Dessert Wine | Giggly Grapes

Mango Wine: What It Is, How It Is Made and Where to Buy It

23/08/2025

A glass of golden mango wine beside two ripe mangoes on a dark bench

Mango wine is fermented mango pulp, usually 6 to 12 per cent alcohol. Here is how it is made, why it does not taste much like mango, and where to buy it.

Residual Sugar in Wine: The Chart and What It Really Means

15/12/2024

Five glasses of wine arranged from pale dry white to deep golden sweet wine

Residual sugar is the sugar left after fermentation stops, measured in grams a litre. Here is the full chart for still and sparkling wine, and why the number on the sheet is not the sweetness you taste.

What Is Port Wine? Sweetness, Styles and Why It Is So Strong

13/10/2024

A glass of tawny port beside blue cheese and walnuts on a slate board

Port is a sweet fortified red from the Douro Valley in Portugal. Here is why it is sweet, what the styles mean, whether French port exists, and why Australian port is now tawny.

Off-Dry Wine: What It Means and How Sweet It Is

04/10/2024

Three glasses of white wine in a row from pale to deep gold

Off-dry means 4 to 12 grams of sugar a litre. Here is the full sweetness scale in numbers, why off-dry often tastes dry, and why Extra Dry sparkling is sweeter than Brut.

Wine and Cheese Pairing: What to Pour with Every Cheese

29/07/2024

A wooden cheese board with brie, aged cheddar, blue cheese and goat's cheese beside a glass of sparkling wine and a glass of red wine

The safest wine and cheese pairing is dry sparkling or unoaked Chardonnay. Then it depends on the cheese: goat's, brie, cheddar, parmesan, washed rind and blue, each with the wine that works, a cheat-sheet table and one bottle to buy.

Cheesecake Wine Pairing: The Best Wines for Every Slice

19/04/2024

Slice of strawberry cheesecake beside a flute of sparkling rosé

Moscato, sparkling rosé, late-harvest Riesling or a Rutherglen Muscat: the best wine for cheesecake depends on the topping. Matches for berry, lemon, chocolate and caramel, and what to avoid.

Tiramisu and Wine: What to Pour (and What to Avoid)

02/03/2024

Slice of tiramisu beside a glass of golden dessert wine

Tiramisu needs a wine sweeter than it is. Here are the styles that work with coffee, cocoa and mascarpone, the ones to avoid, and one Barossa sticky to try.

Chenin Blanc Wine Guide: The Chameleon of White Wine

07/01/2024

Glass and bottle of Chenin Blanc with green grapes, honeycomb and quince

Dry, sweet or sparkling from one grape: what Chenin Blanc tastes like, how to serve it, the food it loves and the closest bottle you can buy in Australia tonight.

Hanepoot Wine Guide: The Sweet Surprise from the Vine

09/12/2023

Glass and bottle of golden Hanepoot with Muscat grapes and honey

South Africa's honey-pot grape: what Hanepoot (Muscat of Alexandria) tastes like, why it is a braai institution, what to eat with it, and a Muscat bottle to buy tonight.