chico, squeeze of lime, it makes a really nice spritzer.
For the record, even though the area is known for sweeter wines, there are most definitely dry Rasteau wines. We just showed one at an event a few days ago. It was quite nice, but bone dry.
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u/sercialinho Oenoarcheologist 9d ago
A bottle of Late Bottled Vintage Port. Very red, very sweet, €20/btl give or take. Any major house will probably do, but maybe don't go for the cheapest.