In the sweet wine world, speaking just for myself, a rich, thick, cloying dessert wine with no acidity is my own personal nightmare. It coats your palate with sugar and offer very little pleasure.

But wait…sweet wines that are balanced, offering fruit flavors and refreshing acidity, are another story.

Sweet wines can fit into your wine world in a few ways. First off, they are a great way to finish a meal that may have been fat laden, such as prime rib or any number of fatty steak cuts, or cream-based, whether it be pasta, chicken, veal, and so on. The acidity in the wine will help cleanse the palate, and the fatty residue will soften the sweetness of the wine. A perfect way to end the night.

Another treat is to add a dessert wine to go with your actual dessert. Here we’ll have a similar reaction to what I described above…many desserts are cheese or cream-based, and the acidity will work with the dessert to accentuate flavors. A great example would be panna cotta or crème brûlée with a Moscato, one of my favorite pairings.

Most folks think of Riesling when sweet wines are mentioned, but that is just the beginning. In reality, most grapes picked in a later harvest will have sweetness, but many grapes won’t give you the balance and acid to make a solid sweet wine. Chenin Blanc, Viognier and Gewurztraminer are three grapes that make incredible sweet wines. A sleeper is late harvest Torrontés from Argentina... incredible price and quality.

Here is a short list of other sweet wines that will end your evening in style:

Ice Wines. These are produced from frozen grapes and pressed. With the grape being mainly water, what results is a delicious nectar that offers a variety of tropical fruits and is somewhat viscous, but is balanced by the acid in the grape. Canada and Germany offer some killer ice wines…these are a real treat.

Recioto. These are mainly red dessert wines made using a method called “appassimento,” which basically means drying the grapes on racks until they become shriveled and raisin-y, then pressing. Again, the result is a rich, fruit-filled nectar…very port-like, but a bit lighter and with less alcohol.

Sauternes. When you’re ready to try the top of the sweet wine world, Sauternes is where you will land. They are actually infected with a naturally occurring fungus called “noble rot” that dries the grapes out. Flavors of honey, dried apricot, marmalade, ginger, and saffron jump out at you. It is thick, rich, and silky on the tongue and has high natural acidity, which keeps the intense sweetness from tasting sticky or heavy. Hungary’s famous Tokaji dessert wines are made with this same method.

As I mentioned earlier, Moscato d’Asti (white) and Brachetto d’Asti (red), from the Piemonte region of Italy, are some of my favorite “value” dessert wines. They are bright, highly acidic and super refreshing.

In a previous article, I also mentioned “sweet and heat.” I wish more Asian restaurants would put a stronger emphasis on their wine lists, as Rieslings, Gewurztraminers and late harvest wines are the perfect partners to the heat that you get in many Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. They mellow the heat a bit and soften the sweetness of the wine.

So don’t let the term “sweet wine” turn you off. At the right time with the right food, you will end your night on a high.

Mike Stolese is the owner of Vermont Wine Merchants, a wholesale distribution company based in Burlington.