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The list of traditional holiday cookies is long. But what should you sip alongside them? If pairing cookies with sweet wine feels like a recipe for sugar overkill, prepare to think again. There is a dessert wine pairing that will work for you. Here’s a primer, just in time for the holidays.
Gingerbread Cookies and Marsala
These spiced cookies require a wine with backbone and strength. Marsala, a fortified wine from Sicily, has both the punch of alcohol and secondary oxidative notes of roasted nuts, caramel and brown sugar that bring out the molasses in these holiday treats. Marsala can range from golden to deep brown in color, and its sugar content goes from secco to dolce. But its depth and breadth make it a smart choice alongside a cookie that treads the line between sweet and savory.
Other cookies to pair with Marsala: snickerdoodles, speculoos
Wine Enthusiast recommends:
Florio 2017 Vecchioflorio Superiore Dry White (Marsala)
The dark copper color is fitting for a fresh, metallic nose of pennies and wet stone, although undertones of honey, white tea and orange peel provide balance. The palate leans fruity, as apricot swells before eventually breaking against a nutty finish that recalls the honey of the nose. Best Buy. 90 Points —Danielle Callegari
$17 Wine Transit
Sugar Cookies and Ice Wine
Because of their sweetness, sugar cookies can easily railroad a wine that’s too dry or delicate. Ice wine is produced from grapes picked once they’ve frozen on the vine. When pressed, the juice, separated from the water in the grapes, is almost like nectar. The result is a clear, sweet, honeyed wine that complements the buttery, sugary notes of these holiday standard-bearers.
Other cookies to pair with ice wine: shortbread, spritz cookies
Wine Enthusiast recommends:
Dr. Loosen 2021 Estate Eiswein Riesling (Mosel)
Very pure and succulent, with the tropical fruit and lemon aromas and flavors getting a boost from its racy structure. Fuller in body and very sweet with a long spicy, zingy acidity. Fine harmony and length. Drink now–2045. 93 Points — Aleks Zecevic
$45 Timeless Wines
Rainbow Cookies and Tawny Port
Popular in Jewish and Italian homes around the holidays, the rainbow cookie’s predominant flavor is almond, amplified by apricot and raspberry jams. It requires a dessert wine with both fruity and nutty notes. Tawny Port, which spends time in wooden barrels that expose it to oxidation, is a rust-colored dessert wine with nutty, toasty flavors and jammy qualities suggestive of cooked red fruits. Tawny Port designates its age (and, therefore, time spent in oak) on the bottle. To pair, seek a younger tawny, 10 to 20 years old.
Other cookies to pair with tawny Port: peanut butter blossoms, M&M cookies
Wine Enthusiast recommends:
Quinta do Vale Meão NV 10 Years Tawny Port (Port)
Although this is labeled as an average of 10 years, this Port shows as much wood as youthful fruit. That gives it maturity, the dried fruits showing well against richness. Drink now. 91 Points — Roger Voss
$30 Portugal Vineyards
Mexican Wedding Cookies and Vin Santo
These simple sugar, butter and almond cookies resemble fluffy little pillows, but they pack a big punch. Tuscany’s Vin Santo, made with harvested grapes dried on straw mats until their sugars concentrate, is an apt pairing. Vin Santo can range in sugar content from dry to sweet, but it always offers expressions of spice and toasted nuts. Look for wines with “amabile” on the label, which indicates the wine is semi-sweet.
Other cookies to pair with Vin Santo: biscotti, palmiers
Wine Enthusiast recommends:
Cantalici 2012 Baruffo White (Vin Santo del Chianti Classico)
A light copper color is fitting for a gentle umami nose of salt, orange zest, pecorino and dried apricots, which transitions effortlessly to a palate where salted milk chocolate coaxes out the dormant sweetness of more citrus and stone fruit. 94 Points — D.C.
