For your next dinner party invitation, instead of bringing the host or hostess the perfunctory bottle of red or white table wine, try a dessert wine instead. Because the making of a dessert wine is an art unto itself, these bottles usually come with their own story. Choosing such a wine (and better yet, relating the story) will show the host or hostess that you cared enough to seek out something unique and delicious.

The name "dessert wine" is an umbrella term that describes a multitude of wines usually served after a meal or with dessert. Late harvest wines, moscato, fortified wines like Port and Sherry, ice wines and sauternes all fall into this category. There are also some additional exotically named varieties such as Tokaji Asz, beerenauslese, trockenbeerenauslese and Commandaria that are considered to be dessert wines as well.

The alcohol content of dessert wines can range from as low as 8 percent (for moscato) to as high as 20 percent (for Port and other fortified wines), but on average, they tend to be higher in alcohol than table wines. The one thing they all have in common is that they have a greater amount of residual sugar than a dry-fermented table wine.

Producers who make late-harvest or dessert wines are truly taking a gamble with their fruit. By leaving the grapes on the vine well past the expiration date for making a dry table wine, they risk crop destruction by things like frost, rot, birds of prey, hailstorms, migratory geese and other natural disasters. However, when a vintner does beat the odds and crafts a late-harvest blend of sugar and acid, dried fruits, and a whole host of other flavors, it is usually something special.

Frequently, people equate dessert wines as having a too-sweet, syrupy finish. While some do, there are many which get the formula right and offer—in addition to just sweetness—a unique richness, body, weight, and flavors that speak of the grape and the soil. For example, an Inniskillan’s Ice Wine that shows the best of vidal blanc, or a trockenbeerenauslese, with its delicious blend of fruity, caramel, orange marmalade and roasted nut flavors, are anything but "syrupy" and both should be sipped and savored.

If you are new to dessert wines, Hermann Wiemer’s Reserve and Late Harvest bottling of 2003 Riesling consistently demonstrate the best of what the category has to offer. All of his ice wines possess beautiful balance and structure.

Also very good is the Osborne, 1997, Late Bottled Vintage Oporto from Portugal, a phenomenal valuie for the price, and the Alvear, Pedro Ximenez, Montilla-Moriles, 2000 from Spain, a lively, toasted-nutty selection.

From France comes Huet, Le Mont or Le Haut Lieu Demi-Sec, 2001 or 2002, which are certainly sweet, yet able to complement many spicy, aromatic dishes. Another fine choice, although higher priced, is Molino Real, Mountain Wine, 2000, from Malaga Spain, which is floral and honeyed with orange peel aromas along with a rich sweetness which is nicely balanced by crisp acidity.