$60 Total Wine & More
Peppermint Meltaways and Sauternes
Peppermint is notoriously difficult to pair and can derail even the best wines. Delicate flavors won’t withstand its punch. As a result, look to France’s most famous dessert wine, Sauternes. It’s produced from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle grapes, which all remain on the vine until they have been affected by Botrytis cinerea. This golden nectar is sweet, though not cloying due to ample acidity, which allows the mint to shine. Sauternes ranges broadly in quality and price, and the most expensive bottles can fetch thousands of dollars. But there are plenty of fine entry-level options that shouldn’t deplete your bank account.
Other cookies to pair with Sauternes: peppermint meringues, madeleines
Wine Enthusiast recommends:
Jam Thumbprint Cookies and Brachetto d’Acqui
Brachetto d’Acqui, the light, fizzy, fuchsia dessert wine from Northern Italy, is a fun and low-alcohol alternative to fortified wine. Its fresh berry notes include strawberry and raspberry, which are an obvious match for jam thumbprint cookies. The light, joyful cookie requires an equally playful and exuberant wine. In this case, a frizzante or spumante Brachetto delivers.
Other cookies to pair with Brachetto d’Acqui: linzer tarts, kolache
Wine Enthusiast recommends:
Braida di Giacomo Bologna 2023 Brachetto (Brachetto d'Acqui)
This is a berry patch in a glass! This slightly fizzy sweet wine pure joy, with aromas and flavors of crushed raspberries, candied cherries and strawberry-rhubarb tart all wrapped up in a fresh, easy to drink playground for the palate. A wine made for warm days and a picnic or for that “cheat day” where you have ice cream and berries. — Jeff Porter
$22 Woodland Hills Wine Co.
Molasses Drops and Madeira
A fortified wine that hails from Portugal’s island of Madeira, off the Moroccan coast, Madeira is produced in a unique manner. Wine is exposed to oxygen and heat, which cause it to develop secondary characteristics like walnut, hazelnut and burnt sugar flavors. These match well with molasses drops. Madeira ranges in sweetness, from off-dry to very sweet. With this cookie, you’d be well served to choose a version with less sugar content, like those made from Sercial or Verdelho grapes.
Other cookies to pair with Madeira: pecan sandies, whoopie pies
Wine Enthusiast recommends:
Blandy's 2010 Sercial Colheita Sercial (Madeira)
A dry Madeira with acidity and a tight character, nutty and with hints of dried fruits. It is a beautiful, tangy wine, intense and ready to drink. 91 Points — R.V.
$99 Wine Exchange
Rum Balls and Pedro Ximénez Sherry
Few desserts are as iconic during the holidays as the rum ball, a cookie made from crushed nuts, confectioner’s sugar and, of course, rum. In Spain, the Pedro Ximénez grape, or PX, is used to produce an unctuous, dark and sweet style of Sherry. Grapes are first dried in the sun, which concentrates their sugars. The resulting syrupy, nearly black juice yields a wine that reflects that process. The style is similar, in some ways, to a dark rum, where notes of molasses and dark fruit dominate. It makes sense to pair this wine with a dessert that bears rum’s name.
Other cookies to pair with Pedro Ximénez Sherry: gingersnaps, brown butter-toffee cookies
Wine Enthusiast recommends:
Hartley & Gibson's NV Choice old Solera Pedro Ximénez (Jerez)
Pedro Ximénez is a delicacy, and so is this bottling. Deep amber-brown in color, the wine has a perfumed nose that draws you in with luxurious aromas of fig, caramel, black cherry, cedar, forest floor pear compote and dried plum. The palate is sweet, luscious and abounding with a multitude of complexities that evolve in your glass with every sip. This wine has softened with time in the bottle and the tertiary aromas are now in the lead with dried fruit, almond and orange marmalade all coming to the fore. 93 Points — Reggie Solomon
$20 Tower Beer, Wine & SpiritsMore Pairings Coverage
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Published: December 9, 2024
